Distracted

by Fallen Ark Angel

Hunter's preoccupied with an upcoming match. But not so much so that he doesn't notice how off Stephanie's been recently. - One-shot, set before Survivor Series 2005.

There was a time when days not spent in the ring were either spent training to be in it at the gym or blowing off the steam of being in it with women. Not much had changed, honestly, in theory, as he still trained and he still blew off steam, but both were currently done in the privacy of his own home and with the company of his own woman. His only woman.

"You're distracted."

That's what she accused him of, one evening, as they sat up in bed, her resting between his legs as they sat in near darkness, the setting sun providing some dim glows from behind the window blinds.

"It's nothing."

"Hunter-"

"It's just… Fuck. How did I fuck all this with Flair?"

"Mmmm." She was toying with one of his fingers, resting back against his chest while holding his hand out in her own, watching it more than the shadows on the wall that had him so captivated. "You're still mad about the cage match?"

"I'm pissed about the whole fucking thing, Steph. I fucking lost my championship to damn Batista, lost both the rematches, finally get back in the damn ring and what? Now I have to deal with Flair's shit? Fuck all of 'em."

"Calm down."

"I am calm."

"And you're the one that attacked Flair."

"What's your point?"

Closing her eyes then, Stephanie took in a few breaths as she thought. Then, softly, she told him,, "I'll be glad when you're done with all of them, anyways. Evolution. I never liked it."

Hunter let his fingers fall into position between hers then, tightening his hold as he did so. "'cause I don't need no one else to prove myself? I work better alone? They were just boggin' me down?"

"I didn't like how hard it got for us." Stephanie wiggled her hand free of his so she could go back to toying with his fingers. "To just be us. They always wanted to be around you, outside of the show, and it's hard enough, hiding this. All of this. And then all the women-"

"I never fucked around on you, Stephanie." And he shifted from leaning up against the headboard then, so that he could place a kiss against her neck, whispering into it, "Ever."

"Mmmm," she sighed, nodding her head a bit. "But you were put in more situations to. And I hate that."

"You don't have this though."

"Being with you? Never." Humming again, she added, "I bet they think you weren't interested."

"Hmmm?"

"In women."

"What?"

"The others," she explained. "If you were turning down women left and right like you claim to have been-"

"Didn't even let one touch me, baby. Ever. Not one."

"-they probably thought you weren't interested in women."

"I told 'em I had better women."

"Oh?"

Nodding as he settled back against the headboard, Hunter let out a slow breath. "They fuck groupie trash. Beginner shit. I would fuck a higher caliber of woman." Then he grinned. "I do fuck a higher caliber of woman. Higher class. And she ain't bringing me any diseases or shit."

"Such a romantic."

"I try."

As they fell silent again, his mind drifted from the late night partying he did with the men he'd have called his brothers before...before, and back to the pure hatred he had for all three of them. Steph could tell too as his mind shifted, just from how tense he became. It hurt him, all of it, from the first betrayal all the way up to his own against Ric, Hunter was broken.

If he wasn't so preoccupied in those days with his own life, he might have noticed how different Steph had been in the recent weeks. She was much more open to him doing things alone, away from her. They usually craved being home, together, where there was nothing to hide from anyone, but she'd been avoiding it recently.

Which, honestly, he was so filled up with animosity towards his former stable that Hunter wasn't much company to begin with. He was driven with one desire; to destroy Flair. Batista had bested him, fine; but he could enact all the revenge he needed on Ric.

Survivor Series was looming. Hunter was planning to end Flair on that night. Somewhere, subconsciously, he probably figured he and Steph would get back on the same page after he got that finished with. Nothing to worry about.

But she was avoiding him and was slightly glad for his anger over the dissolution of his faction, if only for the easy distraction it provided the man as of late. Back in the spring time and the summer, it was more annoying, as he was so tense and upset by what had taken place (he was always a monster to deal with when he lost his title), but at the moment, when she was trying to hide from him as well it was a definite plus.

