Bittersweet

Chapter 1

Jaxine had no idea what she was thinking as she walked through the arena door, following the two men she was currently working for, her golden amber eyes adverted to the concrete flooring. Her black hair was piled up on top of her head in curls, a few strands framing her face delicately. She wore a black tank dress that went two inches above the knee with two inch leather knee high boots, fishnet nylons on her legs. Big, silver hoop earrings dangled from her ears and she had a huge silver cross around her neck, a blood red jewel right in the middle of it that matched her painted lips. Her eyes were outlined in black with charcoal eye shadow against her porcelain skin. Sighing heavily, she wondered why she even took this job in the first place. She knew why. The offer was too good to pass up.

Paul Bearer walked beside his son quietly, knowing Kane preferred silence in the hallways, not wishing to speak in front of others who would all look at him oddly for using a voice box. His own vocal cords too damaged from the fire he was in when he was a little boy to use. "In here." He murmured, opening a door and letting Kane step in, ushering the girl in after him, his black beady eyes darting around before nodding, assuring himself all was well before closing the door behind him.

Sitting down on the couch and crossing one leg over the other, Jaxine finally lifted her head and scanned the room, her eyebrows drawing together, furrowing slightly. Paul Bearer had been the one who found her in the bar of her home in Chicago not long ago and hired her to be his son's valet. She would follow him around while he did his job, down to the ring. It didn't appeal to her, the thought of following men around, but if it paid as well as Paul promised her it would, she wasn't going to let it slip through her fingers.

Kane stood in a corner, watching the woman through his mask. His long brown hair covered his masked face, keeping his eyes hidden from view. He tilted his head to the side, wondering just what she was doing here. He had listened to Paul's explanations of him needing a valet, something to boost his appearance, but just didn't understand. She didn't even look like she wanted to be here. He glanced at Paul.

Paul frowned, sometimes wishing he knew what the hell was going on behind that mask. "Well..." He cleared his throat, clapping his hands together.

Jaxine didn't move from the couch as she leaned back against it, already knowing she was going down to the ring with Kane, the big red and black masked monster in front of her. Her eyes adverted to the floor, her hands in her lap, wondering what was going to happen now. This was Paul's plan after all so what was she supposed to do. He still hadn't told her what her duties were and almost wished she hadn't taken this job when she noticed an evil gleam in his black beady eyes. She kept her mouth shut, refusing to say a word unless she was spoken too.

Paul decided he might as well introduce them, since the pair would be working together after all. "Jaxine, this is my son Kane." He said slowly, gesturing for her to stand up, knowing most women tended to be intimidated by the masked monster that stood near seven feet tall. He looked at Kane expectantly. "Kane?"

Kane took a slow step forward, his body rigid as he stared at her.

She slowly stood up, smoothing her dress down with her hands, which had blood red long fingernails attached to them, natural of course. "Hello Kane." Her warm honey voice said, nodding, before turning her golden amber eyes on Paul. "What exactly have I been hired for?" She inquired, deciding she couldn't wait to find out in time. She wanted to know everything up front and sighed when he simply said she was there to make his son's appearance look good. Right. She wasn't buying it and decided to wait to have a moment alone with Paul to find out the truth.

Paul arched an eyebrow when she sighed, looking at Kane. "You have a match in thirty minutes son, why don't you go take a shower?" He suggested to his son.

Kane shifted slowly, staring down at the overly plump man.

Didn't this boy ever move fast when he wasn't in the ring? Paul sighed mentally, already knowing the answer was a firm no.

Kane glanced at Jaxine before lumbering into the bathroom, the door closing softly behind him.

As soon as he was in the bathroom, Jaxine seen those cold dark eyes of Paul's turn on her and swallowed hard. "He doesn't know." She stated, seeing him nod, and sighed heavily as she leaned against the wall with her arms folded in front of her chest. "If I'm going to do this job, whatever it is, right Paul you don't think I should know what's going on and the whole story behind it?" She inquired softly, never one to pick a fight or get into a confrontation. Jaxine only fought when she needed too.

