Hunter got up and eased out of bed careful not to wake his wife. He slipped on his boxers that had been tossed aside admit sexy time and made his way to the kitchen for the fourth night in a row. He grabbed a beer out of the fridge then headed to the living room sitting on the couch in the dark. He popped the top of his beer, eyes closing as he sank back into yet another nightmare featuring him and the Undertaker only this time Shawn was in it. Clear as day he could see himself fighting the Undertaker in the middle of the ring, both him and the Taker a bloody mess. Shawn was at ringside watching, not on his side but not on the Undertaker's side either. He was just there watching, his face showing signs of worry as he watched the grueling battle of titans. The end result was the same as the last three nights. Hunter would reach for his sledgehammer only to get caught in Hell's Gates. Unlike last year's match, Hunter refused to submit. In his dream he would always pass out while the Undertaker stands victorious over his motionless body, the lights turning purple as he did his signature pose. Hunter would be carted out of the arena on a stretcher while Shawn stood behind as if waiting for the Undertaker. The Undertaker's cold laugh would sound then lightening striking areas of the arena. There was always a piercing scream and then he would wake up. Hunter would always wake up in a cold sweat, the sound of chilling laughter ringing in his ears.
He downed most of his beer in one go seething at the dream. Three nights ago there was no Shawn and now all of a sudden Shawn was appearing in his dreams. The sad part was that it seemed as if Shawn's loyalties resided somewhere other than as one half of Degeneration X. Hunter knew that he hasn't been the most pleasant of people to Shawn. Hell one could almost say their relationship borderline hatred at times, but it often depended on the day of the week. So much has changed between them that often times they felt like strangers. Shawn stayed busy with his hunting while Hunter had a company to run. With Shane pretty much out of the picture, the brunt of it all rested on Hunter's shoulders. Stephanie had her fair share of work, but they also had kids now. It was unfair for her to work too hard when she could work from home and look after the kids and with Vince slowly backing away from day to day duties, it was up to Hunter to keep things moving.
Four nights of practically the same damn dream was beginning to get to him and for an instant Hunter even entertained the thought that Undertaker was responsible for these nightmares, but he knew that was impossible. These dreams about Taker were either stress related or a warning that Taker was going to be more persistent. Either way Hunter knew he needed to quit dwelling on Taker. Somehow, someway he needed to get that man off of his mind and get back to his old "business as usual" mentality. Undertaker was a king of mind games, but Hunter was no stranger to such games either. He built his career on manipulating people until he found himself married to the bosses daughter and one step away from owning a billion dollar empire. It didn't get much better than that. sure he practically sacrificed a friendship, but it wasn't as if he himself was entirely to blame.
Hunter got up tossing his beer in the trash. In just a few short hours he would get up and take a plane to headquarters. Undertaker wouldn't be given a second thought and neither would Shawn. "No more," Hunter mumbled as he quietly slipped back into bed with his wife, curling around her and falling back asleep.
~x~
The Undertaker's eyes came back into the focus, the whites slowly being replaced with those piercing green pupils that struck fear into the hearts of his opponents. He was seated Indian style in the middle of the pentagram, the candles dancing about all around him. He was exhausted more so than this little trick would have done to him some odd years ago, but he would not be young forever until he gained immortality and he was well on his way to getting it. He grunted as he unfolded his legs. Right away he joined at his sides by Bradshaw and Farooq who pulled him to his feet and led him over to the bed they usually shared.
"Master, do you need anything?" Farooq asked quietly.
The Undertaker shook his head. "I just need to rest and bring me my urn."
The two minions nodded before crossing the room returning seconds later with the golden urn which had somehow managed to keep its luster in all the years it had been handled. Bradshaw sat the urn near the bed before he and Farooq disappeared quietly to converse among themselves until needed.
Meanwhile Taker laid flat on his back eyes open though very empty looking as he stared up at the ceiling. Tonight was not one of his good nights and he could feel the darkness inside of him spilling over. He reached over placing his hand on top of the urn almost sighing in relief as the darkness was pushed back down into the deep recesses of his mind. It was getting harder these days to keep himself together. One could almost say he was beginning to separate into two or three different people and one was so dangerously dark that even he frowned upon some of his thoughts. Taker was no stranger to torture. Hell he tortured quite a few people over the years including his own brother, but there was a line. For instance, the fact that for a split second he entertained the thought of spilling more of Shawn's precious blood irked him. Shawn's blood wasn't needed for anything at the moment. Merely his cooperation in coaxing Hunter into a match and Taker knew after tonight's little nightmare, a gift he made specially for Hunter, that soon Hunter would break. The final piece of the puzzle would come Monday night. He knew exactly how to break Hunter for pride was man's biggest downfall; pride would be Hunter's just like pride brought down his ex-counterpart Shawn.
At the thought of Shawn Taker's eyes closed. The darkness had resided and was replaced with something else. Something that felt warmer as if there was life about it outside the darkness. Focusing his energy, Undertaker held tight to the urn before he disappeared, teleporting to the ranch where Shawn resided these days. Taker teleported right inside Shawn's house and inside his bedroom for that's where Shawn was. It was very late- roughly three in the morning- so Shawn was sound asleep on the bed.
