Daughter of the Deadman III
Chapter 4: The Turning Point
Taker started out of a dead sleep. He had heard a noise. A second later, he realized that someone was walking around in the hallway. He sighed and got up. When he opened his bedroom door, he saw Angel walking down the hallway, mumbling something about needing help because she had gotten hurt. Taker walked over and carefully put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. Angel jumped and turned around. She started to cry as she hugged her father. Taker walked her to his room and sat her down on the bed. Then he sat down and hugged her again.
"Baby girl...it's alright. Just take a deep breath." Taker said.
"D-Daddy...how could he? How could he go from loving me so much to hating me with a passion and siding with that big nosed asshole and attacking me? I mean...I...would understand if he didn't know what he was doing...but..." Angel sobbed.
"But he does and that hurts. I know." Taker said.
Angel nodded, but she didn't say anything. Taker sighed. He couldn't believe that this would happen. That his own brother would turn on his own family and all for the sake of money. He was going to find a way to get Kane back on their side even if it took everything he had left in him. He stared down at Angel.
"Hey, baby girl. Don't worry. I'll get him back somehow. I promise." Taker said.
"OK." Angel said.
"Now, let's get you back to bed. You need to rest." Taker said.
Angel nodded. Taker walked with her back to her room and made sure she was safely back in bed. He sat there while she fell asleep. It was about an hour later when Angel woke up yet again. She had no idea why, but she had all of a sudden felt like something wasn't right. A second later, Taker opened the door a second later. Lea also came running in. She had probably felt it too.
"What was that?" Angel asked.
"I felt it too." Lea said.
"Me too." Taker said.
"Which means...he probably did too." Angel said.
"Probably." Taker said.
"But what was it?" Lea asked.
As if to answer her question, a small ball of light came into the room and transformed not into Bethany this time, but instead it was Paul Bearer. Everyone was stunned. They had no idea what was going on.
"Paul?" Taker asked.
"Bearer! What do you want?" Angel asked, standing up and stepping in front of Lea.
"Calm down, Dead Girl." Paul answered.
"How come you're a ghost?" Lea asked.
"Well...it all started...or rather ended for me in a dark alley..." Paul said.
"Ended? You mean...like Dead?" Angel asked, quietly looking confused.
"Unfortunately for me, yes. Apparently a fifty plus year old overweight man was a prime target for a seventeen year old drug addict." Paul said.
"And you call yourself the master of the urn?" Angel asked.
Taker looked at Angel with a disapproving look. Lea laughed and started teasing Angel about having got in trouble. That was until Taker gave her the exact same glare. Lea went quiet.
"Sorry, Daddy." they said at the same time.
"So...what are we supposed to do now?" Angel asked.
"What do you mean?" Paul asked.
"Well, you may have been the only one to help me get Kane back." Taker said.
"If you all are lucky, this will make him smarten up and realize that you three are all he's got left now. As for me...I'll be watching, Deadman. You look after my son and keep Dead Girl and the Little Dead Girl safe. Got that?" Paul said.
"I got it, Paul. Don't worry, you can Rest In Peace now." Taker said.
He nodded. Then he disappeared. Meanwhile, in a hotel room a few miles away, Kane was wide awake himself. He had also felt Paul's presence suddenly disappear. It wasn't the fact that Paul's presence had disappeared that bothered him or woken him up. It was that this was somehow different. Almost as if Paul wasn't going to come back this time. As if knowing that Kane was trying to figure out what was happening, he heard his father's voice in his head.
"I'm sorry, son. All you have left now is your brother and nieces, Kane." it said.
Kane's eyes went wide. He couldn't believe it. There was no way that his father—Paul Bearer, The Master of the Urn, The Father of Destruction—could be dead. He punched the nearby wall out of anger, but as he did so, he realized that Paul was right. Angel, Lea, and Big Brother Mark were all he had left now...and he had turned on them and treated Angel specifically like dirt under his feet. And for what? More money, a fancy suit, and a corner office! He thought bitterly.
