A/N: I got so many requests for a sequel to I'm Alright that I decided to write one. This time around, I still don't own anything, but the songs that are used as the band's songs are by Evanescence.
The first song used is Going Under.
The second is Hello.
The third is My Last Breath.
The final is Breathe No More.
I used the same explanation of what a Slayer is that I did in another fic, Hiding Family Secrets.
Now I will tell you what I've done for you
50 thousand tears I've cried
Screaming deceiving and bleeding for you
And you still won't hear me
Don't want your hand this time I'll save myself
Maybe I'll wake up for once
Not tormented daily defeated by you
Just when I thought I'd reached the bottom
I'm dying again
I'm going under
Drowning in you
I'm falling forever
I've got to break through
I'm going under
Blurring and stirring the truth and the lies
So I don't know what's real and what's not
Always confusing the thoughts in my head
So I can't trust myself anymore
I'm dying again
I'm going under
Drowning in you
I'm falling forever
I've got to break through
So go on and scream
Scream at me I'm so far away
I won't be broken again
I've got to breathe I can't keep going under…
Trish Stratus nodded along with the beat. On another bench in the women's locker room, Lita was humming the tune.
From the doorway came the sound of snickering. Lita's head jerked up to look and her jaw dropped at the sight of who was snickering. "Dawn?!"
"Hi," the normally withdrawn and bitchy GM chirped. "Love the song, but I was snickering because I've heard people who have said that Wolf is only around for guys to listen to. I can certifiably say that all of ya'll definitely like Wolf though."
Every single diva that was in the locker room stopped whatever they were doing to stare in open-mouthed disbelief. Even though she'd been relaxing a bit over the past three months, this was not her normal behavior.
Before anyone could comment, Dawn's cell phone rang. "Hello? Xand, it's been forever since I saw you! What, are you kidding? July 4th weekend is our family reunion? And I must behave myself when I see Anya? Why? You have got to be kidding me! You aren't? Then who was stupid enough to appoint her the guardian to twin thirteen year old girls and an eight year old boy? Hallie was? Halefrek always was weird. You want me to call Oz to tell him? Okay, bro, I will. Take care of yourself, understand? I love you too...Bye."
After she had hung up her cell, she smiled at the divas. "Now for my real reason for coming here. I've already told the guys, but I forbade them from telling you. As all of you know, Wolf is definitely a band that the roster loves. That's why Stephanie and I decided that all the wrestlers and divas that want to can go to the show that's coming up in Watsontown, Ohio. Due to the fact that Watsontown is a very small town, we've managed to get enough tickets for everyone. It's only about three hours from Columbus, where both rosters will be next week. I won't be going, so none of you needs to worry."
They were all surprised by that last comment. Lita looked over at her, wondering when Dawn had started thinking that they hated her. Before she could say anything, though, Gail Kim sighed loudly.
"Why would any of us not want you to come?" she questioned. "We would probably like you if we knew you better. But you distance yourself."
Jazz continued where Gail left off. "Up until a few months ago, you literally were the Ice Bitch. Then something happened and the next thing we know, you're bouncing into the arena. Since then you keep thawing a little more each day."
Molly Holly, the self proclaimed virgin, finished the rant. "We really wouldn't mind getting to know you better. If you want to come, you're more than welcome."
Lita was the first one to start laughing. As the rest of the women stared at her, she managed to choke out, "She's the GM. You'd think she'd be the one inviting us to something but instead we're yelling at her before inviting her to join us."
Everyone else chuckled at the irony. Dawn smiled shyly at them before turning to leave. "If you want me to, I'll come."
Molly grinned. "Of course we want you to come. How many times have you actually seen all of us stop fighting long enough to rant at someone like we did to you?"
With a shrug, Dawn conceded. "Fine, I'll go."
"We usually go shopping when we reach Columbus. Since we're going there and then driving to the show, want to come shopping with us?" Lita felt like she should invite the GM. Besides, maybe it would offer an insight into the tall brunette.