Paul frowned at her, rubbing his fat chin thoughtfully. He grunted when he heard the shower running, knowing Kane would be as quick as possible, not liking to see his own scarred body. "Look, the less you know, the safer you'll be. What you do need to know is this, Kane is quiet and he's slow. He has a temper, but you should be fine. Just go out to the ring with him. You're here to keep his brother from...torturing the boy. The Undertaker is his name and, trust me; you shall know him when you see him. If you must know more, I'm afraid it will have to wait until later."

The Undertaker? Jaxine felt her eyebrow rise as she nodded, fully understanding when she heard the shower sprays shut off. "Very well, thank you Paul." She replied before sitting down on the couch, crossing one leg over the other and kept her eyes focused on the floor. Kane had a temper so she would make sure not to anger him in any way. Walking out to the ring with him wouldn't be that hard either; she would just have to stay out of the way unless otherwise directed. Sighing, she heard Kane walk back inside the dressing room and knew they were leaving in a few minutes for his match.

Kane adjusted his leather glove, watching Jaxine curiously. He was still wondering what on earth had possessed Paul to get him a valet. Did the old man really think he was that damn lonely? Finally he flicked his wet hair back from his face, knowing it would wind up hanging down again, but shrugged it off. Jaxine could get a good look at his odd, mismatched eyes if she wished, though if he caught her staring, he might hurt her. Any comments on the red and black mask would also lead to an instant tombstone.

Jaxine stood when it was time to leave, walking out behind Kane with Paul behind her, her eyes remaining on the ground. She ignored the eyes that followed her every move, ignored the murmurings, ignored everything around her. She was a master at doing that, not caring what they thought. If they wanted to think she was Kane's whore or whatever, that was fine with her. She was here to do a job and make money to survive, nothing more nothing less.

Kane frowned when he felt Paul nudge his back, glancing backwards and frowning when the little man nodded towards Jaxine, cocking his head to the side. Sighing, he climbed into the ring, reaching down to her, hands outstretched.

"Take his hands." Paul muttered in instruction from behind her, smiling and nodding, clapping his hands.

Swallowing hard as she stared back at him before stepping forward, Jaxine slipped her tiny hands in his massive ones, blinking before Paul came around to stand on Kane's other side. What was the point of this? She didn't understand what was going on as she stared back into his mismatched colored eyes. She sighed with inner relief when his opponent's music sounded and felt him release her hands before Paul ushered her out of the ring, holding the rope open for her before arriving on the outside.

Kane frowned, his head snapping up when he heard the music, wondering if this imbecile had a death wish for interrupting him before he'd even finished. Once again flicking his hair back, he stepped into the middle of the ring and just waited.

"Ooh Kane, nice...very nice." HBK Shawn Michaels laughed, hopping around Paul and Jaxine, looking her up and down before sliding in the ring, dancing in time to his music. "Where can I get one of those?"

Jaxine's amber eyes narrowed slightly, her fists clenching at her sides, not believing the audacity of this man. She looked over at Paul and then back in the ring, a smirk spreading on her lips when she seen Kane take the man by the throat and lifted him up in the air, choke slamming him straight to hell.

"Well so much for THAT match..." JR stated in the headset that broadcasted across the globe alongside his partner, Jerry 'The King' Lawler.

"Puppies, JR! Puppies!!"

Kane dropped down to his knees, laying over the knocked out HBK, getting the count of three. He had just gotten to his feet when he heard a laugh that haunted his dreams, blue eyes widening with rage.

"That would be the Undertaker." Paul said in Jaxine's ear, trembling as he edged closer to the ring.

Kane was looking around for the source of the laughter, finally sliding out from the ring ropes and taking Jaxine by the hand, tugging her urgently towards the ramp way.

"Oh, Kane..."

Jaxine's eyes widened along with Paul's and Kane's, swallowing hard, that laughter sending a chill down her spine. She fell to her knees because Kane was nearly running and she was half his size, only going so fast. "Kane stop!" She shouted feeling like her arm might be yanked out of socket and screamed out when flames shot up on the ramp way, stopping them dead in their tracks. Jaxine fell back against Paul, who proceeded to tumble down the ramp way, doing a few somersaults before finally stopping while Jaxine ducked as Kane freaked out upon seeing the fire.