He was usually so good on picking up on her different mood shifts. Though their original marriage hadn't ended too well, he still learned much about her during this time. And, though things were different when they got back together (both felt as if in the short span away, they'd matured tenfold), they were still the same people at heart. He'd been in tune to her her since the beginning (she honestly wasn't too hard to read) and save for that rough patch that led to the end of their first relationship, he was always very good at pinpointing just what was bothering her and fixing it.

Hunter knew Stephanie wasn't the best person around. She was conniving and vindictive, but only to those who she deemed worthy of such treatment. It would be much easier, honestly, to narrow down the people she didn't feel as if deserved this. Honestly, save one or two friends that he knew she had (who truthfully could be turned on in a heartbeat), he felt like he might be the only one that she wasn't that way with. Even her family was just a game to be played.

But he was the Game. The real Game. And she wouldn't risk losing him by playing her own against him again.

Which Steph never wanted to do again. Ever. She wanted their marriage to be completely free and separate from their old backstabbing ways. They might only be honest with one another, but so long as they were, what they did to others didn't matter. He could (and typically was) actively out to screw over her family and Steph made no complaints over it. She could spend every day up at the office actively planning the demise of some guy in the company. He wouldn't give a shit. They were united against whoever the other found to be a threat.

"Maybe," Steph sighed as his free hand came to wrap around her belly, pulling her closer against him, "they think you, like, have a deformed…you know."

Hunter had been zoning out right about then, but was able to respond with a, "Huh?"

"I know all of you disgusting douches share women."

"What a statement."

"In the locker room."

"Not making it any better."

"You all sleep with the same women." Steph glanced over her shoulder. "So if they don't think you're no longer attracted to women, maybe they all think, like, you don't wanna sleep with people they know before you're… I mean, babe, you've had enough injuries over the years."

He fell then, quite heavily, pulling her down with a slight giggle as he did so. As they rested on their sides then, Hunter's legs entangled with hers, he only sighed, "Maybe everyone already knows."

"About your deformity?"

He ignored that. "About us."

"Mmmm… Even if they did, knowing your friends, I'm still sure they'd still have you sleeping around on me."

"They're not my friends." His tone lost it's amusement as he remembered what he was really sulking in the dark for. Fine, partially to spend time with his wife, but mostly to keep his mind in its dark state, in preparation for Survivor Series, where he'd tear Flair apart. "And they never fucking were."

Stephanie hadn't meant to get him back in that head space and only tugged one of his arms tightly around her, giving up on toying with his fingers. Softly, she whispered, "I shouldn't have said-"

"Children," Hunter informed her as he bowed his head, rubbing his stubbly chin against her hair, "have friends, Steph. Men have associates. And when what associates you vanishes, they just become obstacles. Like all the rest."

Shutting her eyes, Stephanie whispered, "Are we not friends?"

"We're different," he said after a pause. "You're my love. My best friend. That doesn't change."

"For anything?"

"Hmmm?"

"I just… Are you hungry? I'm hungry."

Hunter could only blink as she wiggled her way out of his grasp. "Babe-"

"I'm gonna go out. And get us something. Or me. Did you want something?"

Still staring, that might have been the first time that anything occurred to him that he wasn't the only one being bothered by something. But rather than pressing her, Hunter only nodded his head a bit as he continued to lay there.

"Whatever you bring me," he whispered as she walked off, hardly seeming to even hear him. "Princess."

He had so much going on though, so many things that Stephanie had no (known) dealings with, up at the company, that he hardly had time to focus on what he could only assume was one of her typical petty issues. She was more mature, fine; but she was still a whiny little brat at her core. And though he never wanted anything to be bothering her, truly, Hunter also knew that she always came around eventually. She could keep secrets from everyone except him.

She'd either spill her guts or work whatever it was out internally.

His match with Flair however was not just something that could be put on the back burner. It was the most important thing in his life at the moment; it was all he thought about. He dreamed about it. He might have lost his title to Batista (and failed twice to reclaim it), but he'd take all of that out on Ric. All that anger and embarrassment. Resentment.

And then, when Batista was least expecting it, Hunter would end him too.

He'd end them all.

He was the fucking king. And anyone who didn't bow down had to be disavowed. Or, rather, disemboweled.

