Chapter 8:
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the WWE, TNA, DG USA, HWA or CZW. I only own the OCs.
"I said, is there a problem here?" Jon said stepping forward to stand by Allie, staring down the other two men. His posture was in a defensive stance, with a disapproving tone to his voice.
John and Randy looked between him and Allie for a moment before taking a small step back. Randy sneered at Jon, not appreciating his interference, "This doesn't concern you." Then flicking his gaze towards Colby and Joe who had moved to stand behind Allie and Jon. "Any of you. This is between Allie, John, and myself. Your interference is not wanted or welcomed."
Jon chuckled darkly at Randy, squaring himself up to him. "That's where you're wrong," he growled, pushing Allie gently back behind him, placing her between himself and the other two Shield members. "If it involves Allie, it involves us. So unless you're looking for a fight, I suggest you step off. I promise, it's a fight you won't win."
Randy and John both scoffed, Cena looking around Jon at Allie, "Since when have you needed anyone to fight your battles?" Allie just glared at him, giving him a warning with her eyes, not to test her. Jon stepped in front of Allie blocking Cena's view of her.
"She may not need someone to fight her battles, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have someone to," Joe growled, stepping up beside Jon squaring up against Randy. Now neither of them had an eye on Allie. She couldn't help but smirk at the guys protective nature. She didn't understand why they came to her defense, but she wasn't going to push them away.
Randy got as close to Joe's face as possible before snarling, "You rookies have no idea who you're messing with. We will make your lives a living hell."
"I hope you've enjoyed your fifteen minutes of fame," Cena laughed sarcastically, "because you just cost yourselves your main event status." With that the two men pushed past Joe and Jon, throwing one last glare at Allie. "Better watch yourself, bitch," John said glancing around Colby. "These strays can't be around to protect you all the time." Allie's only retort was to flip him off, before he and Randy turned to leave.
After the door slammed shut, Allie faced the three members of The Shield. All three gave her a curious and confused look, as to what they had walked in on. "You're quite the popular lady," Joe said, folding his arms across his chest.
"Oh, them?" Allie motioned to the door, Randy and John had just retreated out of. "They just stopped by to say hi. No biggie."
They all just gave her a questioning look. "Is that the story you're gonna stick with?" Joe asked.
"For now?" Allie said, giving them a small smirk. "Yep."
Jon stepped forward, getting nose to nose with her, "After we just stuck our necks out for you against two of the biggest stars in the business, I think you owe us more than that. You know what could happen to our card status because of that?"
Allie sighed, "I have history with those two asshats, that is just too long and involved to get into. I appreciate what you guys did, and I know what could happen, but you don't have to worry about your card status."
Jon stayed in the same position, not moving back. "Yea? Why's that?" He asked smartly.
"Because you have an ace in the hole. A get out of jail free, every time card. A secret weapon," Allie said matter-of-factly, folding her arms.
"Yea?" Jon asked with the same smart tone, "What's that?"
"Me." With that she moved around them and sat on the couch to finish up her work. Glancing up at them briefly, before looking back at her computer and typing away at something, she spoke again, "I'm assuming you guys came here for a reason other than rescuing me from Beevis and Butthead. So, what's up?"
The guys moved to take a seat around her. Colby sat on the couch beside her while Jon and Joe took a seat in chairs on the opposite side of the table. Nobody spoke for a moment, before Colby broke the silence, "We talked and I think we came to a decision."
"Ok," she said, stopping all work and giving them her full attention.
"Firstly," Colby continued, "we want to apologize for how we reacted. We weren't exactly polite to you."
Allie stopped him, before he could continue, "There is nothing to apologize for. The situation sucked and you reacted how any normal person would. I don't blame you."
The three men nodded, although almost hesitantly, before Joe continued. "We're willing to give this a try. I think the four of us agree that this isn't how things had been planned to go, but we can also agree that up to this point, we've made a great team. We may not have known about you, but without you, we wouldn't have made it this far."
" I just gave you the materials. You guys made The Shield what it is. You took what was given and ran with it," Allie said, looking back and forth amongst them. "I have all the confidence that we can pull this off and make it work. We can be a real team."