He had to find a way to fix this and do it quickly before things escalated more and Angel and his brother wound up hurt at his hands. As he sat there thinking things over, he realized that there was only one way to get out of this mess. It wasn't going to be pretty at all and it would probably have disastrous consequences, but it had to be done. He reached into the drawer next to the bed and pulled out his old mask. He just stared at it. He knew what he had to do.
The next night, Angel was in the ring, having a pretty good match with Eva Marie despite the fact that Angel had to pretty much carry her because she was still just as horrible as she had been five years ago. She was more worried about her looks then her wrestling ability. Angel had just landed a dropkick when suddenly, there was the familiar sound of exploding flames and the lights turned orange. Both Eva and Angel looked up at the ramp and saw Hunter and Kane making their way to the ring.
Eva did exactly what Angel expected her to. She took off running through the crowd to get away from the two of them. Angel sighed. She knew what was about to happen. The two suited men make their way toward the ring, stopping half way. Hunter pointed to the ring and said quite audibly "Get her!". Kane took a step forward before pausing for a second. Instead of heading to the ring, he turned to Hunter, unbuttoning his shirt as he did so. The look on Hunter's face told the story of horror. Kane continued removing his shirt, dropping it to the floor. He reached into the back pocket of his pants and pulled out his mask. He stared at it for a moment before putting it on.
That was when Hunter realized that it was over and Kane was no longer on his side. He decided to try and mount an offence and attack The Big Red Machine, but this turned out to be a mistake as Kane put Hunter down with no more than two punches. Turning back toward the ring, containing an incredibly perplexed Angel, he continued to walk to the ring. He walked up the steps and climbed into the ring. He just stood there, staring at her.
Angel raised her fists, obviously anticipating a fight, however Kane took a step back and knelt down on one knee, raising his right hand toward the sky in the typical Undertaker pose. Angel looked on, confused for a moment. It didn't get any better either, as her father's music hit. Taker came out and walked slowly to the ring. He stepped inside and stood next to Angel, staring at his younger brother. Angel and Taker briefly made eye contact with each other, as if something unspoken had just passed between them. Then Taker reached out his hand to his younger brother. Kane took Taker's hand and Taker helped him to his feet. Taker nodded at his brother and Kane raised his arms and threw them back down, making an explosion come from all four of the ring posts.
The three of them left the ring, walking up the ramp. As they walked passed Hunter, all three of them stared down at him, looking disgusted. If I wasn't such a nice person, I'd totally spit on him right now. Angel thought. Once they got backstage, Taker and Angel stopped and turned to face Kane.
"So what brought that on?" Taker asked.
"Paul came to me. He told me that you, Angel, and Lea are all I've got left. And no amount of money in the world would make the loss of my family go away." Kane said.
"Well...he's right...but..." Angel said.
"Look, Little Angel, the bottom line is, people only ever get one family in life. And I've already lost enough of mine. I don't want to lose any more." Kane said.
"And how am I supposed to trust you after you've put me through my own personal hell for the last five years?!" Angel asked.
"Little Angel...I screwed up. I know I did. And I also know that you have trust issues and that gaining your trust back is going to be a lot of work, but I'd like the chance to try." Kane said.
Angel looked from her Uncle to her Father and back again. She wasn't entirely sure what she should do. She really wanted to give her Uncle another chance, but something was stopping her and she had no idea what it was.
"Angel?" Taker asked out loud.
"I...don't know...if I can..." Angel admitted.
"What is it that's holding you back, Baby Girl?" Taker asked.
"I'm not sure. I just know that my heart is screaming "Trust him! It's OK." and my head is screaming "Stop and think about this." I don't know what to listen to." Angel said, looking upset.
"Baby girl, take my advice, sweetheart. Listen to your heart. Sometimes your head holds you back from what your heart wants to do." Taker said.
