DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the wrestlers mentioned within this story, though there are one or two I wouldn't mind owning. The original character is the creation of my imagination. No malice is meant towards anyone with this story so, please don't sue me.
A/N: I don't remember why I started this story but, I recently finished it. My good buddy, Lizzie, read it and told me it was post-worthy so... here it is. I hope you all enjoy it. Oh, and, Lizzie... you're still the better writer. Deal with it! lol. Much love to all, Phoenix.
Christopher Daniels made his way through the halls backstage at the Impact Zone. The scowl on his face let everyone know he wasn't in the mood to be approached. His new gimmick was coming along nicely but there were still one or two areas that he knew he needed to concentrate on in order for it to be well rounded and believable. Not that he'd ever had trouble with being believed, before. He smirked to himself as he reminisced over how shocked the crowd seemed to be at his heel turn.
As he rounded a corner, he came across a rather scruffy looking female. He stopped in his tracks, snapping back to reality and trying to work out who this girl was. She couldn't have been more than seventeen years old. If his memory served him correctly, which it usually did, he'd never seen her before. The only question that came to mind now was 'what is she doing here?' Taking a calming breath, he caught the girl's attention by speaking to her.
"Excuse me, can I help you?" The Fallen Angel queried. The girl focused on him for a moment before looking off down the hallway in the opposite direction.
"I don't think you're meant to be back here, unless... you're waiting for someone?" Daniels tried again. From what he could see, she didn't have a security clearance pass around her neck.
"Petey." The girl barely whispered, still focusing on the hallway.
"Petey Williams?" Daniels asked, just to be sure. The girls eyes snapped back to his immediately. She nodded.
"Does he know you're here?" He wondered. He was surprised at seeing a single tear weaving it's way down her cheek as she shook her head.
"Are you... a friend of his?" Daniels questioned, trying to get more information out of her. All he got was another shake of her head.
"Family?" He tried. A spark of hope flashed in her eyes and she nodded. Daniels took a moment to think over what he should do next before speaking up again.
"Come with me, then. We'll see if we can find him for you. But, if you turn out to be some crazy stalker, there'll be trouble." He vowed.
The girl nodded again to show she understood. The Fallen Angel took one last look at her before continuing on down the hallway in the direction the girl had previously been looking. Glancing over his shoulder, he noted that she was following him, though she didn't seem too certain about doing so. He decided to try again at getting information out of her.
"My name's Chris. What's yours?" He wondered, speaking over his shoulder as the girl trailed behind him a few steps.
"Gemma." Her whispered reply barely reached his ears.
"Pretty name, Gemma." He offered a small smile, hoping to get one in return. Nothing.
By this time, they'd reached the open catering area. Glancing around the room, Chris spotted Petey off to one side; seemingly engrossed in conversation with Jerry Lynn. Chris's mood changed, yet again. Jerry was one person Chris really didn't want to talk to right now. His continued interference of anything Jerry was doing was obviously getting on the other man's nerves so... wait. Interrupting a conversation would just add to the conflict. That would further their animosity... this could work out in his favor.
"Petey's over there." Chris told Gemma before heading for the two men. He didn't look over his shoulder, merely assumed the girl would follow.
"Hey, Petey, there's someone looking for you." Daniels spoke up loudly, interrupting the conversation with a smirk.
"Yeah? Where?" Petey wondered, turning his attention to the newcomer.
"Right... wait. Where'd she go?" Chris pondered, turning in circles to scan the room upon realizing that Gemma wasn't with him. She was nowhere to be seen.
"It was a she?" Petey asked, a flirtatious smile spreading across his lips.
"Yeah, a teenaged girl. Said her name was Gemma." Daniels explained, distracted by the fact that the girl had disappeared.
"Gemma? Are you sure?" Petey queried.
"Yeah, I'm sure. That's about all I got out of her, other than your name. I swear she was right behind me coming in here." Chris mused, hoping he wasn't losing his mind. The look on Petey's face let him know that maybe he wasn't.
"Petey, you okay?" Jerry spoke up, placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder. The Canadian had paled slightly.
"There's no way Gemma could be here. She's in Windsor, man." Petey stated, confused.
"Who is she?" Chris questioned, needing confirmation of the meager information he'd gotten from her.
"She's my little sister. I'd know if she was here." Petey figured.
"I... I don't know what to tell you other than she's here somewhere. I saw her. I spoke to her. She seemed pretty upset about something." Chris stated firmly.