Now they were all treated to a beaming smile. "I'd love to. Look, I'll see you all when we reach Watsontown, okay?"
"Okay," Trish agreed, "unless you want to travel with us."
She shook her head. "I spend most road trips riding with Stephanie, talking on my cell phone to one of my siblings, another relative, someone they told to call me, or some random person who has a problem that I need to fix."
Jazz laughed. "So most road trips your brother or sister calls or something? Don't you ever just tell them not to call so often?"
This time, it was the GM's turn to laugh. "Are you kidding me? I've got a huge family, so that would a pointless job!"
"Sit down and tell us about it," Gail invited.
After doing as commanded, she started to list her family members. "There's Faith, who's two years older than I am. Xander, Oz, Amy, Cordelia, and Anya are all four years older than me. Doyle is my brother-in-law. He's ten years older than Cordy, but he loves her. That is the only reason why no one ripped his intestines out for how long it took him to propose. And then there's Angel, Giles, and Wesley. They've all taken the place of a father in our lives. Well, Angel actually slept with my sister, Buffy, but that's a totally different story."
By now everyone's jaws had fallen on the floor. "Damn, you do have a big family," Jacqueline commented.
"I'm not done yet," she countered. "Spike is Angel's son and another dimension of our family. He has a wife, Drusilla and currently no children. Angel has another son, Conner, who is just barely old enough to start dating. Anya now has three kids, and Halefrek is like a cousin to us."
"That's it?" Lita asked in awe.
"No," Dawn corrected. "That would be all who are still alive. Buffy, Willow, Jesse, and Kendra were all four years older than me. Jenny and Joyce were both our mother figures. Pike was practically married to Buffy when she was a teenager, and was a really good friend. He died three years ago of AIDS. Graham and Riley died in the jungles of Peru and Riley's wife, Sam, was accepted into our family after that. She's actually still alive…I think, anyway. I'm fairly sure that that's our entire family. Oh, wait. Devon, who was one of Oz's band mates, died when he was twenty-four and I was 20."
"That's not a family," Molly gasped, "that's a freakin' zoo!"
"It certainly felt like it as a teenager," Dawn agreed. "Oh, I forgot to list Tara, Willow's girlfriend, amongst our dead as well as Merrick, who was Buffy's mentor just like Linda was Faith's. Both Merrick and Linda have been dead for over a decade now."
"You have a lot of dead," Terri said cautiously. The announcer did not want to piss Dawn off, but it was a valid observation.
"Don't I know it," she replied caustically. "All of us that made it out of Sunnydale alive, or well, like Spike and Angel, breathed enormous sighs of relief."
"Like Spike and Angel?" Trish probed.
"It's complicated," the GM answered. "If you don't believe in what we risked our lives for, then you wouldn't understand."
"But we don't know what you fought for, so we don't know if we believe in it," Lita pointed out.
Dawn pinned Lita with her gaze. "Do you believe in the supernatural?"
"No," the redhead answered immediately.
"Then you don't believe in the fight that cost my family dearly." She stood up and glared at them. "If you want proof, Cleveland's a good place to start."
"Cleveland?" the entire locker room repeated after she had left.
Matt Hardy stuck his head in the door in time to hear their chorus. "Why in the hell are ya'll askin' bout Cleveland?"
"Because," Lita explained, "Dawn started talking and she even seemed to believe in the supernatural. She said that if we wanted proof, then Cleveland would be a good place to start."
"So she's connected to the main circles then," Matt mused, "because not that many people know that the End of Days closed the Sunnydale Hellmouth. If a lesser connected person had recommended a Hellmouth like that, they would have suggested Sunnydale instead of Cleveland."
"Hold it," Trish gasped. "You do not seriously believe in the supernatural, do you? And what's a Hellmouth?"
"Exactly what it sounds like," Jeff spoke from the doorway. "It's a place where the barriers between this world and Hell are weakest. And of course we believe in the supernatural." He sighed. "It would be hypocritical if we didn't."
"How so?" Dawn's voice came from behind him. "Because I have no problem with supernatural creatures, but if you're evil, then I will slay you."