Angel looked from Taker to Kane and back again. She burst into tears and then ran to Kane, hugging him. Kane was stunned for a minute, but he hugged her back. Taker just smiled. They headed back to the locker room. Everything was alright, until Kane came in. Kristy stood up, glaring at him.
"What in the hell is he doing here?" she snapped.
"Kristy, just calm down. You saw what happened out there. I forgave him alright?" Angel said.
"You what?!" Kristy asked.
"I forgave him." Angel said.
"Are you stupid?!" Kristy asked.
"I said I forgave him. It doesn't mean I trust him." Angel said.
"Well, I'm not forgiving him or trusting him!" Kristy said.
"That's fine. He's my Uncle, not yours." Angel said.
"OK, girls. Enough." Taker said.
"Sorry, Uncle Taker." Kristy said.
"Sorry, Daddy." Angel said.
"Kristy, please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not asking you for trust and forgiveness." Kane said.
"Watch it, Little Brother. Kristy may not be related to you by blood, but she still considers you family." Taker said.
"I know. I know." Kane said.
"Yeah, well, even though I consider him family, I don't want him anywhere near me." Kristy snapped.
Kane nodded. He knew that Kristy would eventually get over what he had done. All he cared about now was that he had Angel and his brother back on his side. They all headed back to the hotel room after that. Angel called Lea at Sienna's to see how she was doing. She had been there all day and Angel hoped she was alright.
"Angel!" Lea said when she got on the phone.
"Hi, baby Lea. Are you doing OK?" Angel said.
"I'm OK. Is Uncle really back with us now?" Lea asked.
"Yep. He is. He's here now." Angel said.
"Oh. OK! I wish I was there with you guys. I miss you. I...want to be there, not here." Lea said, sounding upset.
"I know, Lea. But it's safer for you there. Daddy, Uncle and I wish you were with us too, but we wouldn't know what to do if you got hurt, Baby Lea." Angel said.
"I know." Lea said.
"Don't worry. We'll be back soon." Angel said.
"When is Wyatt coming to visit?" Lea asked.
"I don't know, sweetheart." Angel said.
"Well, ask Kristy!" Lea said.
"I can't, sweetheart. She's staying with Davey and the family instead of us." Angel said.
"What do you mean she's staying with them instead of you? I'm confused." Lea said.
"She's mad at me for forgiving Uncle and doesn't want Uncle anywhere near her, so she's with Davey and the others." Angel said.
"Well, that doesn't make sense. She's never been mad at Uncle before!" Lea said.
"Well, she is now, sweetheart." Angel said.
"Can't you go ask her for me?" Lea asked.
"Why don't you call her and ask yourself, Baby Lea?" Angel asked.
"Because! She's next door, Angel! Come on, please?" Lea asked.
"OK, Baby Lea. You stay on the line and talk to Daddy and Uncle and I'll go ask Kristy, OK?" Angel said.
"OK, Angel! Thank you!" Lea said.
Angel laughed and handed the phone to Taker. Then she left the room and went next door. She knocked on the door and David answered. He let Angel in, smiling as he did so. Kristy just glared at her. Angel guessed that she was still angry at her.
"When you're done glaring knives through my head, I need to ask you something." Angel said, trying to stay calm.
"I'm not glaring knives through your head. I'm just not happy right now." Kristy said.
"Well, when you're done, Lea wants to know when Wyatt is coming to Houston to visit." Angel said.
"Oh. Next week sometime. Adam is coming here to promote Haven and after that it's break time." Kristy said.
"Now, that that's out of the way, you can get over what I did tonight. Uncle did what Uncle did, but regardless he's still my family. He told me tonight that he's already lost enough of his family and he didn't want to lose any more. I feel the same. I've lost enough." Angel told her.
"Hm...well, when you put it that way...he's got a point. OK, I'll forgive him, but just this once." Kristy said.