"Let me know if you see her again or if anyone else mentions seeing her, okay? I'll see if I can find her... but, she shouldn't be here..." Petey mused, heading off in the direction Daniels had come from.
"You're not intentionally messing with his head, are you?" Jerry asked the bald man in front of him after a moment of silence.
"No, I'm not – I didn't even know he had a sister. It's kind of messing with my head, though. I saw her just as clearly as I'm seeing you now." Chris admitted, brushing a hand over his face.
"Well, maybe she is here for some reason that Petey doesn't know about." Jerry shrugged.
"Maybe. But how the hell did she disappear so quick?"
"She could've just gone back the way you came instead of following you in here. Though, that doesn't make much sense if she said she was looking for Petey. Did she see him in here?" Jerry questioned.
"I think so. She was beside me in the entranceway when I spotted you two. I told her he was over here." Chris explained.
"Weird. What does she look like? I'll keep an eye out for her." Jerry decided.
"She's a little shorter than Petey, I'd say 5' 2. Now that I think about it, she does look a little like him. Darkish curly hair, it was kind of going everywhere and tangled. Clothes looked kind of dirty and stuff. She was a mess." Chris remembered.
"Even stranger. You going to be okay?" Jerry asked hesitantly. Chris knew he shouldn't take it as kindness... though Jerry did seem slightly worried.
"I will be as soon as someone else says they've seen this Gemma girl here." Chris assured the other man before walking away.
Petey ran through the backstage area of Soundstage 21 at Universal Studios. The mention of his sister had unsettled him slightly. He was almost a hundred percent certain that there was no way she could possibly be in Florida. She'd dropped him off at the airport for his flight here and told him she'd see him when he got back. Petey ran into Booby Roode's locker room and startled the three occupants of it.
"Bobby, Tracy, EY, have any of you seen Gemma?" He asked, slightly out of breath. Tracy shook her head before becoming distracted again by what she'd been doing before he'd arrived.
"Nope, can't say that I have. Family members aren't meant to be backstage... you know that, right?" Bobby queried, reminding Petey of the new rule TNA management had put into place thanks to Raven's new wife and his ex getting into an argument at a taping.
"I know, I know." Petey nodded before turning to Eric Young.
"I didn't know she came with you. She hasn't even said hello to me, if she's here." Eric frowned.
"She didn't come with me, that's the problem. Daniels said he saw her and spoke to her but she disappeared when he brought her to find me, for some reason. Let me know if you see her, please?" Petey pleaded.
"I'll keep an eye out. Both eyes, even." Eric assured his friend.
"Thanks, EY. I'm going to go ask Johnny if he's seen her. It'd be just her style to ditch me for him." Petey attempted to smile, hoping that was what she'd done. He left the locker room and headed towards a mostly unused hallway.
Johnny Devine had recently been recruited into Raven's new group – Serotonin – and Raven insisted he and the other two members stay away from the bulk of the talent on the roster. James Storm almost had Petey convinced that Raven was brainwashing Johnny, Matt Bentley and Frankie Kazarian. They just weren't quite the same people since joining Serotonin. Upon finding the right hallway, Petey counted the doors until he found the one he was looking for. He knocked hesitantly and stepped back slightly when the door was practically thrown open.
"What the hell do you want?" Raven greeted him irately.
"I... um... was just wondering if I could speak to Johnny for a minute? It's important." Petey felt like he was wilting under Raven's intense stare.
"Johnny? Oh, you mean Havok. You'll have one minute, not a second more." Raven decided, closing the door as he stepped back into the room. A moment later, the door reopened and Johnny, or Havok as he was now called, stood in front of Petey.
"Hey, man. You haven't seen Gemma today, have you? Daniels said she was looking for me but, she disappeared on him just as he found me." Petey rushed the question out, hoping to make good use of his one minute.
"Nope." Came the simple reply.
"Okay. Well, if you do see her, can you let me know?" Petey hoped. Johnny looked over his shoulder, back into the locker room before looking back at Petey.
"I can try." He whispered quietly. Petey nodded in understanding.
"Thanks, I really do appreciate it."
"If I get caned for it, so will you." Johnny vowed before stepping back into the room and closing the door.
Petey took a deep breath, his concern for his friend briefly outweighing his confusion about his sister's appearance – and disappearance. Figuring there wasn't much he could do to combat Raven, Matt and Frankie on his own, he decided to continue his search for clues as to his sister's whereabouts.
