*rises from the fog* Thought I was dead, huh? Heh, not really. I've been around. Just really quiet. A few years back Regal kind of fell out of the "eternal muse" position and everything I tried to write as far as that re-write I kept talking about for Reaching Towards a Reality...just wasn't working. I had hit an all time writing slump. I would dabble in a really short scene here or there, but not enough for a coherent story. Then I became single again. And found comfort in a new muse: Professional Wrestling. The Undertaker to be exact. Because that man is goddamn sexy I tell you. Everything about him is wonderful. Sure, we can say I've been living under a rock since he's been wrestling for years before I was even born, but stuff happens, okay? _ Stuff happens.

Anyway, since he's been my muse, I've been writing a ton. This is a small bit of the random stories I've been writing. Its inspired by an author on here whose work I love love love love love love love! Their name is Takersgurl35 and they have a boat load of love stories between Mark Calaway aka The Undertaker and a female lead character that changes with each story. But they are all great and if you're into those kind of stories I'd suggest you'd take a look see.

I'm not making promises on if I will continue the two chapters I'm about to post. Tried doing that for Reaching Towards a Reality and look where that got me. School tends to burn my attention span and rear its ugly head when I'm the most in the mood to write. Again, no promises, but I'll give it my damnedest.

Mark in this story no way portrays who the real man is. Then again I'm not entirely sure. I would love to get to know the guy but hell we can't always get what we want. This is simply a fictional story. Obviously Mark hasn't retired, yadda yadda yadda. Begins January 2004.

Read and Review!

"Cassie, you wanna get another crate of Budweiser from the back?" Trevor yelled across the room.

The waitress placed the pair of mugs filled to the brim with amber liquid on the table next to her. "Sure thing Trev!" She replied back, taking long strides to the storage room. She smiled when she found the right crate, taking a deep breath before lifting it in her arms. Heavy lifting was one of her favorite things to do around the bar. Made her feel a little more empowered. Things may have been different now but she remembered how rough a start she had working here at "Trev's", a local bar in Houston Texas.

She came in looking for a job, timid and nervous as hell. He had taken her as such, leaving her to waitress and that was it. Treating her as a delicate little flower of some sort. Wasn't much her style though, she was a tomboy through and through. Slowly she and Trevor warmed up to each other, the latter having advantage with an ability to read people. He caught onto her true personality, and did his best to suit her needs working here. So he gave Cassie jobs he wouldn't usually dare to have a woman do and straightened out the excessively sexist "neanderthals" as he liked to call them, that tried to get fresh with her. Sooner or later most of the men around the bar treated Cassie like their own mother. Hell, after a month of working here, its what she damn well felt like. The bar had a homey feel to it she couldn't shake. And she loved the excess testosterone. She grew up with only brothers, and as a result had a better time laughing and joking with men then most feminine women. And they could all be super protective, which she didn't mind from time to time. The bar was like her home away from home.

"Thanks Cassie." he said smiling at her as she set the crate down.

She grinned at him. "No problem." She looked over at two large men in the corner and frowned. "I think Jason and Bill are getting into it again."

Trevor shook his head. "Christ, I'm gonna ban those two from this place one of these days."

Cassie smiled as she watched Trevor make his way to the two disgruntled men. He was well built, just not as tall or bulky as half the guys that drank here. But he still had a way with them without having to get in a scuffle. Shaking her head she started putting glasses away. Hopefully he wouldn't get a black eye. An hour later she heard the front door open. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw who was standing there.

He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt, blue jeans and leather boots. A dark blue bandana was wrapped around his head, his short auburn hair spiking out from the top. Black shades hid his eyes. Tattoos decorated his massive arms. His long legs covered the distance from the door to the bar easily. With his height he would practically towered over Cassie, if the counter didn't stand between them. Slowly he sat down on a stool, it creaking slightly under his weight. Mark Calaway was a lot bigger in person. Cassie knew that pretty well, but actually seeing him in person was a whole new experience.