"So, let's give it a shot," Jon spoke up, his gaze locked on Allie's. "I can't promise I'll make your life easy though. I'm not easy to get along with, but I've liked the direction this is going. We're not willing to sacrifice our push just because the board of directors don't know dick when it comes to creative planning. You do. We wanna stick with you, no matter what fine print that may involve." Allie gave him a small smile and a nod.
"Speaking of fine print," Colby cut in, bringing their attention to him, "when exactly is that suppose to take place?" All three men turned their attention back to Allie for an explanation.
"Those details haven't been worked out exactly," she said rolling her eyes in annoyance. Just another example of a creative brainstorm that went no where beyond the initial idea. "I still have negotiations to work out. I'll be getting more out of this for you, than just staying on as your creative mind. So I won't be appearing with you as part of The Shield just yet. For now, I'll be more of a personal road agent and on-hand creative middleman."
The three men seemed pleased by that. It felt kind of like having special treatment. For three rookies, having that kind of pull was pretty awesome and they were definitely looking forward to it. "Cool," Joe said, smiling, "so, did you get my email about my vest? It's driving me crazy!"
Allie laughed, feeling the tension finally break. She could only hope it would continue as they worked towards achieving all their goals. She planned on sticking with each of them and guiding their careers for as long as possible. Her plans went well beyond The Shield as a unit, and went into their single careers too. That, however, was a long ways off and they needed to focus on the now.
Over the course of the next day, she and The Shield worked one on one, focusing on upcoming matches, potential story lines, and of course wardrobe. They had spent the morning before the Smackdown taping, going over new gear for each of them and she also discussed the potential for future merchandise. Besides different items that they might sell promoting the group, they also talked design. They had agreed on the first t-shirt design, simple and to the point. "Justice isn't free".
By the time Smackdown had ended and they made it back to the hotel, the last week had finally caught up with Allie. She felt extremely fatigued and couldn't wait to climb into bed. After taking a quick shower and putting on a pair of black and purple flannel pajama pants with a black tank top, she climbed into bed and was asleep with in minutes.
A few hours later, Allie was awoken by the loud sound of "Rest in Peace" echoing through the room. Reaching blindly for her phone, she grabbed it and put it to her ear after finally managing to answer it.
"Hello?" Allie said, groggily into the phone. There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line, followed by a long sigh. Allie was immediately alert as she felt worry flood her. "Mark? What's wrong? Are you ok?"
After a moment, The Undertaker's normally strong and deep voice sounded through, weak and tired, "Hey, Kid. I'm sorry to call so late."
Allie continued to get more worried as she listened to the strain in her mentor's voice. "Mark, it's ok. What's going on?"
"I was gonna wait to call you in the morning, but Glenn and I..." Mark trailed off as his voice started to strain and crack. "I've got some bad news, Kiddo."
Allie felt dread and worry run down her spine. Different scenarios were running through her head, but nothing could have prepared her for the news. "What is it, Mark?"
"It's Bill," Mark whispered through the phone. Allie's heart jumped into her throat. "He's gone, baby girl. He passed away a few hours ago."
It was like the wind had been knocked out of her. It had to be a bad dream. It couldn't be possible. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't speak. Couldn't think. Mark's words just echoed through her head.
"Allie?" She didn't respond, she felt the phone slipping out of her hand and had to grip it hard to keep it to her ear. She clung to it, as if try to cling to Mark. His voice came through the phone again, "Sweetheart, I need you to talk to me."
She broke, the sobs echoed through the phone, breaking Mark's heart, wishing he was there to hold her as she broke down. She gasped for air as she sputtered out, "How?"
Mark sighed heavily, "It was a heart attack." He listened to her broken cries as she begged him to tell her it wasn't true. Mark felt tears come to his eyes, but fought them back. He had to be the strong one for her.
"Mark, I don't know what to do," her voice cracked, pleadingly. "I don't know what to do."