Still, his wife was a major portion of his life. And once he first realized something was up, it was hard for him to just turn off his knowledge. He noticed the way that she didn't plan any time for them two of them to hang around one another, like usual. Didn't sit up and watch TV with him, in the living room, late at night. Would stick around the company more than the house.

It was slowly becoming more clear to Hunter that there was a high chance that Steph hadn't brought the problem to him because she thought it was petty; rather, he was the problem.

This realization came to him a the week of Survivor Series, when Stephanie couldn't even be bothered to watch him work out, at their home gym, in those final days. It was something she lived for and loved, because it gave her a chance to pump him up and fill his ego (which was, admittedly, already tittering on the brim, if not a cup that constantly runnethed over), like she used to, back when they could hang out together, backstage. When they fucking ran backstage. Because as horrible as that all ended up, for their relationship, he could also pinpoint some of the best times in their relationship happening during those days.

It was somewhat of a reliving, when they were together, in their basement, and she was pumping him up again. Like the old days. When she was out at ringside with him. And he underappreciated what that did to him. Because it did a lot. Getting to show out for her, having to preform for his woman really put him on another level. Steph brought the best out of him.

Which is why he needed her in the week leading up to his match with Flair. He wanted to be at his peak and he was only there with Steph pushing him. But she refused to train with him or even be around him for the most part.

And he was completely aggravated by it.

The Friday before the match, in fact, she called and told him that she wouldn't be making it home in time to workout together.

"I have to stay late and work on something," she said as he only sat there, at the house, dead faced regardless of the fact he was on the phone. He couldn't help it. He was that pissed. "I'll be home super late too. So you'll probably be in bed. Love you though."

"Yeah." His tone was rough. "Love you too."

But he wasn't in bed when she got home around eleven. He was up, in the living room, waiting on her.

"You should be in bed," Steph scolded at the sight of him sitting there, with only a lamp on halfheartedly flipping through a book. "You need a good night's rest today and tomorrow. You-"

"Sit down, Steph." He leaned fowrads, to plae the book back on the coffee table. "We gotta talk."

"H-Hunter-"

"Sit."

There was no play in his tone. Slowly, she came further into the room, moving to drop her purse on the floor before doing so.

"What's going on? Baby?" Steph was reaching over to lay a hand on his shoulder, but he turned it from her, frowning heavily. "Why are you-"

"Don't bullshit with me, Stephanie." Staring down at her, he asked, "I'm not stupid. Tell me what the fuck is up with us."

"I don't know-"

"For the past two weeks, you've acted like you hardly want to be around me. And when we are together, you're thinking up ways to get away from me. And if this is was any other time, I wouldn't fucking care, but I have a damn serious match coming up. So if this is something stupid, just say so and we can move on. What-"

"Hunter-"

"Just tell me whatever it is so that- Why are you shaking your head?"

She was too. Quite forcefully. Shirking back away from him, she sat against the arm rest as she stared at the man with her wide, blue eyes, as if fearful. Hunter only continued to glare at her though.

"Stephanie… What? What's wrong?"

"I..." Again, she shook her head. "I can't tell you."

"Steph-"

"It's not… I'm not cheating on you."

He blinked. Then his eyes got even darker. "I never fucking thought you were. What-"

"O-Oh, well-"

"Are you?"

"I just said I wasn't."

"Stephanie-"

"Don't get like that." She could see it in his face. The way he was taking more breaths through his nose than his mouth and how he was starting to get far more red. "It's not that… Hunter..."

"Just fucking tell me," he ordered as he glared. "Because now I'm getting angry and-"

"It's not anything… It's my fault," she said as, shifting from facing him, she sat forwards then as she hunched over, burying her head in her hands. "I.. Last time..."

"Stephanie, what?" He was still all fired up, of course, but concern was creeping into Hunter's mind then as well. Shifting closer to the woman, he slowly reached out to lay a hand on his back. "Just tell me. What's wrong?"

