A/N: I own nothing, no one you recognize. Enjoy, and please review. I could use the advice…
Hunter and Shawn
gathered their things, rounded up Imara, and piled into their car.
Shawn was driving them to the airport to fly back home. Imara
remained silent. She had this feeling in the pit of her stomach, this
wasn't going to be good, but what choice did she have. They parked
the car in the garage and unloaded their luggage. Shawn and Hunter
whispered to each other frequently while Imara just went through the
motions. She lost interest in their conversation after they came up
with this silly idea. Shawn accompanied them to check in and all the
way to the end of the security line. Then the goodbyes came. Imara,
politely, removed her headphones and turned to Shawn.
"Imara,
do not let Hunter do anything but take it easy. He earned this time
off." He tried to lighten the mood.
"I enjoyed spending time
with you Shawn." She responded.
"Imara, it is going to be
okay. This is the right thing to do. Be strong, I will come visit you
guys as soon as I can." Shawn grabbed her in a tight hug. At first
she fought it, but realizing his compassion was genuine, she gave in
to the emotion. She hugged him tightly back. A lonely tear escaped
the clutches of her eye and stained Shawn's shirt. Her ice cold
exterior these last few days was slowly breaking down. Shawn grabbed
her face and looked her square in the eye. "You are going to be
fine. We are going to take care of you. It's okay, you are finally
safe now, darling. Breathe." He kissed her forehead as another
rebellious tear fell down her cheek. He brushed it away with his
thumb, and gave her one last long look. He turned to Hunter, "Take
care of our girl Hunter. I'll visit as soon as I can." The men
embraced in a testosterone hug. (you know, the hug where they never
actually embrace fully, just a double arm pat on the back…yep that
one) Imara chuckled inside, these men, she thought.
As Hunter and
Imara turned to enter the security lines, Imara heard her name.
"Imara! Imara, wait one second, please!"
She turned to see
who was calling her name. To her unbelievable delight, it was Shane.
The last time she spoke to him, the conversation did not end well.
She dropped her bags and ran to him. "Shane!" She grabbed him
tightly.
"Hi Ima…" He sighed hugging her back. "I had to
see you before you left. I am glad I made it in time." He rubbed
her back lovingly. "I am sorry I couldn't keep you safe. Hunter
will do a great job though I am sure of it. He is so strong. He will
protect you better than I ever did."
Imara couldn't fight her
emotion anymore. This has all been so crazy. She cried, again. This
cry was different than earlier. She was allowing herself to feel what
she had been fighting rather than crying out all of the stress and
frustration. Onto her brother's expensive suit, she let the warm
liquid fall from her eyes. As scared as she was, she was beginning to
feel strong, and safe. Imara began to let the emotion she had been
fighting over come her, and it was scary. When her last tear fell she
pulled away from her brother. He, like Shawn, grabbed her face in his
hands.
"You are going to be just fine now, okay? I will come
out and see you whenever I can. Talk to Hunter; let him in all of the
way. He will help you if you let him. We all care about you." He
kissed her cheek, the way brothers do. "I love you Imara."
Imara
looked at her brother, his hands holding onto her face. "I love you
too, Shane."
He let her go as she walked back to Hunter and her
luggage, and the future. She looked back a couple times. When she got
back to the line with Hunter, he smiled at her.
"Are you ready
for this?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." She sighed. She
waved one last time at Shawn and Shane, who just stood, watching them
as they made their way through security and to their gate.
"She's
gonna be okay, right Shawn?" Shane asked.
"Hunter will take
good care of her. He really cares about her man. You should hear some
of the tricks he pulled to get her to trust him. She's going to be
fine. Come on, let's get back to work before anyone suspects
anything." Shawn and Shane turned, and made their way out of the
airport.
Hunter and Imara got their seats and buckled
in. Hunter gave Imara the window seat. He was surprised she hadn't
put her music back in her ears. Maybe she would talk to him. He let
her stare out of the window a moment before he initiated a
conversation.
Hunter smiled and helped himself to one of her ear
phones. As she turned to see what he was doing, he pressed play on
her MP3 player. He was surprised to hear Poison rock out from the
small device. A smile crept up on his face.
"Wow Imara, I
didn't know you had it in you."
Imara smiled at him. "What?
You thought I was pining away for some washed up boy band? Please."
She rolled her eyes.
Hunter took notice of the smile in her eyes.
She was playing with him. She was almost happy. As the plane began to
gain speed Hunter grabbed Imara's hand tightly. She squeezed
back.
Once they hit altitude, Imara, who had been planning this
conversation since they boarded the plane, began to speak. "Hunter,
I really appreciate what you are trying to do. I know that it hasn't
been exactly easy but you haven't given up on me, even when I have.
Thank you"
"Imara, I'm happy you're coming home with me."
Hunter smiled down at her, stroking her hair.
Vince watched the group
say their goodbyes at the airport hiding inside a restaurant near by.
Mr. McMahon watched the tearful hugs and emotional out pour. He
watched that bitch play the victim. What did they think they were
doing, he was the only victim here. Vince fought to control himself
to avoid being seen by the party. He couldn't risk them knowing he
was there. The only way this would work is if they didn't
know he was there. He watched Shane and Shawn head back to work after
watching the other two pass through security. When he was sure they
were out of sight, Vince made his way to a counter.
"I need to
be on your next flight to Connecticut." He slammed down his Visa.
"Oh, I'm sorry sir you just missed a flight." The vested
woman responded, pretending sympathy. "The next flight isn't for
a few hours."
"I don't care, just get me on the
flight."
"You know sir, that tone won't help this
situation." She clicked away on the keyboard. "Oh and it looks
as if we only have coach seats available left, is that going to be
satisfactory?" She asked through bleached white teeth, tilting her
head in sympathy while her curled ice-tea colored hair bobbed with
her.
"Listen woman, I do not care about anything but getting on
that flight. GET ME THAT DAMNED TICKET!" He roared through clenched
teeth.
"Someone has no manners." She responded, unaffected by
his anger.
Who is this bitch? Thinking she can talk to me,
Vincent Kennedy McMahon, like that! If I wasn't in such a hurry I
would teach her a lesson she would NOT soon forget.
She slid
him the ticket and began to explain what the abbreviations were when
he just snatched the ticket from her hand.
"I do not care, I
just need the ticket." He stormed off.
He spent his time stewing
in anger. His blood was practically boiling out of his skin he was so
angry. He could hardly wait to get his hands around her little neck
and squeeze as tight as he could. She would regret ruining this for
him.
When he took his seat in the crowded cabin, he was squeezed
in between an oversized business man who had no understanding of
personal space and a woman in the most offensive sweater he had ever
seen. Oh she is going to pay for this…
