Patience

Chapter 1

"Sava, we need you out there in 20."

Savalyn nodded in acknowledgement, sitting in the makeup chair being dolled up before going out in front of thousands of people to announce matches. Howard Finkel 'The Fink' had taken Savalyn under his wing the moment she stepped foot in the WWF almost 8 years ago. Damn, had it really been that long already? She walked in thinking she would be working backstage, but the moment Howard laid his eyes on her, he saw potential. The women in the WWF were for show for the most part, the whole 'sex sells' type of deal and Savalyn didn't want to be portrayed as a bimbo. So Howard approached her with the offer, after talking to Vince McMahon, their boss, to do ring announcing and Savalyn immediately took a shine to it, having a photographic memory helped immensely.

Having a photographic memory did help because all she had to do was see a performer's stat sheet once and she had it memorized for life. Or until the updated version was presented to her. Howard could not believe that the idiots who had hired her almost wasted her precious talent on something as mind numbing as becoming another bimbo. There was a place for it, no doubt, especially in this business, but Savalyn was definitely one of a kind. Also, the first of her kind and him being her mentor, of sorts, was a point of pride for Howard. If she could make it, she'd go down in the history books and not be brushed under the rug like forgotten dirt. And he'd be someone who had helped her get there in the process, so she would have appreciation for him.

Howard was not only her mentor and trainer, but also a great friend Savalyn often confided in. He helped her with whatever questions she had regarding the wrestlers' stats and whatnot, especially if there was a change. For the most part, she had every single one of them committed to memory. Smiling once Stacy stepped back to allow her to look in the mirror, Savalyn grinned at the reflection staring back at her. Foundation, thin black liner and a silver shadow that made her pale blues pop. Her attire was always a dress of some kind, simple yet elegant. Tonight's dress was silver, long sleeved with a hoop neckline and it rested 2 inches above the knee. She also had silver heels on, silver bangles on her wrists and silver hoop earrings, not bothering with any other jewelry. Ring announcing was tough work, contrary to popular belief, especially since she had to stay out there for the duration of the show to announce every single match. Nodding when the final call for her to get out there, Savalyn fluffed her chestnut hair that was left down for the evening and headed out, joining Howard moments later.

Still doing main events, Howard remained the go-to announcer for pay-per-view events and Monday night Raw. Anything important, he took care of. It just depended on the line-up on that particular night. Savalyn had 'graduated', so to speak, and was manning Sunday Night Heat solo, though it wasn't a two hour show nor was it occasionally live. He reviewed her work, gave her pointers where needed, but for the most part the woman was a natural. She wasn't skittish either, which was something Vince had worried over. Vince had also noticed her potential, but compared to a lot of the boys, she was a tiny thing. When they decided to go 'all out', people who weren't professionally trained meatheads tended to get hurt if they didn't move out of the way quick enough.

So far, in the span of 8 years, Savalyn never once got hurt being at ringside and proved to everyone, including the head honcho of the WWF, she could do this. She had what it took to be possibly the best ring announcer, aside from Howard of course. Smiling at him, Howard nodded silently at her with his own grin and Savalyn immediately placed her game face on as the pyro went off for Sunday Night Heat. This was her show and where she shined most, her pale blues glistening under the lights above. The first match of the night was a hardcore match, pitting Hardcore Holly against Tazz. Clearing her throat away from the microphone, Savalyn stared into the camera and waited for the signal before beginning.

"The following contest is scheduled for one fall. Pinfall or submission. Coming to the ring first, from Glendale, California and weighing 235 pounds, HARDCORE HOLLY!" Savalyn had a voice that was warm as honey and intense at the same time, making her a perfect candidate for in-ring announcing.

A female ring announcer. The WWF never ceased to amaze or amuse him. She was precious looking like a little disco ball down there in the center of the ring. All that silver Savalyn sported made her glitter and quite visible to him up in the catwalks. Heat was not a show he generally graced, but... he had business here tonight. And of course, seeing Savalyn was quite the treat. The corner of his mouth curved into a smirk as he gracefully moved from one side of the walk to the other, one foot confidently in front of the other.