"Let it out, Kid." And, she did. He listened as she screamed and cried her heartbreak out. After several minutes the cries and screams, turned to whimpers and sniffles as she began to come down from the emotional break. "Glenn and I are flying out in the morning. I'll book a flight for you to Alabama. We all need to be there."
A heavy breath came through the phone, follow by a broken and struggling, "ok."
"Will you be ok, tonight? Do you want me to call Stephanie to come sit with you?" Mark asked, not being able to handle the thought of her having to be by herself to deal with the heartache.
Allie whimpered and sniffed, before answering with an unconvincing, "I'll be ok."
"Are you sure?" Mark asked.
"No, but I don't think I can handle the company right now," she answered.
"Ok," Mark consented, but didn't like it. "I'm sorry I'm not there with you, Sweetheart. I'll send you the flight information and I'll see you in Alabama. I love you, Kiddo."
"I love you too," she whispered, before they ended the call. Just as she hung up, she heard a heavy, urgent knock on the door. Knowing it was probably the hotel staff coming to talk to her about the noise, she wiped her eyes, before hauling herself out of bed and heading to the door. She opened it slowly, but wasn't met with a disgruntled hotel employee. Instead she met the three worried faces of Joe, Colby, and Jon.
The tears and redness around her eyes, only increased the worried expressions. Joe stepped forward, hand slowly reaching out as if approaching a wild, scared animal. "Are you ok? We heard you from next door."
Allie shook her head, before breaking down again. As she lost her coordination and tried to grip the door for balance, Joe reached forward and scooped her up in his arms. She clung to him, her face buried in his neck, as she sobbed again. She felt him move forward into the room and sat down with her on the couch. Colby sat on her other side, rubbing a hand up and down her back, as Jon sat on the coffee table in front of her. She continued to cling to Joe, begging them, in a heart breaking whisper, for the pain to go away. She kept repeating "Why?" over and over again.
None of them said anything as they looked amongst each other, not knowing what to do for her. So they just allowed her to let all her emotions out, none of them wanting to leave her side. After what felt like hours of crying to Allie, she finally began to calm down. Taking several deep breaths she slowly pulled away from Joe, sitting back against the couch. Wiping her eyes, she look between them and let out just the hint of a smile, "I'm sorry, guys."
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Colby spoke up immediately, as Jon stood up slowly and walked towards the kitchen area. He came back a moment later and handed her a glass of water. Holding the glass with both hands, she gripped it tightly as she took a few small sips.
Rest her hands and the glass on her thighs, she looked up at Jon and gave him a small smile, "Thank you," she barely whispered out. Jon gave her a small nod, keeping their eyes locked.
"Are you ok?" He asked quietly, almost afraid to ask, not wanting to cause her to cry again. Jon's chest constricted tightly at the thought of it. The deep emotional pain in those heart breaking sobs had been almost unbearable. A female crying had never seemed to faze him, but for some reason it broke his heart to see her cry.
Allie took a deep breath and shook her head, "No. I'm not." She didn't know if she could even talk about it, but she was going to try. She felt she at least owed them some kind of explanation since they cared enough to come check on her and then sit and comfort her while she broke down. She guessed she had been wrong with not needing the company. She looked slowly between them, before continuing. "Mark just called me. Bill Moody died of a heart attack a few hours ago." She just couldn't bring herself to believe it. The best manager the wrestling world had ever seen and one of her greatest friends, Paul Bearer, was gone.
"My god," Joe said in loud whisper, "I'm so sorry, Allie." Jon and Colby looked on in shock and sadness.
"I just spoke to him a couple days ago," she sniffed, taking a few tissues out of a box that Colby held, finding it on the table next to him. "He said he hadn't been feeling well, but thought it was just some kind of bug." She ran a hand through her hair, sighing loudly trying to fight off another wave of tears. "It just doesn't seem real. It just feels like a bad dream that I'm going to wake up from."
She began to break down again and began to lose her grip on the glass in her hands. Just as it was about to slip through Joe took it from her gently and placed it on the table next to Jon. Before Joe could turn back to her, Jon had leaned forward and pulled her to him, sitting her on his lap. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and buried her face into the crook of his neck. Jon alternated between rubbing her back and running his hand through her hair, while his other arm kept held her snugly against him. He whispered, what he hoped were calming, soothing words into her ear. After a moment he turned to Colby and Joe, "Why don't you guys get some sleep? I'll stay with her."