"Slay?!" both Hardys exclaimed in unison.
"Well, how else would I have known about the Sunnyhell Mouth?" she asked, amusement coloring her voice.
"Wait," Lita said slowly, "supernatural shit actually exists? Vampires and demons, the whole nine yards?" The other wrestlers, and virtually the entire roster were now crammed inside of the women's locker room, looked just as stunned.
"Yes," Dawn nodded. The Hardys murmured their agreement.
"Then how do the three of you know about all this supernatural shit?" Jazz asked. Well, it was more like she growled, but it was still a recognizable question.
"I'll let them go first," Dawn said, sitting down in center splits. The wrestlers gawked at how flexible she was. It wasn't that they hadn't seen other people that flexible, but they hadn't ever seen her be that flexible.
Matt and Jeff exchanged glances, clearly asking silently which of them should go first. "We're werewolves," Jeff stated finally.
"Controlled?" Dawn bit off immediately. "I have no problem with werewolves but if you aren't controlled, you will find yourselves tranquilized on the nights of the full moon."
"We have complete control of the beast," Matt answered. "A guy named Dan showed us how to control it when I was about twenty."
"Dan what?" Dawn had a good suspicion that she knew who they were talking about.
"Daniel something," Matt murmured. "He never told us his last name. I do know that he was gay and my age."
"I believe you." She smiled slyly. "Do you listen to Wolf?"
The two werewolves exchanged uneasy glances. "Yes," the older one finally replied.
"Have you ever seen pictures of the band?" she pressed onward. She was hoping that Matt knew that Oz was gay because they'd had sex together. Her brother needed a lover, a permanent one that wasn't only hanging around because of the fame. But Matt already had fame. And besides, he seemed to really miss Oz.
"No," Matt answered. "What's with the weird questions?"
"Don't you know," she grinned cheekily, "that I'm trying to get out of answering the question of what I am?"
"On that note," Jericho reprimanded, "please do answer the question."
The twenty-five year old sighed. "I'm the third longest surviving Slayer in countless millennia. One Slayer, the one who is said to have been the greatest ever, died twice during her time as Slayer but she spent almost nine years as Slayer. She was Called at fifteen and died at twenty-three. The longest was Called two years after Buffy was. Faith was barely fifteen then and she is now twenty-seven. I was Called at nineteen. I was the first Slayer to have ever been Called after their eighteenth birthday. I'm twenty-five today, which makes it six years I've been a Slayer."
"What exactly is a Slayer?" Edge asked. "And why is one needed?"
"Demons are said to have been the first beings to have roamed this planet. But God managed to put a stop to that and the side of good took control of the planet. The evil beings were forced to take a back seat to their counterparts. Ever since the side of good claimed the Earth, there has been a Slayer. A Chosen one to fight the forces of evil, whether it be vampires, demons or anything else Hell has the chance to think of sending to reek havoc or, my favorite, try to bring about the end of the world," she spit out. "Giles explains the Slayer prophecy much better, but I don't exactly like being a Slayer to begin with."
"Why not?" Scott Steiner asked.
"My sisters and I are the three longest surviving Slayers. We're also the three oldest. Does that tell you anything about our lifespans?"
"Oh," Jackie muttered.
"Wait," Lita interrupted, "what exactly are Spike and Angel?"
"Oh," Dawn smirked, "they're vampires with souls."
Playground school bell rings again
Rain clouds come to play again
Has no one told you she's not breathing?
Hello I'm your mind giving you someone to talk to
Hello
If I smile and don't believe
Soon I know I'll wake from this dream
Don't try to fix me I'm not broken
Hello I'm the lie living for you so you can hide
Don't cry
Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping
Hello I'm still here
All that's left of yesterday
The wrestlers were in the audience of the Wolf concert, Matt having closed his eyes so that he could absorb the music better. According to Jeff, this was typical of Matt. Dawn was simply breathing easier because she hadn't known what she was going to do if Matt had recognized Oz early. If he had, then her entire plan would have been ruined.