He'd make it a point to…drop in on her.

There was a chill in the air as Savalyn felt goose bumps erupt over her skin, half-expecting to see her breath when she breathed out. She could feel someone watching her, but then again she was in front of thousands of people. Heat was always taped prior to Raw kicking off. She was losing her mind and had to focus, managing to second-guess herself without actually showing it. Her work was flawless, very rarely did Savalyn make a mistake and tonight would not be one of those nights. Once she announced the second contest of the evening, Savalyn stepped out of the ring and sat down on the metal folding chair, looking over the list of matches and whatnot to make sure she didn't miss anything, even though she had the paper memorized. That chill never left her, though Savalyn did her best to push it aside and chalked it up to a momentarily lapse of insanity.

Sometimes being him had perks, such as having control over specific things. Also, talking people into seeing things his way. He could be so charming when he wanted too. Some things just didn't need to be 100% scripted, not everyone needed to be in the know and, when he spotted Savalyn rub her arms again, he smirked. She was having some minor issues from knowing she was being watched.

"Clever girl." He rumbled, watching her for a few more minutes and knew he had to leave the catwalk to get on with his plans.

Grabbing hold of the safety bars to the ladder and swung himself onto the rungs, working his way down. Spotting Howard watching her, out of sight, his smirk broadened. The Fink was about to have the rest of the night off.

The second match had ended and Savalyn looked at the clock, waiting for the signal to head back into the ring. The Hardy Boyz weren't having the best luck lately and had lost against Edge and Christian of The Brood. Luckily, their entrance with Gangrel spitting 'blood' or some kind of red liquid was on the opposite side of where she sat, so she wasn't sprayed with it. Stepping back into the ring once everyone vacated, Savalyn put the microphone to her mouth and stared into the camera, that chilling feeling increasing tenfold. Hold it together, don't fall apart, she mentally coached herself, taking a deep breath and kept the smile firmly plastered on her face while the crowd continued cheering.

Heat was ending and Raw would begin shortly. "Stop squirming or I'll eat your face with hot sauce." He threatened, baring his rather sharp teeth down at the struggling, bound and gagged Howard Finkel. It didn't surprise him when Howard's eyes widened and he stopped the squirming. "Now, you know me well enough to know this is going to play out one of two ways. Hard way. My way. Pick one."

Howard sighed through the gag and simply nodded.

"Good. Now try not to flinch."

The last thing Howard seen before he was knocked out was a flash of white, he was assuming Undertaker had grinned and then darkness enveloped him. Humming under his breath, Taker stooped to scoop up the smaller man, tossing him over his shoulder. He was playing budding cult leader on-screen, but truth be told he always did like to get his hands dirty. Quick pit stop to stash the Fink where nobody would find him until the end of the show and then his own fun could begin.

"Perfect."

Once the final match of Heat ended with Viscera of the Ministry of Darkness winning over the Corporation's Ken Shamrock, it was time for Savalyn to head to the backstage area. Or so she thought.

"Sava, stay where ya are, doll." Jim 'Good Ol' JR' Ross ordered, having pulled his microphone set from his head in order to speak to her.

"What's going on, JR?" She asked quietly, keeping her voice down so the fans behind him and Jerry 'The King' Lawler couldn't hear.

"Nobody can find Howard; we need you out here to announce the matches."

Pale blues grew wide in shock and all Savalyn could do was look back at the ring, wondering what happened to Howard. She'd never done a Raw before! "O-Okay…" Savalyn swallowed hard, knowing she would be LIVE and hoped her appearance looked alright enough to be on television. "I can do this, I can do this…"

"If you gotta throw up, do so now before we go live." Jerry suggested, deadpan. "No, seriously." He added when Savalyn looked at him with something that wasn't amusement in her eyes. "There's a bucket under the ring."