Cassie cursed at herself to get her hormones under control. He'd been in here plenty of times before when she worked. He usually stayed in the back corner of the bar though, where Trevor attended to him. Didn't like to talk to anyone much, Trevor would say. Said he was kind of a pig too, so he made a point for her to not approach him. She couldn't help but wonder what he was doing here at the counter tonight.

"Taker," She mumbled quietly, giving him a curt nod and placing a bottle of beer in front of him. He always had the same thing when he came here. She was just that obsessive to remember. Cassie was very obsessive when it came to things to know about the Undertaker, a professional wrestler. Not only that, but her favorite professional wrestler. She only had the impulse to watch so long as Taker would be fighting that night. He was simply amazing to observe, being as big as he was and watch him fly off or over the top rope. There was also something so satisfying about watching him deliver a big boot to his opponents faces. Unfortunately, he was buried alive by his brother Kane, and no one had seen him since. Whenever he came in to the bar she wanted nothing more than to rush over to him and bombard him about questions regarding his work and get to know him more. But Trevor strongly recommended against it. That, and she had enough sense not to gush over a celebrity. She'd rather he not have a negative impression of her.

Mark's olive green eyes slowly drifted up to her. This had to be the first time she had ever engaged him. He was surprised to find her as the type to recognize him, let alone watch wrestling. A girl with her looks had to have more important priorities. "Listen here, little girl. Don't call me that here, alright?" His voice was far from menacing, but wielded an underlying warning tone to it.

Cassie's face turned beet red, eyes shooting down to focus on the glass. "S-sorry sir." Her response sounded so adolescent. How old was this girl, he wondered.

A frown marred his face as he took a long pull of his beer. Sir was no better. Made him feel old. But he wasn't in the mood to correct her. Hell he wasn't in much of a mood to talk to anyone tonight. His recent lay he had been seeing decided she wanted something more serious. That wasn't his way as of recently, so he broke it off. The whole ordeal made him sick to his stomach. It brought back unwanted memories of his still fresh divorce with Tracy, wife number three. Being retired on top of it gave him way too much free time. Much of it was spent drinking himself nearly to death here at his favorite bar.

Didn't change the fact that he didn't know the waitress very well. He was pretty sure Trevor said she started a month ago. The days for Mark just kind of blurred together half the time, so at some point she just suddenly appeared. Didn't make the least bit of difference to him. Nothing wrong with a nice piece of ass to stare at while getting drunk as a skunk. Mark took another long pull of his beer, his eyes inconspicuously following her.

Noting his bottle was empty, Cassie got him another beer. Well damn he thought, this woman was a keeper. "Rather I call you Mark then?" Her eyes avoided his as she moved around behind the bar. She had some cahones, talking to him like that. There was a slight defiance in her voice he picked up on.

Mark grunted in response. "That works just fine. Do me a favor and pour me a Jack Daniel's too, little girl."

No words were said as she pulled out the small glass and the alcohol, pouring him a shot. Smart woman, he thought. Last thing he needed tonight was to be butting heads with a little girl like her. Though he couldn't for the life of him think of her name. Pretty sure it started with an M…or was it a C?

Mark shrugged to himself as he owned the shot in one go. The waitress watched him with one eyebrow raised, curious as to what he had been thinking about. His mental processes were etched pretty clearly across his face, she just wasn't sure as to what those thoughts were. Unhappy was the one emotion she could pick out glistening in his now slightly intoxicated gaze. Maybe he was having woman troubles. Seemed like the type. "Another." his deep voice rumbled out of him.

She stared at him a moment before doing so. What harm could it do him, she figured. He's massive. Probably takes alcohol like a champ.

Another hour and a half passed, as well as five more shots of jack for Mark. His head was resting on the bar now, with arms folded around it to shield his face. Cassie shook her head at him as she cleaned glasses.

"Cassie!" Trevor called out to the woman behind the bar. He was standing on the dinky raised stage they had. "Come on up here and sing us a little something, will ya?" He heard her singing sometimes when she would close up for the night. He loved her voice and he knew the guys would love it too.