However, it didn't take Shawn long to realize he wasn't alone. The mark in his hand began to burn just enough to kick him out of his slumber, his eyes fluttering open to see the Undertaker standing at his bedside. Shawn groaned softly wondering what the hell he'd done now to warrant another visit from the Deadman. These frequent visits were starting to worry him and he was certain he made it clear the last time Taker was here that Hunter wasn't going to listen to him.
"You do not look pleased to see me."
Shawn made a face that any normal person would instantly read as "Are you fucking kidding me?", but the Undertaker was not some normal person and most human emotions were still foreign to him. "I am neither pleased or displeased," Shawn answered quietly, choosing his words carefully. He figured with such a vague answer he couldn't possibly get in trouble. After all clearly Taker could understand why he wouldn't necessarily be thrilled to see him yet be okay with the fact that part of Shawn was pleased to see him, though "pleased" wasn't exactly the word Shawn would choose if asked.
The Undertaker didn't react much at all to Shawn's answer and simply glanced down at his urn, rubbing the sides of it. Shawn wanted to ask Taker what he wanted with him, but as always, something compelled him to stay quiet and just wait for Taker to speak because to be honest, he probably didn't want to know. For all he knew, Taker wanted him to do something crazy to get Hunter's attention and Shawn had his limitations. If doing something for Taker meant going against his religious beliefs, he would just have to lose his soul. Besides, he already made peace with God and was certain that maybe God had a spot up there in heaven for him someday.
"Do you really think God exists?"
Shawn blinked, startled by the loud voice inside his head. He wasn't sure if he should answer or not.
"Answer me Shawn. It's a simple question and please, through the mind link. All you have to do is think it and I will hear it."
Shawn was not sure how he felt about this at all. On one hand something like this would be useful in a crowded room for gossip purposes. On the other, the idea of Taker having access to his private thoughts was not exactly pleasing to know- at all.
"I have not the time to read your mind and it is very tiring. Please answer me."
Shawn sighed and after a long silence he simply thought, "Yes."
"Do you believe in hell?"
Shawn frowned at the question, but answered anyway. "If one believes in Heaven then to say Hell does not exist would be a little hypocritical don't you think?"
The Undertaker nodded in understanding, the corners of his mouth twitching as if he was thinking of smiling but changed his mind at the last second. He moved closer to the bed setting the urn on Shawn's nightstand. Shawn glanced over at it, the urn's purple glow making him tremble a bit under the covers.
The urn... He could remember plain as day seeing it on that night he was rendered motionless on the floor. The only difference was that the urn was glowing brightly- like a white light illuminating all around it. Something caught his attention out the corner of his eye and he looked at Taker, eyes growing wide as he stared at him. He was glowing though instead of a creepy white like his urn, it was a grey color and it seemed to fit the Undertaker's demeanor which wasn't so sinister as it had been the first night he had come over. Now that Shawn thought about it, this was the first time Taker has visited him without his cloak and hat on. At that very moment he looked simply human even if Shawn knew better.
The Undertaker tilted his head to the side watching Shawn closely. "Is something wrong?"
"N-no. Nothing." He was too freaked out to tell the truth and anyway he never saw a person, even the Undertaker, just randomly start glowing so maybe it was all in his head. After all, it was nearing four in the morning. One could imagine all sorts of things at 4am.
The Undertaker did not believe him, but searching his mind would take more energy than he had for the day. He would just have to find out some other day. "Goodnight Shawn." Taker turned to leave. He was tired again and needed sleep.
"Wait! Aren't you- I mean you never even told me why you came over and- and you're leaving your urn." Shawn sat up in bed stretching, revealing his naked chest. He shivered from chill which didn't go unnoticed by Taker. Shawn's nipples stood erect but were now covered by Shawn's arms.
"You are cold. You should cover your body."
"Oh. I will... just..." But then he wasn't sure what to say so he did as he was told, burying himself back underneath the covers watching Taker as he moved to get the urn but then paused, moving his hand away.
"I am leaving this with you for there will be days when I am not myself."
"Wait. You're leaving that freaky, glowing thing here? But I don't- I mean what am I supposed to do with that? I'm no mortician and anyway that thing's freaky!" he exclaimed. He did NOT want Taker's urn or any other urn in his home at all.
The Undertaker reached out running a finger down Shawn's cheek. "Do not argue. It will keep you safe. Goodnight Shawn."
Shawn had little time to protest at all for like always, the gloved hand covered his face and he closed his eyes, falling into another deep sleep. The Undertaker watched the sleeping figure for a long time until his body grew weary once more. He hesitated to leave the warmth and the place in which he found sanity, but he ad no choice. He closed his eyes and then he was gone disappearing into the night.
AN: It's going to get somewhere...eventually. Special thanks to Reena for RPing her Taker with my Shawn and other muses. I still feel full of fail though. Also, special thanks to the wonderful ladies at LJ who read and left reviews. :)
