Chapter 3

"Oh my gawd! I can't believe you just made me watch that! I'm NEVER getting to sleep tonight and it's all your fault!" Callie threw the pillow she had been using to lay on straight at John's face. Even from underneath it all she could hear was his laughing.

"What? You said you were having trouble picking a movie so I chose for us. I thought it was awesome. And damn that Katie Holmes is hot." John barely got all the words out between breaths.

"Ew, okay, the last thing I need is to hear my brother talking about a hot girl," Callie playfully cringed. "What was up with those little evil monster things? Geez, it's like the evil version of the tooth fairy…..ugh! And when her leg snapped backwards." Cal looked back at John again. "You do realize now that if I can't sleep I'm going to keep you awake all night too right?"

"Oh no. I have to drive us to Texas tomorrow for some promos and the next house show. I need my sleep!"

"Should have thought about that before making me watch that awful movie." Callie said matter-of-factly. Really she thought the plot line had been interesting but it scared the crap out of her. She was going to be hearing those little monsters whispering in the dark every time she closed her eyes.

John just laughed harder, knowing that eventually she'd get to sleep anyway. If there was one thing about Cal that everyone knew, it was that she really loved her sleep. It really didn't surprise him considering how much she worked. Usually she could be seen running around backstage like a chicken with it's head cut off. If she weren't dealing with set issues then she was running errands for other wrestlers or higher-ups. Her dedication to everything that she did was seriously impressive. Once again, though, John knew that had come from her upbringing. She'd been forced to excel at everything that she did because she hadn't had the advantages that others her same age had. That was another of those things that had strained his relationship with his father.

As long as John had known his father, they had always been close. Oh, they had their spats just like any other father and son while the younger Cena had been growing up, but they had never really let it get between them. Then, 3 years ago, after his mother's death, John had inadvertently stumbled across the truth about his father's infidelity. It had been the first real test of his love for his father. John never understood how a man could claim to love his wife still, and yet cheat on her when she wasn't looking. John himself had already been born and that made it hurt even more. Had his father not thought about the family that he had left at home while he was out doing who-knows-what with whoever he pleased? That had strained the two Cena men enough. But when John had finally confronted his father about the situation he got what was perhaps the biggest shock of his life. The older Cena had had a daughter with his mistress although he claimed to not have known about her until just 2 years before his mother's death; 5 short years ago. John's first question had been why? Why had he not been told anything about this sibling of his? Why had he been denied a relationship with his own flesh and blood?

The senior John had explained how it would have hurt his spouse even more to have an illegitimate child running around. Carol had already known about his wandering eye and the resulting affair. Telling her that a child had sprouted from it would have driven her from him completely. Especially since she had always mourned the fact that she had never had a daughter herself; something she had always longed for.

John had nearly lost it then, screaming and yelling at his father. Yes, he understood how his mother would have felt and it would have ruined her. But, the way he saw it, his father was only trying to save himself. He was more worried about Carol packing her things, taking John as well, and leaving him alone than he cared about her feelings. And even after she had died, why was he never told? Why didn't he just come out with it and let John know he had a sister? The elder Cena never had an explanation for that one. He only hung his head in shame and attempted to apologize on more than one occasion. Finally John had had enough of it and the two hadn't spoken for months.

But the thought never left him. Even while he was out on the road, wrestling in a new town every week, posing for photo shoots and signing autographs, he always thought about the sister he never knew. Was she okay? Did she know about him? Did she even want to meet him? Finally, one lonely night in Atlanta, Cena finally picked up the phone and called his father, demanding all the information the old man had about his sister. It turned out to not be much. Her mother, Violet, had died just 6 months after the baby had been born and Callie was placed into foster care. Because she was a ward of the state, she bounced around a lot and John Sr. had never really paid enough attention to keep tabs on her. All he knew was that she would be 21 years old and somewhere in the state of Texas, where Violet had moved to for work shortly after becoming pregnant. Violet had had a number of problems, not the least of which had been a very demanding drug addiction, which meant that she had already filtered through all of the friends and family that had been willing to put up with her. By the time she overdosed, there had been no one left to notify as next of kin or to care for Callie.