"I… L-Last time it all went to shit because of me lying and you're going to think I am again, but-"

"Stephanie-"

"I'm..." She ducked down a bit, as if bashful as she lifted her head to stare at him. "I'm pregnant, Hunter."

For a moment, the house was still and they only sat there, staring at one another. Steph was watching his face, waiting for Hunter to do something, anything, to tip her off as to what he was thinking. But she was getting nothing out of him and it wasn't helping the situation.

"I didn't want to tell you," she gushed then, as if pleading with him, "because I know what happened, when I… The last time, and I'm not fucking with you now. You know that, right? I am, Hunter Seriously. It's not a game, like before. And I… And I know that you have all this serious shit up at work, but this isn't just for attention. I just don't want your attention, like the last time. I wasn't even going to tell you until after Survivor because I knew that you would think… That… Hunter, honestly, I'm sorry."

A few second past after she finished before slowly, reaching up to rub at his jaw, he whispered, "Why?"

"I… You know that we weren't, like, trying or whatever, but we weren't going to, like, not try and I wasn't going to be on birth control or whatever and-"

"Not why are you pregnant, Steph." His hand fell from his own jaw then to reach over and cup hers, forcing the woman to stare up at him. "Why are you sorry? And why were you so afraid to tell me?"

Breath catching, Steph leaned into his touch as she whispered, "Because I thought you'd be mad. Or wouldn't believe me. Or think that I was just trying to-"

"To what? Distract me? From what? My match? Fuck Flair. Fuck the stupid company." Visibly relaxing then, he leaned forwards a bit, forcing her to lock her eyes with his. "And fuck what you did years go. Fuck what I did. I did horrible things to you and you did horrible things to me. We're not even lose to the same people. Don't ever think I'd hold any of that against you. You hear me?"

Steph was silent though as Hunter gently nuzzled his face against hers. Just sat there, still waiting.

Eventually, she softly asked, "Then...you're happy?"

"Baby, the fuck would I be if I wasn't?" And when he pulled back, Hunter was grinning. Not that cocky one that he used around everyone else, out in the ring, or with his friends. But the true one, the real one that he reserved for when they were at home, in moments like they were having right that second. Laughing, just a bit, he wasn't sure if it was from relief or excitement, but Hunter felt something inside. Something...real. "We're gonna have a baby, Stephie?"

Nodding a bit, she grinned as well. "Yeah."

"You're so fucking perfect." And he was leaning forwards again, that time to wrap his arms around her. "Mmmm. Dang, Steph. Had me all worked up. And don't ever apologize for something like this. Having my baby. I've waited my whole life for this."

"I just thought," she began as they separated following a kiss he pressed to the top of her head, "that it would seem… I dunno. You were home, most of the summer, after your injury and then I got pregnant? When you went back to work? When you've been so invested in everything that's not at home? It would seem like I was...doing it again. That I was trying to drag you away from your work or-"

"You're not like that anymore. And I know it. And if you think I've been…" He sighed then, heavily. "I should have noticed it, you know? When you started...being distant. But I've been so preoccupied with work-"

"You just have a lot going on."

"I have nothing going on. Not anything that's more important than you." Then he grinned, reaching for her again, though that time, it was to gently pat her stomach. "And nothing more important than this."

Grinning, she stared up only at him as she said, "I love you, Hunter."

"I love you so much, Stephie." And he leaned forwards again, to press a kiss to her cheek. "You mean so much to me. Don't hide stuff like this from me. I love you, baby. God, I love you."

She was turning her head then, to catch his lips, and it wasn't long before they found themselves back in the bedroom, all thoughts of him getting that good night's sleep out the window. As they laid awake later, Steph stroking at his chest, Hunter found himself speaking again.

"When can we tell everyone?" he asked her softly. "I wanna tell my parents."

Steph shut her eyes at that. Hunter might see her as a different person then (and she was, oh, she knew that she was) and his family was nice enough about their rekindling (they hadn't had much of a choice), but…

"I don't wanna tell mine." And they were a completely different story, Linda and Vine. "Literally ever."

"Well, that's because yours are shitty. Mine though? Fuck, they're so good at being grandparents already. I can't wait. I've always wanted this." Smiling in the darkness, he glanced down at her, watching as she continued to stroke his flesh gently. "This is everything, Steph."