Cassie had gone beet red in the face. "N-naw man, I'm good. Thanks though." She hollered back playfully. She was met with a stray hoot or shout from the crowd egging her onto the stage.

"Aw, come on Cass!" Everyone in the bar started cheering her on, wanting to hear her sing.

A minute or two passed before she caved, putting down the glass she had been drying. She took long strides to the stage, climbing up to the microphone.

"What are ya gonna sing for us?" Trevor asked quickly as he adjusted the stand for her height. She stood for a moment, contemplating what she could sing that they would like. She wasn't a natural born country girl, but she had started listening to it in her last couple of years in college and only knew a few songs. There might be one she could use, she thought, her eyes drifting to Mark's hunched body. It was a little sad, but it would have to do. Quickly she bent and whispered in Trevor's ear, making him smile softly as he passed the request onto Steve playing the guitar.

Cassie turned to the audience, her legs shaking nervously. Her face was boiling hot in a near permanent blush. These guys might have been like family, but it didn't matter how close she was to anyone; performing always made her nervous. "Hey everybody. Feeling a bit somber tonight, so here's a personal favorite of mine. Here's to those who've loved and lost." With a nod to Steve the quiet music began to play.

"She put him out,
like the burning end of a midnight cigarette.
She broke his heart,
he spent his whole life trying to forget."

She was met with a light roar in support when the crowd recognized the song.

Mark raised his head at the voice. He had pushed himself into enough of a drunken stupor that he had tuned out everything going on. He hadn't noticed the waitress climb on stage and start singing. She wore dark brown leather boots, faded blue jeans that hugged her lower torso in all the right places, a white tank top and forest green flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows that was a size too big for her, falling way past her bottom. Its color accentuated her green eyes. Light brown roots started to show, fading into her golden hair was long and feathered, framing her round face. She was breath taking, he had to admit. Quietly Mark watched her, soaking in the sadness her words spoke to him.

"We watched him drink his pain away a little at a time,
But he could never get drunk enough to get her off his mind.
Until the night,"

The woman had a set of pipes on her, he gave her that. A bit shaky, but he couldn't blame her. She was probably nervous. Mark cursed at himself for the inability to remember her name.

He watched her take a deep breath and close her eyes. About to continue, she opened her eyes again, her gaze connecting directly with his. He could feel his heart thumping fast against his ribcage. Her eyes were a deep mossy green, sparkling with a sadness that reflected from the stage lights. Her stare made his breath catch in his throat.

"He put the bottle to his head, and pulled the trigger.
And finally drank away her memory.
Life is short, but this time it was bigger
than the strength he had to get up off his knees."

Mark couldn't recall hearing a more beautiful voice. Getting past her nerves, she belted out with a little more oomph, turning her voice soft and angelic. Raw emotion poured out of her voice. She sounded so sad, and it killed him wondering why. A stray tear had escaped from her eyes.

"We found him with his face down in the pillow,
with a note that said 'I'll love her till I die'
and when we buried him beneath the willow,
the angels sang a whiskey lullaby."

Her brow knitted in concentration as she continued to sing the song. Each note was slow and melodic, singing a sad tune only for him. Mark managed to tune out everything around the two of them, watching her intently. He could feel his heart breaking at the remorse in her voice.

Trevor, who had taken over the bar, caught a glimpse of the emotion Mark was letting show on his face. He was a regular around here, and always made sure to appear as a stone-faced neanderthal who didn't give a rats ass about anybody or anything. After retiring from wrestling he had gotten a real sour attitude, but blessed the bar with his lack of tongue…unless he was excessively drunk some night. Trev knew there had to be something more behind the man, and this moment right here proved it. Course, he was intoxicated, but that didn't make too much of a difference, right? His gaze wandered over to Cass, pondering how he could get these two to get together. They seemed like they could use each other's company badly.

Song is Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss