Chapter 7.79: Imperfect Situations

She hated it here. She hated it here and she hated herself for what she had done. The guys around her were constantly high-fiving each other, as if she was the ultimate reward for all their hard work; like she was no more than a trophy won by their selfish acts. Was this the way it was going to be from now on? She would become less and less of a person with each evil deed performed until there was nothing but a shell of her former self remaining. She didn't care either way; it was her punishment after all. If she hadn't lied to everyone who cared about here, she wouldn't be in this mess. But if she told the truth, she would have been bounced right out of her contract and out the front door. As is always the case in her life, she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Let's face it; she kind of enjoyed having this little secret. It was something that was hers, her own personal inside joke. Now the joke was on her. Of all people to discover the truth, it had to be Vickie. Their paths never really crossed too many times, however the woman had always rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe it was the way she seemed to reek of undeserving accomplishment, maybe it was the voice. Maybe it was the way she seemed to have it out for Dee from the beginning. Whatever it was, it was enough to put Vickie high on her list of people to personally take out once this was all said and done; topped only by CM Punk and Daddy Dearest himself.

The thing that bothered her the most during all of this was his absence during this whole situation. He had to notice something was up if she of all people had joined up with the Nexus. He had to notice that Vickie had gone through his files on and discovered the truth about his youngest child. Did he just not care? She knew that he didn't want her to begin with; the look on his face when she walked into his office for their first meeting said it all. She didn't even know the truth until a few days before that meeting, which of course made the whole experience beyond awkward.

She still remembered the day Delinda Gratton sat her down to tell her the truth of her parentage. How Megan had been conceived in Vince McMahon's office in Stamford, Connecticut, right on his desk. It wasn't a pre-meditated act on Delinda's part by any means, just something that happened one night when they were working late together. Her mother had only been interning with the company for a few weeks, not even enough time for her father to learn her first name. He knew what he wanted and in the heat of the moment, her twenty-two year old mother gave it to him. However, once Vince was told of what came from that night of passion, her mother was let go of her position and sent pack back to Philadelphia. To her credit, Delinda never used what happened to her against Vince McMahon, but it was more out of fear of losing her only child to him than out of respect. No, she lost respect for the man after he threw money at her and told her to "take care of HER little problem and go the hell home."

Until that day, she had believed the lies that her mother had told her. Until that day, she believed that her father was her mother's best friend since grade school, Patrick Kincaid. Until that day, her life had made sense. One moment she was the fatherless daughter from Philadelphia, bouncing around from one indy federation to the next, all in an effort to build up her in-ring credibility. She slept in her car while out on the road and lived off of Oodles of Noodles and counting down the days until she could get a shot in the WWE, never knowing that the man whose seed had spawned her owned the keys to her dream. For a brief moment, she hated her mother, hated her for keeping her from knowing him. She felt used, played with…like her entire life had been a meaningless lie. At that point, it hadn't mattered that the lies were spoken in an effort to spare her the truth of what her father was truly like, all that mattered was that her life was over. No one would look at her the same way in this business. Every win would be looked at under a fine-tooth comb, every title reign written off as a gift from daddy. A father that never once called her on her birthday, never comforted her when she a boy broke her heart, a father that never showed up for a single school play. It was easier to think that her father had died, because at least she knew that if he was still alive, he would have been there. It wasn't his fault that he was dead, while it was her real father's choice not to be there. He abandoned her, yet he was the one she had to go to if she wanted to fulfill the dream she had since she was ten years old and watched great women like Alundra Blayze and Bull Nakano duke it out.

She had to hand it to Vince McMahon, if he was nervous about meeting his illegitimate child for the first time at twenty-one, nearly the same age her mother was when they had first met, he didn't show it. He looked at her piercing blue eyes, ones not so different from those of his other daughter, and spoke as he did to every other wannabe that walked through his doors. The meeting went as it should have, with one minor bump. If she wanted to stay in her father's company, no one was to discover the truth about her. That meant keeping it from her best friend, Dee. If the truth came into the light, he would most likely lose everything. Linda knew of his multiple affairs, but they had come to terms with them and he hadn't strayed outside their marriage in nearly two decades. As a matter of fact, Delinda Gratton had been the last. But if it had ever came to light that he fathered a child with one of those women, she would have him but the grapefruits. Besides, other than giving her a shot at becoming the best thing to ever grace women's wrestling, she wanted nothing from him. Not back child support, not a push up the wrestling ladder. She was taught from a young age that if she wanted something bad enough, she had to work her ass off for it.

And that was exactly what she did. She busted her ass on the indy circuit, working her way up and down the east coast, all while waiting for Dee to finish high school so they could go for it together. Once they were signed to the WWE, it was anything but short of a walk in the park for either of them. Being a woman and on the bottom of the totem pole a lesson in patience. Men gawked at you, the catcalls (at least the ones for Dee) were never ending, and the other women are catty because they know that unlike the men, their time was very limited in this business. The very fact that Meg and Dee had made it this long was nothing short of a miracle. That's why she was willing to do anything to keep the two of them in this business, even if it cost them their friendship and the love of her life. If she could only tell Dee why she was doing this, she was sure her best friend, of all people, would understand. As for Hunter…

"You have nothing worth listening to on your iPod. I didn't think anyone could have a worse taste in music than Punk." Husky Harris laughed so hard at his own joke that he snorted, bringing Meg back to reality. "ABBA? Reel Big Fish? And who in the hell is Blondie?"

Meg said nothing as she made her way towards him, her eyes zeroing in on her prey. In a few swift moves, she snatched her iPod from his hands and kicked him in the little Harris, the ended it with an elbow to the side of the face.

"If I EVER hear you speak ill of my taste in music, and more importantly ever speak ill of the greatest band to ever grace this world, Blondie, I will bust your face into a million pieces." As per usual, the rest of the Nexus made their way towards her, ready to strike. "If you guys would like, I could make you a few Blondie mixes, this way you can discover for yourself what an amazing band they are." Within seconds, her back was pinned against the way. "Ok, fine. You can each take turns with my iPod, but please use your own headphones. Sharing them with you guys just seems gross."

"Boys, boys, leave the little lady here alone."

"Screw you, Brooks. If they want me, let'em at me. I really don't give two shits anymore."

A sick smile spread across his face. "You heard the lady, boys. Have fun!"

Her eyes widened as Mason Ryan, David Otunga, and Michael McGillicutty advanced towards her, each licking their lips at the mere thought of dismantling the girl that has been throwing insults their way since the moment she arrived, crossed their minds. She slid down the wall until her bottom hit the floor and raised her arms to protect herself against their attacks. Just as Ryan was about to connect with a swift kick to the side of her head, she let out a whimper.

"Call'em off, Punk! Please!"

Ryan looked to his leader, who motioned for him to drop his leg.

"Megan, Megan please. It's ok, think of us as you would your family." He dropped down and pulled the now sobbing woman into his arms. Although her head and heart bellowed at her to pull away, it was exactly what her aching body needed and she gave into the only piece of human kindness she had felt in days. "Of course, not YOUR family. We actually want you here."

The boys laughed as Meg's delicate psyche broke, sending her into a wail of tears. Her body ached as it rocked back and forth, all while still in his arms. As he held onto her quaking body, that serial killer grin never left his face…

In a private locker room on the other side of the arena, Triple H paced the floor, ignoring the crowd of doctors as they pleaded with him to allow them to examine him. His mind raced with every step he took, replaying the night's events over and over again, as if they were on one continuous loop.

How could he have misjudged her? After everything he had been through with his ex-wife, he had thought he had learned his lesson. The signs had been staring him in the face for the past two weeks or so; the late-night strolls, her mannerisms were off, the unexplainable bruises, the terrible lies as to where they came from. It was slowly starting to make sense. Had she been cheating on him with CM Punk, of all people? She had always mocked his taste in tattoos and did a great impression of his lackies, but was it all just for show? A cover up to keep him from discovering the truth about the two of them? And if so, where did Dee fit into it all? Had she discovered the truth about them and was trying to send a message to them to quit while they were ahead?

No, despite everything that had happened in the past hour, he couldn't bring himself to believe these things about the woman he once loved. This was Megan Gratton, after all. The Supreme Freaking Diva! This was his precious little ginger, the girl who cried while watching Animal Planet, and couldn't leave home without her suitcase filled with comic books. No matter how grueling their schedules got and how serious things got backstage, she always knew just what to say to make the group of them laugh. She saw through everyone's flaws and chose to befriend them anyway. And once she considered you a friend, she would fight tooth and nail for you, no matter what. However, behind those big blue eyes he constantly found himself lost in, there was a lot of mystery. Her family was a tightly held secret, almost as if she was ashamed of it. He had always found that strange about her, but he saw the pain in her eyes when he brought it up and it wasn't something he liked seeing too often.

Maybe he should have seen this coming? Although they had been engaged for nearly a year, she never set a real date and made no real effort to get the ball rolling on things, with the only exception being her choosing Dee to be her maid of honor, big shocker there. He knew from the first time they flirted with each other and the little girl from Philadelphia made him of all people blush, that they he wanted to spend the rest of his life doing everything possible to make that amazing smile of hers never leave those lips. Everyone thought he was crazy for proposing to her after only four proper dates, but he knew she was different. At least, that's what he thought he knew.

Still, despite all the evidence that screamed otherwise, he had to believe she still loved him. There had to be a reason behind this, she would never go willingly to Nexus. The idea of them skeeved her, she spoke of this for months now. CM Punk as a person made her retch. Why would so go to them, why now? The bruises, the changes in behavior, they had to be the cause of this. That was the only sane solution he could come up with. Even if things were over between them, he still had to fight for her. If he didn't, who would? Dee? It would be suicide.

Dee…

Without saying a word, he ushered the doctors out of his room and grabbed his phone. Within seconds, he got her voicemail.

"Dee, it's Paul. Listen, I think something might be wrong with Meg…shit just isn't adding up. We need to get together and talk about this. Call me when you get this."

Randy. He might be able to shed some outsider's light on the subject.