Angel beamed. She gave her friend a hug and turned to leave the room. Before she could, David grabbed her arm and asked her if he could talk to her in the hallway for a minute. Angel agreed and they left the room.
"Are you OK?" Angel asked.
"Sweetheart...I don't want to be here anymore. The only reason I've stayed this long is because you're here. As much as I love you, I just can't stand it anymore. Ty and I aren't talking and with my Dad retired...it's not the same." David said.
"David...I..." Angel said with tears in her eyes.
"Sweetheart, it's not you that I'm moving on from. I still want to be with you. It's just time for me to move on from the WWE." David said.
"Oh...that's OK. Just...please don't forget me. Promise?" Angel said.
"Of course I won't." David said, putting his arms around Angel.
Angel just hugged him back, crying her eyes out. She didn't want David to leave, but there was a part of her that knew that he felt like he was stuck there because he wanted to be with her. They hugged for a while longer until Angel calmed down. Angel said goodbye to him and turned and went back to her room. As soon as she walked in, she burst into tears again. She ran to the bedroom and threw herself down on the bed, crying. Taker and Kane looked at each other. Kane walked into the room and sat down on the side of the bed. He touched Angel's shoulder.
"Go away." Angel said.
"Hi to you too, Little Angel." Kane said.
"He's leaving, Uncle. David is leaving WWE." Angel told him, sitting up.
"What?!" Kane said.
"He's not leaving me, he's just leaving the company..." Angel said.
"I know, but still..." Kane said.
"David wants to leave because it's not the same anymore. And as much as I don't want him to, I want him to be happy." Angel said.
"But it's hurting you." Kane said.
"I'll survive." Angel said.
"Right. That's why you're distraught and in tears right now. Come on, Little Angel, I may have been gone for a while, but you still can't fool me." Kane said.
"I'll be fine. It's not like Kristy left." Angel said.
Kane sighed. He made Angel sit up and then hugged her and just let her cry. It was awhile before Angel calmed down enough to talk. She told Kane that she had to let Lea know that Wyatt would be coming to visit in the next week. Kane told her that he would let Taker know and Taker could tell her. Angel nodded. Kane let go of her and said goodnight. A few minutes later, Taker came in and hugged Angel. It was then that Angel started crying again.
"Baby girl?" Taker asked.
"David's leaving the company, Daddy! He said we're still together...but...it still hurts." Angel said.
Taker nodded. He did what Kane had just done. Eventually, Angel fell asleep. Taker laid her down and pulled the blanket up over her. He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. The lights above the two brothers exploded.
"Take it easy, big brother." Kane said.
"I hate that boy for hurting her! But why would he just want to up and leave?" Taker asked.
"Angel said that he didn't feel like being here anymore with Davey retired and him not talking to Tyson he just felt like he wanted to move on." Kane said.
"Did he not think about Angel's feelings when he made the choice?!" Taker asked.
"I'm sure that he did, Big Brother. But you can't blame him for wanting to leave. I mean, think about it Big Brother, if you were in David's shoes, wouldn't you want to leave?" Kane said.
"Yes, I would, but still...could he have at least given a thought to how much it was going to hurt Angel if he did leave?" Taker said.
"Big brother, I'm sure he did think about how much it was going to hurt her. Not to mention what this is going to do to Kristy. But you have to realize that David hasn't been happy here since he and Ty split up and Davey had to retire. If he feels like he needs to move on, then he should. We can't make this choice for him. No matter how mad we get at him, he's doing what's best for him. I mean, think about it, big brother, the first time you left on your vacation, Angel was heartbroken, but she had all of us. We'll get her through this just like we did then. Don't worry so much. It will ruin your image." Kane said.
"Since when did you become the voice of reason for me?" Taker asked.
"I don't know." Kane said with a shrug.
"I'm supposed to worry about my kids, little brother. I'm their Dad. It's what I'm supposed to do." Taker said.