"You're helpful." JR scowled, looking at her sympathetically. "You'll do fine. You got everyone's stats down, and there's someone on the way to bring you the card list."

"Thank you, JR." Savalyn smiled warmly at him, knowing he was on her side with this situation and took another deep breath.

This was hilarious. Everyone was freaking out about Howard and Undertaker was busy ensuring his devil's beard looked appropriately sinister; his acid green eyes alight with amusement while feigning boredom. "Mideon... did you do as I asked?"

Mideon simply nodded, wrapping tape around his wrists.

One of the technicians jogged down to the ring and handed her the necessary paperwork before heading to the back. Savalyn decided to take this one step at a time, reading the first match with the contenders and set it aside, nodding. She took the microphone she'd used on Heat and stepped into the ring to face the camera. This time, she would be live, no mistakes could be made. With Heat, it was taped, so if she screwed up it could be nixed out of the program. However with Raw, this was all live and Savalyn had to get her nerves under control, standing there with squared shoulders waiting for the pyro to ignite on the stage. Bringing the microphone to her lips, Savalyn waited for the music of Raw to stop before announcing the first match of the evening perfectly.

She was handling it like a pro, which brought a small smile to some old nostalgic side of him, buried way down deep. Savalyn always was fairly decent at taking things in stride, definitely one of her more admirable traits. It also gave Undertaker a bit of a challenge. Spooking Savalyn wasn't the goal tonight, but it was a side amusement; if he could do it, he would. If not, well... another time. When Mideon handed him a blueprint, he took it and opened it, gesturing his minions around to begin laying out tonight's plan.

"This one... this one leads up underneath where the ring is set up; they used to use it for theater." Taker explained, tapping where he would be heading. "And Mideon has already prepped." He looked at his men. "Everyone know what they're doing?" The chorus' of 'yes' wasn't surprising. He hadn't picked these men for nothing; each had been chosen for a reason. "Good. Go on. We need to start moving now." He was nixing his robe tonight; the last thing he needed was for it to get caught on something.

It was one of the qualities Howard saw in her that nobody else had. After the first hour passed by, Savalyn looked at the paper again and swallowed hard, knowing the Corporation and the Ministry of Darkness had been feuding lately. She stepped back inside the ring with a smile and began the announcement of the Corporation's Test. She ignored him trying to get her to loosen up and merely shook her head, keeping the smile on her face. Suddenly, the lights went out in the arena just as the microphone rose to her lips and Savalyn felt her heart nearly jump in her throat, the sound of the Undertaker's theme – The Ministry of Darkness – blared through the speakers. What the hell was going on? Savalyn slowly took a step or two back, feeling her back press against the ring ropes and knew she couldn't go anywhere without some kind of light.

Mideon had done a great job. He was able to navigate the path easily, his men, minus Viscera, who risked getting stuck and thus was scheduled to face Test instead. Test – what horrible ring name, he thought in a sneer.

"Up." It was a mere command all of his minions followed without preamble.

Taker stepped aside, watching them all climb up and out. He followed behind, inhaling the scent of the canvas, sweat and grime. He loved his work. Feeling along the edge catching the loose thread that marked his entrance, Taker began tugging until he was able to get a finger hooked. Holding the material taut, he felt for the waistband of his tights, procuring a small knife and got to work. Savalyn's first night soloing RAW would definitely be memorable.

This wasn't funny, not anymore and Savalyn was literally stuck in the ring where she stood. She managed to move along the ropes and pressed back against the turnbuckle, pale blue eyes wide. Test was cursing, trying to figure out what was going on as much as she was. Savalyn could not lose her concentration and focus, no matter what was happening. How the HELL did Howard deal with all of this? Undertaker was known for breaking script and doing things his way; she knew him better than most. When the lights slowly came back up, Savalyn could only swallow hard at the sight of a giant standing in front of her. Apparently, she picked the wrong turnbuckle to stand against.