So began the long string of foster homes and government facilities. John quickly learned in his search that even though people had been taught that social services was there to help kids out and find them home, it was so far from the truth. Many of these children had been in the system for long they didn't even know what a family was. To them it was something that only existed in fairy tales and on tv. Many of the foster families were great when the social workers came for their home visits. After they left though, it was obvious many of these families only took the children in because they came with a government paycheck. Callie had been one of the unlucky ones who had never been adopted into a family. On her 18th birthday she had received no party, no presents. After packing up the few things she owned into a backpack she had been handed 50 dollars and sent on her way. Out into the Big D with nowhere to go and no friends to fall back on. To this day John still can't believe she had made it as far as she had.

When John knocked on her door on one dreary November afternoon they had both been dumbfounded. As he had looked down at the tiny person in front of him he found it hard to believe that they shared even a few of the same genes. She was roughly just five feet tall and couldn't have weighed more than 100 pounds, if that. Her tanned skin seemed to half come from the sun and half from pure genetics. The only thing that assured him that he had finally found the right person had been her eyes. They were a deep and bright blue; mirrors of his own. Maybe he would have been able to see more of a similarity had she not altered herself; her brightly dyed red hair and tattoos covering her arms. Somehow though, it had worked for her. He remembered looking down at the girl who had opened the door. "Ummm, hi. My name is John and I think you might be my sister….."

0000000000000000000000000000

"Helloooooooo. Earth to Johnathan!" John snapped back to reality to realize that Callie was waving her hand in front of his face. "Where the hell were you?"

"Katie Holmes' bedroom…" he trailed off with a goofy grin on his face knowing the reaction he would get.

"Oh come on dude! Think with the head on your shoulders just this once!" Callie flew into a fit of giggles as John lunged for her across the bed and proceeded to tickle her in her ribs, deftly avoiding her kicking feet. Once he stopped and both had regained their breath, John turned to Callie.

"So, CC how goes the set up for England? Still fighting with those contractors?"

"Aw, John why'd you have to ruin the night by talking about work? I was hoping to forget about that retard." She laughed at the sentiment. "If you insist on bringing it up, why don't you tell what you guys have in store for Wrestlemania this year? I've been too busy to pay too much attention to those meetings other than my part in the design. Which is almost done, by the way."

"Not too much. The usual, you know?" John's bravado swelled to fill the room. "I make my usual awesome entrance, the fan are enthralled and I leave the winner!"

Callie chunked the pillow in his direction again. "Oh please Mr. Full-of-Yourself! I'd be careful if I were you. Orton may be your best friend in real life but he has no problem beating your fat ass in the ring!"

"Fat ass? Where did that come from?" John seemed genuinely shocked.

"Oh please, everyone knows it. When I first met you I checked out some of your fan pages. All the girls kept talking about how your ass sticks out and it's supposed to be so cute and sexy." She mockingly stuck her finger down her throat. "Ugh! Make me gag!"

John laughed at the face she was making and stood up to pop the disc out of the dvd player. Placing it back into it's case she shuffled through some of the other movies in the pile. They'd borrowed them from Paul, known in the ring as Big Show, rather than go out and rent some. He'd already left for Dallas but they'd see him there in a couple of days to give them back. John chose a comedy this time, figuring they should watch something that wouldn't scare the shit out of them before heading off to sleep. Instead of heading to his bed, John grabbed the pillows from it and headed over to Callie's. Some brothers and sisters might have thought it creepy to sleep in bed together but they weren't like that. They each kept their own blankets anyway and John knew from experience that after watching that movie she'd never get to sleep on her own. They each settled in, John resting his hands behind his head to better see the screen and Callie curled up on her side, practically strangling her body pillow. The movie had barely started before they'd both dozed off surrounded by junk food and a few empty beer bottles.

The plan was finally starting to come together. He had been writing in his notebook for the better part of an hour before the idea hit him. He wouldn't just make John pay for taking his championship belt away from him. He wouldn't just make Callie wish she had never snubbed him. What good would that do if no one knew about it? If no one was able to appreciate his handiwork? Well, he knew exactly what had to be done for that to happen. He would make sure that he had the largest audience of them all….on the grandest stage of them all….