Chris sat at an otherwise empty table in the catering area. He couldn't for the life of him work out where the girl had gotten to. He was certain she'd been there – how else would he have been able to tell Petey the name 'Gemma'? He groaned and rubbed his hands over his bald head, leaning his elbows on the table. When he looked up again, he almost fell out of his seat. Gemma was sitting across the table, staring straight at him.
"Gemma?" He queried, rubbing his eyes just to be sure he wasn't seeing things. She nodded.
"Why did you run off? Petey's looking for you." Chris told her, sweeping a glance around the room to see if either Petey or Jerry were there. Just his luck that they weren't.
"You weren't helping me. You wanted to annoy the guy with Petey." Gemma replied, her voice ringing with what he thought was anger.
"What? Who told you that?" Chris questioned, confused by how she could know that. Gemma shook her head.
"It was obvious. I really do need to talk to Petey, though." She sighed, the anger gone from her voice, only to be replaced by a kind of longing.
"So, go find him, then. He's around here somewhere." Chris shrugged, deciding he'd had enough of this strange teenager.
"I would if I could but... I'm lost." Gemma motioned around the room.
"Fine, I'll help you find him. But, no disappearing this time, got it?" Chris stated firmly.
"Got it." Gemma nodded, a smile finally gracing her lips for a brief moment.
"Good. I'm guessing he went to either Bobby, EY or Johnny. Maybe James." Chris mused as he got to his feet.
"Maybe, what? I just got here." The unmistakable Southern drawl of the Tennessee Cowboy, James Storm, spoke up behind Chris. The Fallen Angel turned to face the other man.
"I figured maybe Petey had gone to see you. You seen him?" He wondered.
"No, I ain't seen him. At least, not for more than a second as he went running by me about a minute ago." James smirked.
"Very helpful, James, very helpful." Daniels rolled his eyes.
"Since when am I supposed to be helping you, baldy?" James shot back, swigging on his ever present bottle of beer.
"Forget it. I'll find him myself. Moron." Daniels muttered as he stalked out of the catering room. He checked over his shoulder and was somewhat relieved to see that Gemma was following him as quickly as she could.
"Stupid, no good, redneck, son of a..." Chris mumbled as he walked, his anger at James' antics not abating.
"I've been saying the same things about you... more or less." Jerry smirked as he walked past. Chris spun on his heel, ready to confront the other man, when he suddenly noticed something.
"Goddammit, not again!" He vented, his hands moving up to rest on top of his head.
"Excuse me?" Jerry wondered, raising an eyebrow.
"Not you... Gemma. She was just following me a second ago... we were going to find Petey again." Chris sighed, his arms dropping to hang at his sides in defeat.
"Are you sure?" Jerry questioned, glancing at the hallway they were currently in – there wasn't anywhere for a person to hide.
"Yes, I'm sure." Chris assured him, motioning to James as he headed their way. "Ask him, he was just talking to me."
"Ask me what, now?" James wondered, coming to a stop a few feet away from The Fallen Angel – for safety's sake.
"Did you just see Chris in the catering area?" Jerry asked James.
"Yeah, so what?" James nodded.
"Was there a teenaged girl with him?" Jerry inquired.
"Hell no. He was kind of talking to himself as I walked over, though." James remembered.
"I wasn't talking to myself, I was talking to Gemma!" Chris defended.
"Sure, whatever you say, man. All I know is, there was no one else there." James held his hands up and backed away just slightly. Something was seriously up with Chris and he didn't want it blowing up in his face. Chris was somewhat surprised when Jerry followed suit, backing away.
"Oh, come on!" Chris fumed, throwing his hands up in the air.
"I think you need to stop with this Gemma stuff. You got Petey worked up already... the joke's over." Jerry told him, shaking his head in disbelief that Chris would stoop that low.
"It's not a joke. How would I have known his sister's name? She just told me she was lost so I said I'd help her find Petey... I swear I'm not making this up." Chris tried to get the other two men to believe him.
"Whatever you say, Chris. Tell your imaginary friend I said you're crazy." James chuckled as he took the chance and walked past Chris, pressing as close to the far wall as he could in order to do so.
"I am not crazy!" Chris yelled after James before stopping to look at Jerry. "Am I?"
"Is that a trick question? I've considered you crazy for years." Jerry shrugged.
"Not helping." Chris groaned, once again rubbing a frustrated hand over his head and face.