Up on stage, the lead singer, Michael Morrison, finished up the new song. "Well, our man Osborne wrote this song. He said at the time that he'd written it because someone he knew died. Whoever it was that died, I'm sorry for the family."
Hold on to me love
You know I can't stay long
All I wanted to say was
I love you and I'm not afraid
Can you hear me?
Can you feel me in your arms?
Holding my last breath?
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you?
Sweet rapture and life,
It ends here tonight.
I'll miss the winter
A world of fragile things
Look for me in the white forest
Hiding in a hollow tree
I know you hear me,
I can taste it in your tears.
Holding my last breath
Safe inside myself
Are all my thoughts of you?
Sweet rapture and life,
It ends here tonight.
Closing your eyes
You pray your dreams will leave you here,
But still you wake and know the truth –
No one's there.
Say goodnight, don't be afraid
Calling me, holding me, as you fade to black.
(Say goodnight) Holding my last breath
(Don't be afraid) Safe inside myself
(Holding me) Are my thoughts of you?
Sweet rapture and life,
It ends here tonight.
After the show, the superstars were getting ready to leave when Dawn stopped them. "Don't leave yet. We're allowed to go backstage, you know."
"What?" Stephanie asked. It was clear that the other GM knew nothing about this revelation.
Dawn smirked. "I asked someone I know if we could go backstage. He said that it was fine."
As they trooped backstage, the wrestlers were still staring at the young woman. "Who is it that you know?" Edge asked just in time for Oz to overhear it.
"She knows her brother," he answered.
"Dan?" Matt asked weakly.
"Matt?" Surprise colored his words even though it was rare for Dawn's older brother to give away anything by showing expression.
"Wait," Jeff said, "you're Dawn's older brother? But Dawn's a Slayer; wouldn't that have made her against werewolves?"
"I told you that I didn't have any problems with lycanthropes," she rebuked sharply. "Now, let's leave those two to their own devices."
Michael Morrison watched everything said with a small grin on his face. "Hey, Dawnie. It's been a long time since you came to a show."
"Yeah," she said dryly, acid dripping from every word, "a whole three weeks."
The bass player, Aria Cusseta, laughed at their antics. "Look, we're going out for dinner after we finish packing up. You guys want to join us?"
"Ummm," Oz muttered, "can Matt and I pass?"
"Yeah," the older Hardy asked, "can we?"
Dawn beamed. "Of course you two can. Remember, we'll be in Columbus next, same as Wolf."
"So," Jeff asked later, after everyone had eaten and the company and the band were deliberating about whether or not they should split up when they reached Columbus, "are we going to see my older brother anytime soon?"
"No," his boss laughed. "Seeing them would be a bad thing. This is a good thing. I need another person to add to my family tree."
The guys looked confused when the women and Aria laughed at her remark.
"Don't worry about what you don't understand, boys." Aria's tone simply dripped condescension. "We'll all meet at the hotel, okay?"
"Okay," Trish agreed, each of the other wrestlers nodding their approval of the plan.
"Bye Aria, Michael, Jamaal, Scott, Davis, and Devin!" Dawn called out as Stephanie's car sped away from the diner.
"See you in Columbus, Dawn!" was the answering shout.
I've been looking in the mirror for so long.
That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side.
Oh, the little pieces falling shatter.
Shards of me,
Too sharp to put back together.
Too small to matter,
But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces.
If I try to touch her,
And I bleed,
I bleed,
And I breathe,
I breathe no more.
Take a breath and I try to draw from my spirits well.
Yet again you refuse to drink like a stubborn child.
Lie to me,
Convince me that I've been sick forever.
And all of this,
Will make sense when I get better.
I know the difference,
Between myself and my reflection.
I just can't help but to wonder,
Which of us do you love?
So I bleed,
I bleed,
And I breathe,
I breathe now...
Bleed,
I bleed,
And I breathe,
I breathe,
I breathe-
I breathe no more.
A/N: Well, what do you think of the sequel? I couldn't make it work right as a song fic. Please review.