For some reason the pounding would not stop. At first John tried pulling both the pillow and the sheet over his head but still it persisted. Oh my God, I'm going to choke slam whoever is making that sound. He slung the blankets off of him, kicking the remnants down towards the foot of the bed and glanced at the clock. 8 am? Ugh. He rubbed his eyes as he headed for the hotel room door, cursing and jumping up and down on one foot after he stubbed his little toe on the dresser.

"Ugh, dammit! This had better be good…" he trailed off as he opened the door.

"Well, hello to you too Sunshine!"

"Dammit Orton, what the hell? I don't have to be up for another two hours. I'm sure Cal's gonna kill you if you wake her up." John yawned and rubbed his eyes again.

"Well that just goes to show how much you pay attention Asshole," Randy laughed. "Callie's downstairs having breakfast with Jeff. Been there for half an hour now. Damn, how much did you drink last night?" He joked as he pushed past John into the room and opened the curtains, letting the light blind them both.

"Funny. I had three. Hardly enough for a hangover. Now get the hell out."

"Haha. No can do Monkey-butt. You gotta get up. I got something I think you should see."

"Ewwww! Randy, keep your pants on! I accidentally walked in on you that time. I don't need to see it again!"

Randy chuckled. "Well, good to know you're awake enough to still make jokes. But you really should see this." Orton held out an envelope to John. It had Callie's name on it.

"What, you stealing people's mail now or something you klepto?" John joked again as he took the envelope from Randy and opened it. After scanning the page inside his smile began to fade. "What is this some secret admirer shit?"

"Seems more like a stalker to me. Dude keeps talking about looking at her and seeing her from afar and shit. Pretty creepy if you ask me. It was taped to my hotel door this morning when I got up. Apparently her suitor didn't know well enough to know we'd switched rooms for the night." And they had. After John had found out that Callie wasn't going to be spending the night with Dave, he'd switch hotel room s with Randy since Randy had been given one with a double bed. Turned out they hadn't needed the second bed anyway.

"So if you saw Cal downstairs why didn't you just give it to her? Not too sure she's gonna want me in her business."

"Well, therein lies the problem. I know a love letter when I see one, hell I've even written a few myself," he shook his finger at Cena. "And if you ever tell anyone that I'll kill you myself. And honestly, this seems a little weird to me. Kinda dark really. And I know how skittish Callie can be when it comes to people like that. Especially because of her past. Thought you might know a better way to give it to her without her going all paranoid and postal on me."

John looked back down at the paper and, now that he really took the time to pay attention to it, it did seem a little creepy. This wasn't one of those "I like you, do you like me back" letters. As I watch you from afar the memory of your perfume fills my lungs with longing. Okay so maybe a little more poetic than most men would have gone. It was the bottom few lines that screamed for attention. The purple bra is my favorite. The one you only wear when you are really trying to draw attention. Wear that one for me soon….

John looked up at Randy and knew he was right. This was kind of creepy. But should he tell Callie or not? Randy was right. Callie was extremely jumpy when it came to things like this. Hell, the first time she'd ever been backstage with John she had nearly panicked and run screaming from the arena. It had taken so long for her to feel comfortable around the wrestlers and other personnel even though they all already considered her family and would have never harmed her. Cena breathed out a sigh and wondered what to do.

Okay so it's not quite where I thought this chapter was going but I figured I could use the situation to add a little misdirection. I'm hoping it turns out to have the effect I'm imagining. We'll see! Well, as soon as I post this one I'm going to start working on the next chapter and it should be up in the next couple of days. You'll learn more about Callie's foster homes and her friendship with Jeff. Hope you all enjoyed! And, as always, guesses for as to who the madman could be are always welcome. So far only 1 person has gotten it right but when they guessed they wrote like 5 different wrestlers at a time. All I say is that it was one of those wrestlers. But hmmm…which one? (I'm having way too much fun with this!)