"You say you saw her... whether I believe you or not doesn't matter. What does matter is that I'm seriously going to kick your ass if I find out you're doing this to hurt Petey. Keep your focus on interfering in my matches, got it? He doesn't need you messing with his head." Jerry warned.
"I'm not trying to mess with him!" Chris reaffirmed as Jerry walked away.
Chris leaned back against the wall behind him and slid down to sit on the floor. This was getting beyond weird. Why was it that no one else had seen Gemma – not even James, considering she'd been sitting right in front of him in catering.
"What the hell is going on?" Chris muttered to himself.
"You're still not helping me." Gemma spoke up from beside him. Chris jumped, almost right back onto his feet.
"Where did you come from? You weren't there a second ago..." Chris questioned.
"I need to speak to Petey. You're the only one that can help me but you're more concerned with yourself." Gemma frowned.
"I am not! I've been trying to help you this whole time but you keep disappearing on me!" Chris ranted.
"Please, find Petey, now. I... I can't wait much longer." Gemma told him sadly.
"Fine, I'll find him. Just don't disappear again." Chris urged. Gemma seemed to think it over and nodded slowly.
Chris got back to his feet and waited for the girl to do the same. Once she was ready, he led the way down the hall again. Every other step he took, Chris looked back over his shoulder to make sure Gemma was still there. She was following, a few paces behind. As he looked back from one such check, Chris didn't have enough time to stop before running into someone. Steve Borden. Sting.
"Whoa, watch it, Daniels." Steve spoke up, grabbing hold of the other man's shoulders in order to keep him from falling.
"Damn it... get out of my way. I don't have time for this." Chris vented, trying to push past.
"Calm down, calm down. You look a little... haunted. You okay?" Steve wondered, flicking a glance over Chris's shoulder. Chris caught the look and stared at Steve incredulously.
"You can see her?" He whispered in disbelief. Steve seemed to sober up, slightly, and focused on Chris again.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He denied, letting go of the smaller man's shoulders. Chris glanced over his shoulder and Gemma nodded slightly.
"You can see the girl standing behind me, can't you?" Chris tried again.
"I've got to get moving... have a promo to shoot." Steve changed the subject, turning and heading back down the hall the way he'd come.
"Well... that was weird. But, at least now I know I'm not crazy." Chris figured. Gemma made a noise like she was clearing her throat. When Chris looked at her, she seemed to be pleading with him with her eyes.
"Right, finding Petey." Chris remembered and motioned for her to continue following him.
Coming out into the empty, open ring area, Chris stopped and once again surveyed the surroundings. He spotted Petey standing up in the bleachers, his cellphone pressed to his ear. Nodding at Gemma, he made his way up towards the smaller man. The look on Petey's face when he got there sent chills down Chris's spine. Petey looked pale and there were tears in his eyes, threatening to fall at any moment.
"Yeah, I'll be home as soon as I can be, I promise." Petey spoke into the phone before ending the call. He looked up at Chris and the tears finally spilled over.
"What's going on? Is everything okay?" Chris asked, reaching out a hand to squeeze Petey's shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting manner.
"It... it's Gemma..." Petey told him, taking gulping breaths of air to keep himself under control.
"Yeah, she's..." Chris started to say before he was cut off.
"She's dead."
Chris stared at the smaller man as if he'd told her that Gemma was, in fact, some kind of alien. That still couldn't be discounted as a theory, considering the girl in question was standing two steps away from Chris and Petey at that very second.
"Wait... what?" Chris questioned, needing to hear what had been said again as it hadn't quite made sense the first time.
"She's dead. Car accident... on her way home from dropping me at the airport. The police think she... she died instantly." Petey stammered, finally getting through everything he'd learned from the phone conversation with his mother moments earlier.
"But, she can't be. She's standing right there." Chris denied what he was being told, motioning towards the girl whose eyes hadn't left Petey at all.
"Drop it. She's gone, she's dead. You've fucked with my head enough!" Petey yelled, turning on his heels and heading for the top of the seating area. He needed to put space between himself and Chris or he was going to snap and deck the guy.
"Tell him I said Chip Birdy is still the stupidest gimmick ever. Quickly!" Gemma hissed in Chris's ear.
"Gemma says Chip Birdy is still the stupidest gimmick ever." Chris blurted, not thinking about it until afterwards. "Chip Birdy? Who the heck?"