Joe and Colby looked at each other for a moment, before returning their gazes to Jon, shaking their heads. "No, man," Colby said as he leaned forward and ran a soothing hand down Allie's back. "We're all a team now. We stick through everything together. Even heartbreak." Jon nodded and then turned his attention back to Allie. The cries had started to calm again and he felt her starting to go limp in his arms. Knowing she must be starting to dose off, he slid his arm under her legs and picked her up to carry her back to the bedroom.
He heard the shuffle of feet behind him and knew without looking that Colby and Joe were following. He laid her gently on the bed, then pulled the covers over her, tucking her in. Joe and Colby set her glass of water and tissue on the nightstand next her, then stepping back. The last conscious moment Allie had was a warm hand running across her forehead and into her hair, before sleep took her.
Allie awoke the next morning, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She had slept hard and felt the ache of it in her head. Sitting up slowly she looked around the room, surprised at the site before her. To the right of her bed, sitting in an uncomfortable hotel chair, sound asleep was Colby. His head laid to the side, with his hair draped across his face. To the left sitting in another chair, but leaned forward, head resting on his arms that were folded on the bed, was Joe. He was also sound asleep, and his hair, a black mass that seemed to fall everywhere. And finally, sprawled across the bottom of the king sized bed with one arm tucked under his head, the other hanging off the edge of the bed, while softly snoring, was Jon. His curly dark blonde locks were a disheveled mess. Allie felt her heart flip at the sight of him, but pushed that thought off at the memory of the phone call last night.
Grabbing her phone off her nightstand, she opened it to find the information Mark had promised to send. Her flight was in three hours, so she had to get moving. She slid slowly out of bed, trying not to wake the boys. She smiled at the thought of them spending the night to keep her company, selflessly suffering the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements. Maybe things with them would work out after all.
After finishing the glass of water they had left on the nightstand, she collected some comfortable clothes and moved towards the bathroom to grab a quick shower. When returning to the bedroom, dressed in faded jeans and an Undertaker t-shirt, she found the guys were still asleep. She moved quietly around the room gathering up all her belongings to pack into her suitcase.
As she was zipping up her suitcase, she heard a groggy voice behind her, "Are you leaving?" She turned around to see a sleepy Joe, looking at her as he brushed his hair back out of his face. The other two stirred at the sound of his voice and they turned to look at her.
"Yea," she nodded, pulling her suitcase on to the floor. "I'm meeting Mark and Glenn in Alabama for the funeral. My flights in a couple hours."
"How are you getting to the airport?" Colby asked in a sleepy raspy voice.
"I was gonna call a cab," she moved over to sit on the bed on the other side of Jon. "Thank you for staying with me last night. I was a mess and I'm glad I didn't have to be alone."
"It was no problem, Al," Colby said standing up to stretch. "And we can drive you to the airport. You don't have to call a cab."
Allie shook her head, "No, you don't have to. I've put you guys out enough."
"It's not up for debate," Jon cut in, standing also. "Just give us a couple minutes to run to our room and we'll drive you." Before Allie could dispute the three men headed for the door.
A few minutes later, they returned and the four of them headed out to the airport. Once arriving there, they all made their way into the airport, the three men stayed until Allie got checked in. Once she was all squared away she turned to them. "Thank you for everything. I'll see you all Monday for Raw. Text or call if you need me for anything."
The guys nodded, then took turns hugging her. "We'll see you in a few days. Same goes, if you need us, please call." Joe said, with Allie giving them a small smile and a nod. With that they watch as she walked toward her flight terminal. The three men stayed until they couldn't see her anymore.
A/N: Sad chapter, but hope you guys enjoyed. Reviews please! :)
I was so heartbroken when Taker lost at Wrestlemania. Seriously, Brock Lesnar? Oh well, but on a positive note, the boys won! And, looked oh so hott doing it! Love the masks!