It took Paul a full minute to regain his footing, struggling against his own body to stand upright. His eyes widened when he seen Kane hunched over on his knees, head buried in his hands. "Jaxine, calm him down!" He ordered, panting like a dog, waddling to stand by her, breathing like he might have a heart attack.

"Burn, Kane, burn." The voice whispered demonically, echoing throughout the arena.

She nodded and crawled over to kneel in front of Kane, seeing how much torment was in his mismatched blue eyes, and gripped his face in her hands. "Kane, it's alright." She whispered, knowing he could hear her since she was saying it in his ear. Though the panic wasn't gone yet as the lights suddenly went out, causing Jaxine eyes to widen, the entire arena being blanketed in darkness. "Paul? Kane?" She called out, still on her knees, having released Kane's face as the sound of bells began to toll throughout the place.

Kane remained in the kneeling position, not bothering to look up. He knew what was going to happen. His brother was going to take him on yet another journey through his own personal Hell.

Paul hid behind both Jaxine and Kane as the Undertaker made his way out to the stage, cowering when the Phenom surveyed the three, looking imposing in his black wrestling tights; black fingerless gloves. Long arms were covered from shoulder to wrist in tattoos. His long hair hung down his back, his green eyes intense and adding to the perfection that was the Undertaker, a black tear drop etched into his skin beneath his eye.

This man was downright frightening as Jaxine stumbled to her feet, no longer worried about Kane as she slowly backtracked down the ramp way, her amber eyes widened. She gasped when she felt Paul shove her forward and whipped her head to face him, eyebrows furrowing, seeing the fat man was making her the sacrificial lamb to save himself. "Oh my god..." She whispered in disbelief, hoping against hope Kane came out of his current panicked state. "Kane!!"

Hearing her voice, Kane roused himself, shaking his head and shooting to his feet quicker then most people usually believed possible. One of the things that were most surprising about him, he was normally slow and took his time unless angered. Then he moved. He met his brother halfway up the ramp, the pair beginning to throw punches at each other's head.

Sighing with relief as she stopped backtracking, though she dodged to the side when they made their way toward her, Jaxine swallowed hard. Paul was gone, having disappeared as the two men ended up in the ring. Jaxine had to stay by Kane's side unlike his wretched father, her amber eyes narrowing slightly, shaking her head slowly back and forth before smacking the mat. "Come on Kane!!" She shouted, wincing when he was dropped on his head and swallowed hard when the Undertaker's acid green eyes met hers.

He stared at her, his face a perfect mask, hiding anything he might be thinking or feeling as he studied her. 'Taker slipped through the ropes, standing on the edge of the canvas, just staring down at her.

Behind him, Kane had sat up.

Her eyes were captivating; he had never seen anything like them. They reminded him of melted butterscotch in an odd way.

Jaxine slowly stepped back, out of the corner of her eye seeing Kane had sat up and was slowly making his way out of the ring toward him. Their eye contact broke when Kane hit the Undertaker from behind. She wrapped her arms around herself and cringed physically when Kane was driven into the steel ring steps, covering her mouth with her hand. She ignored the voice in her head, telling her to run, seeing Undertaker had grabbed a steel chair and ended up blocking Kane from the blow.

"Kane, Kane you have to wake up, please wake up!" She pleaded and spun around, blocking her job from being dismantled as she stared back into the Undertaker's eyes again.

"King, Undertaker is gonna hit that woman!"

"She must have a death wish..."

He glared down at her, nostrils flaring. He had seen something on the back of her neck and tossed the chair aside. "Turn around." He ordered finally, his voice dark and deep, leaving no room for argument. When she just stood there gaping at him, he physically spun her around, his eyes narrowing as he took in the burn, tracing it with a finger. "What is this?" He demanded evenly.

Jaxine was physically trembling against him, though when he touched her scar; she whipped around, covering the back of her neck. "Nothing." She stated, knowing for the moment she had distracted him from hurting Kane and slowly backtracked up the ramp, the audience cheering on the Undertaker. Jaxine seen Kane slowly start making it to his feet as she disappeared through the curtain and took off running down the hallway, wondering what the hell she'd gotten herself into.