Petey had stopped walking. His head had snapped up at the mention of the gimmick. He turned slowly, his eyes narrow as he took in Chris's appearance. Chris seemed to be waiting for someone beside him to fill him in on the whole 'Chip Birdy' thing... but there was no one around but the two of them. Petey took a moment to remember how much his sister had laughed at hearing about the gimmick.
"Chip Birdy was a golfer gimmick Scott D'Amore used years ago... like '97. I told Gem about it once and anytime she saw Scott after that, she always called him Chip. There's no way you could've just picked that out of the air." Petey figured, slowly heading back down the steps towards the bald man.
"I swear, I didn't. Gemma's here, she's been here the whole time. Just... not really here. I don't know. I know Sting saw her, even if James didn't." Chris stammered, trying to get his mind around the information he'd been receiving since finding Petey.
"She's still here?" Petey wondered, looking at Chris a little sideways, as if uncertain if the other man was going to start vomiting green goop like the girl in the movie Exorcist did when she was possessed.
"Yeah, right here." Chris nodded, glancing over at Gemma.
"You have to tell him the accident wasn't my fault. Someone ran a red... it happened too fast." Gemma pleaded.
"She says the accident wasn't her fault. Someone ran a red light. She says it happened too fast." Chris relayed the message. Petey's demeanor changed slightly, so Chris knew the other man had been questioning what had happened to his sister.
"And it wasn't Pete's fault either. If I'd left the airport sooner, like he told me to, instead of watching his plane take off..." Gemma trailed off, the meaning behind the words lingering in the air, unspoken.
"She says that it's not your fault either – she shouldn't have stayed to watch your plane take off." Chris informed him.
"What? Damn it, I told her to go straight home. She had an assignment to do." Petey vented, totally immersed in what Chris was telling him. There was no way he could refuse the things Chris was coming out with.
"Tell him I love him, mom and dad. I... I have to go now. Tell him I'm okay. Grams is waiting on me." Gemma told Chris as she glanced over her shoulder, towards the roof of the arena.
"She says she loves you, and your parents, but she has to go. She wants you to know she's okay, though... your grandmother's waiting on her." Chris spoke quietly, feeling a little choked up with the emotion of the entire situation. Petey nodded, taking a moment to fight back tears before replying with a sad smile.
"Go on, Gem. Gram's can't be kept waiting."
A moment later, a breeze seemed to flutter between Petey and Chris. How it came to be, neither of them bothered to question aloud. They understood that it was Gemma, on her way to whatever lay beyond the limits of physical death. Petey took a moment to wipe away the tears before catching Chris's attention.
"Thank you." He whispered.
"Don't mention it. But, um... could you do me a favor and tell Jerry and James that I'm not crazy? That she was here after all?" Chris hoped. Making sure people knew he was sane seemed somewhat important, though after what had just taken place, he wasn't so sure himself anymore.
"I'll do that now. Then I have to get permission to get out of here." Petey decided.
Chris nodded and the pair left the bleachers, heading towards the locker rooms. On the way, they came across Steve Borden who was just finishing up the shooting of his promo. He motioned for the two men to wait and as the cameraman lowered his camera, he headed straight for them.
"You're cleared to leave whenever you're ready, Petey. Family is important at a time like this." Steve told the younger man. Petey's jaw nearly hit the floor.
"How did you know? I mean... what the..." Petey trailed off. Chris laughed slightly.
"You did see her, you bastard! But, how did you know she was Petey's sister?" He wondered.
"I had an encounter with her earlier, probably before you came across her. Unfortunately, I couldn't help her quite the way she needed me to. I'm glad she found someone that could. After seeing the two of you in the hall, I went straight to Dixie and told her I'd been talking to Petey and that his family had suffered a recent loss and that he needed to go. She gave the all-clear." Steve explained.
"I... wow. Thanks, I guess." Petey stammered.
"Yeah, thanks for letting me think I was crazy." Chris shook his head.
"Sorry, Chris. If I'd said anything, she would've disappeared and possibly not been able to come back." Steve shrugged.
"I guess I'll forgive you, then. But, I'm going to need you to explain it all to Jerry. The more people can vouch that my sanity is intact, the better." Chris figured.
Petey and Steve shared a look, both knowing that Chris's sanity had been questioned long before Gemma's appearance on the scene. Now, though, he seemed to be taking it far more seriously. That and they were both surprised that Chris's arrogant attitude that they were all getting so used to seeing had mysteriously vanished, as if taken by the breeze.
The End.