Chapter 1

Mia held her breath as she waited to see what the decision would be. This had gone on for too long. It was time to put an end to this madness.

"Cena, you are officially rehired."

Mia sank into a chair, exhaling loudly. Thank goodness! John was back. Her relief was short-lived, however, as all members of the Nexus suddenly jumped him in the ring. She watched in horror as Wade Barrett struck him across the back with a chair, then shook her head as she turned away from the monitor. Why was this still going on? It just wasn't fair.

Later, she made her way to the trainer's room, where John was being examined. She walked in just in time to see him grimace as the trainer prodded the back of his head.

"Will he live?" she asked, frowning at him as she crossed her arms across her chest.

John responded with an overly cheerful thumbs up.

"For now. Hold still!" the trainer quipped, prodding him again. "This is getting to be a regular occurrence. I'm starting to be concerned about permanent brain damage, you know."

"Already there." Mia replied with a grin. John sighed.

"This is really starting to get out of control, John. When does it end?" Mia continued. "I'm really starting to worry about you."

"It ends when I've beaten every member of Nexus, including Wade Barrett. It ends when I destroy them one by one."

Mia shook her head. "This has to stop John. Before someone gets seriously hurt."

"Are we done here?" he asked the trainer, before grabbing his shirt and heading toward the door. "See you later, Mia. And don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

Mia watched him stalk off, then grabbed her bags and headed toward the parking lot, her mind wandering as she walked. She was truly worried about John. This 'feud' with the Nexus was really starting to take its toll on him. Over the past few weeks, his whole demeanor had changed. She knew he had good reason to be upset. But still, she didn't like the direction that things seemed to be taking.

Always upbeat, they had become fast friends when she first joined the WWE. He was always the first one there to offer her advice, help her with her workouts or come up with new ideas for her to try in the ring. Occasionally, they traveled together, but Mia had placed strict limits on that from the beginning. She knew how the rumor mill was and she didn't want any unsavory gossip getting back to John's wife. Not when it would put even more unnecessary stress on him.

But now? Now he was frequently short tempered, withdrawn, just a shell of his former self. He seemed so...broken. And it was all due to Barrett and his gang of thugs. The constant harassment, the beatings, the threats. It seemed like it was just getting to be too much for John to handle on his own. Mia hoped that Barrett would soon grow bored with his games and move on to someone else. She just hoped that things would reach their inevitable conclusion before someone got seriously hurt.

Passing one of the referees in the hall, Mia stopped him. "Did you see John come through here just a few minutes ago?"

"Yeah" he replied, pointing in the general direction of the parking lot. "I think he was headed out back, toward the semis. I think he may have parked out there earlier."

"Ok. Thanks." Mia tossed up her hand as she turned away. Hopefully, she could catch him before he left. She hurried in the direction the referee had pointed.

"Hey Mia! Wait up!"

Startled from her thoughts, Mia looked behind her to see her friend and fellow diva, Kelly, heading her way.

"I was looking for John. Have you seen him?" the blonde asked, as she stopped in front of her. "I found some paperwork he left back there on one of the trunks. I think it's from the head office. I thought it might be important."

"No, I was just looking for him myself." Mia answered, reaching out to take the documents from Kelly. "Someone said they thought they saw him headed out back toward the trucks. I'll see if I can't catch him and give it to him."

"Thanks. I won't keep you." Kelly stated, waving as Mia turned and walked away.

Glancing down at the documents as she headed toward the back parking lot, Mia shook her head. John was an amazing person. So energetic. So passionate about everything he did. He was an action guy, a go-getter. In everything he did, he always gave his all. Everything, that is, except paperwork. The mundane details of the business bored him to tears. He had neither the patience nor the attention span to deal with it. While he offered her professional advice and in-ring guidance, Mia often times found herself reading documents or advising him on contract negotiations, usually at the last minute possible. She had tried and tried to find a system that would work for him, to no avail and she'd finally resigned herself to the idea that she would likely be his own personal secretary for most of the foreseeable future. Although it really wasn't such a bad price to pay for such a dear friend, she supposed.

Walking through the corridors, saying "hello" to a few co-workers as she passed by, Mia made her way to the back parking lot, pausing in the large open doorway as she glanced outside. Night had fallen several hours earlier and the sparse lighting provided by two meager street lamps did very little to illuminate the large slab of pavement along the back of the building.

"John? John, are you back here?" she called, glancing from side to side. There were a couple of cars parked across the lot from where she stood and she studied them carefully, but nobody appeared to be inside either one of them.

Movement in the shadows off to her right caught her attention, and she turned in time to see something pass around the front of one of the big rigs parked beside the building, moving away from her. She hesitated briefly, then dropped her bag on the ground, stuffing John's paperwork into a side pocket. Stepping out into the night, she headed in the direction of the truck.

"John? If you're trying to avoid me, you blew it. I already saw you!" she yelled, frowning.

"John?" she called again, when there was no response. "I told you, you're already busted. Come out, come out where ever you are."

Reaching the front of the truck, she jumped when a large black cat sprinted from under the vehicle toward the grassy lot on the other side of the pavement.

"Stupid cat! Geez!" she murmured, her hand on her chest as she tried to still the frantic beating of her heart. She leaned forward and peeked cautiously around the front of the truck, searching for the man she knew was there.

The sound of screeching tires behind her made her stop. Turning partially in her tracks, she froze in place as two bright beams of light washed over her. As the car bore down on her, her mind screamed for her to run, her feet refusing to listen to the command. Later, she would relive what happened next over and over in her mind, remembering details that seemed to stretch out over minutes, but in reality only lasted seconds. She recalled the sound of the car engine, the brightness of the lights. Someone shouted something, she couldn't make out what. Then she felt herself being pushed...hard. Her first thought was that it was the car, knocking her off of her feet, running her down. Then she felt the hardness of the concrete beneath her. Felt the sharp stab of pain as her elbow struck the unforgiving pavement. Felt the breeze from the car as it flew past her and into the night.

She lay motionless, stunned, knowing she had been hit, waiting for the pain she knew would come. Then she became aware that someone was with her. And whoever it was, they held her in a very strong grip. Confused, she attempted to struggle to her feet, the pain in her elbow flaring as she tried to raise herself off the ground. Then she felt herself being pushed back against the cold concrete.

"Lay still." a deep voice growled. "Are you hurt?"

Mia froze, her breath faltering. She would know that voice anywhere. There was no doubt. His accent gave him away. It was the cocky Englishman himself, Wade Barrett. The faint light from the street lamps was just enough for her to make out the yellow lettering on his t-shirt.

"I'm fine." she stammered, regaining her composure as she tried to get up again. "Let me go."

"Be still." he growled, pushing her down a second time. "Did you hit your head? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." she repeated, finally meeting his gaze. "What...what just happened? Who was that?"

"I don't know." he replied. "I couldn't see who was driving."

A commotion from across the lot caught Mia's attention and she suddenly found herself surrounded by paramedics, referees, and a slew of other people that she didn't even recognize. All of them fussing and fawning over her, asking the same questions...Are you ok? Are you alright? Are you hurt?

Mia shook her head slowly as they helped her to her feet, wincing at the pain that flared in her elbow. She grabbed her arm and held it close to her protectively.

"Better get that checked out" one of the refs said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let's get you to the trainers."

Mia nodded, then paused for a moment to look around. Somehow, in all of the commotion, Wade had disappeared. Shaking her head in confusion, she scanned the crowd, searching for him for a moment longer. Then the ache in her arm won out and she reluctantly gave herself over to the pack of concerned coworkers around her, following them as they jostled her back inside the building.