"Mmmm." Everything had been so stressful, since she first feared she was pregnant, and it had been weeks since then. Weeks actually knowing for certain that, yes, she was pregnant, and no, there would be no easy way to break it to Hunter. Now, both lying there in seeming bliss, she felt stupid over ever worrying. "I did ruin your night though. Now you'll be tired in the morning, and you need to train and then get on your plane and-"

"Shuddup, Steph. 'bout that. I'll deal with that tomorrow."

"It is tomorrow."

But he didn't care anymore. At all. He'd been so worked up, first over Ric and then over Steph, and now he was just…

He couldn't explain it. In the morning, in the real morning, he'd get back into game mode. He'd be back to himself. Focused. Prepared. Ready to rip Ric to shreds. Prove himself. But for those few hours, he just wanted to be happy. To be excited. To not think about work or his pride or anything else. He had new pride. He was going to have a baby.

It still felt unreal.

"If guys around the lock room thought I was a flake before," he told Steph as her hand stilled and she seemed to be falling asleep, resting against him, "they'll think I'm fucking ghost now. When I have my kid, I won't have time for nothing else. I don't wanna do nothing else. It's been you and me for so long. Now it's gonna be us and our baby. Shit, Steph. I love you, baby."

Humming softly, she hardly moved as he patted her gently on the head. If he didn't want some good sleep, fine; but she definitely needed hers. Which was fine. Hunter knew, after all, that this wasn't anything new to her. The pregnancy. Just to him.

Steph shifted away from him, a few minutes later, to rest on her other side, and Hunter only followed suit. Snuggling right up to her back, he wrapped an arm around her stomach, resting his hand flat against it as he stared over at the blinds that covered the window, just resting.

On Sunday, he'd leave his former mentor, the man he'd idolized for years, bloody and beaten in the ring, to be led out on a stretcher. He'd become his own master. And Evolution would, officially, just something in his past, to forget to about.

As great as that would feel, with him and his hammer, watching Ric bleed out in that ring, and later, when he met up with Steph, to hear her brag him over it, the moment he'd just had? With her? In the living room? Nothing that company made him feel would come anywhere close to that.

He could be complete, right then, lying in bed with Steph. Never step foot in a ring again and be fine. Because he'd be having a little boy (or fine, maybe a girl) soon enough. The summer, if he was counting the months right. By the summer, he'd be a completely new person. With new goals. All surrounding his new baby. WWE could never be uttered in his presence again and he'd be just as well without it.

But he still wanted it. He wanted him son (or daughter) to see it. One day. How masterful he was in the ring, how commanding. How the entire arena was at his disposal. It was his kingdom. And he ruled over all. There was nothing more powerful than him. And his kid would see that.

And one day, if the kid wanted it, Hunter would teach give it to him. Or her. Whatever. Teach 'em everything he knew. When his reign was done, he'd have someone there to carry it on. To keep everyone in that fucking company in their place.

After all, it wasn't much of a show when a Helmsley wasn't around to make it one.

"You were so good tonight, baby," Steph mumbled to him after Survivor Series, when they met up at a hotel, where she was all ready to shower him with praises and kisses and all the usual things that made winning all the more worthwhile. "Do you know what it's like? For me? To watch my husband, my man, destroy someone else? Someone like Flair? You're so strong. You're so perfect. Talented. You're so far above everyone else. You're everything."

Hunter agreed with most of her points (they practically fact), but mutter then, as they fell back in the hotel bed together, "This is everything." He'd been serious, since walking into the arena that afternoon, but now it was starting to catch up with him. What he'd just done, what he had waiting before him. And, cupping Steph's cheeks in his hands, he pressed a kiss to her forehead as they shifted, so that she was resting on the bed and he was leaning over her. Softly, he told her, "You're everything. You're carrying my baby, princess. What else is there?"

Bowing her head a bit, she whispered, "Nothing."

Hunter grinned, one hand stroking at her cheek. He snickered a bit before agreeing, "Damn right."