"I know, big brother, but you can't force David to stay. Not even Kristy can do that. You just need to wish the kid well. Besides, he might come back one day. But you have to understand that he loves Angel. That's the only reason he's stayed this long. But having the Harts around all the time and then not having his Dad...he doesn't know what to do. And Tyson is his best friend so that's got to be hurting him too. Just try to understand where he's coming from, Big Brother. Please?" Kane said.
"Fine, but if he cheats on my baby girl, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands." Taker said.
"If that happens, there will be a line of people behind you, waiting to get whatever is left." Kane said.
"Do you see it happening?" Taker asked.
"No. David's going home for a bit. He misses his Dad." Kane said.
Taker nodded. Although, he wasn't sure he was convinced. David had screwed up before and almost cost himself his relationship with Angel. Just then, the door opened and a crying Kristy came in. Taker sighed. He walked over and put his arms around his god daughter.
"Hey, what happened?" he asked.
"David just told me that he's leaving!" Kristy said.
"We know, Kristy. He's leaving because he's not happy. Your Dad is retired now because of his back problems and Ty isn't speaking to him. He wants to do something else." Taker said.
"Ty is speaking to him! He won't talk to Ty because he thinks that Ty betrayed him! And I know he's leaving because of Dad! But he...he's not supposed to leave Ang and I." Kristy sobbed.
"What do you mean?" Kane asked.
"He...promised us both that he wouldn't leave us here..." Kristy sobbed.
"Kristy, is there another reason why he would leave? One that would make him break that promise?" Taker asked.
"The only thing I can think of is that he was fired, but he wasn't." Kristy said.
"That's true. He would have said something if he had been fired." Taker said.
"Unless he was and he just didn't want to tell anyone." Kane said.
"That's true too. He's a lot like you, Little Krissy. He doesn't want anyone to know when something is bugging him." Taker said.
"It doesn't matter why he's leaving! He broke his promise! We were taught that you don't break promises!" Kristy sobbed.
"Kristy, I know that. But sometimes, you have to break a promise because things change and you can't keep it. If David did get fired there's no way that he can keep his promise to the two of you anymore." Taker said.
"Hang on, Kristy. Technically I'm still the Director of Operations since Hunter hasn't relieved me of my duties yet, so let me make a phone call, OK?" Kane said.
"You'd do that for me? Even after...I kind of acted like a bitch to you?" Kristy asked.
"Yeah, well, you had every right. I was being a bit of an asshole." Kane said.
Kristy laughed. Kane stepped out of the room. When he came back about twenty minutes later, he looked angry and upset. He wasn't looking forward to having to break this to Kristy. And I'm not looking forward to breaking this to Angel tomorrow either. He thought.
"Well, what's the verdict?" Taker asked.
"Apparently Johnny Ace went to David and said they didn't want him in the company anymore." Kane said.
"WHAT?! How long ago was this?!" Kristy asked.
"A while ago. Like around Wrestlemania Twenty-Seven." Kane said.
"Then what was he still doing here?" Taker asked.
"Angel and Kristy are here." Kane said.
"Well, at least you know you're loved." Taker said, looking down at Kristy.
"What else did that idiot say?" Kristy asked.
"Um...that I was gonna pay for turning on him and he'd relieve me of my duties as Director of Operations on SmackDown and that since it was Angel and Big Brother's doing, they were next when he got through with me." Kane said.
"If he manages it. And if we're still around." Taker said.
"What do you mean?" Kristy said.
"Well, it's almost break time for you. And I think the stress of being on the road is starting to get to Angel." Taker said.
"It's getting to me too, Uncle Taker." Kristy said.
"I can tell." Taker said, "Go and get some rest, Little Kristy, OK?"
Kristy nodded and left the room, hugging Kane and Taker before she left. After she left, Taker checked on Angel one more time before finally turning in for the night.