Drew made excellent progress and was able to be released from hospital the next day after a psychiatric examination, under the care of a company mental health worker. Stephen and Stuart rented a car and decided to take turns driving in shifts rather than flying back to Florida in order to avoid dealing with crowds and the hassle of an airport. It turned into an enjoyable road-trip for the trio, and reminded them of their days on the UK independent circuit. They filled the long hours recalling adventures, matches, common friends and common foes. They teased each other mercilessly and played pranks on each other, particularly anyone who dared attempt to get some sleep. When they finally rolled up Drew's driveway it was the small hours of the morning.
The three exited the vehicle and gave a long stretch, easing their muscles after the cramped confines of the SUV. They pulled their bags from the back and all three entered the house. Drew punched in the security code to shut off the alarm while Stephen went to the fridge to pull some beers from the fridge. Stuart accepted gratefully, but Drew declined, saying he was happy with water. Stephen got some ice from the dispenser in the refrigerator door and poured him a glass from the filter pitcher. The three dispensed with their beverages quickly and decided that it was time for bed. Drew asked Stuart if he remembered where the spare bedroom was and the Englishman nodded. Then Drew suddenly stopped and looked at Stephen.
Stuart noticed the look and sighed. "Look, if you two want to sleep together, fine. Just keep it down, alright?" The two Celts smiled at their friend in thanks, and he gave a frown in response but they knew him well enough to know that it was not in bad humour. Stuart picked up his bag and flung it over his shoulder as he walked down the hallway, leaving the two lovers alone for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. They looked into each other's eyes and Stephen walked over to Drew, taking the round face into his hands and leaning in for a full, long kiss. Drew wrapped his arms around Stephen's muscular torso, relishing the strength that he felt and taking comfort in it. He knew that his lover had an inner toughness as well as physical strength, and he knew that he would help him through the tough times ahead. Drew increased the passion of his kiss, wanting to show Stephen how much he meant to him, and how much he loved him.
The Irishman pulled back and looked into his lover's eyes. "Easy, love. Are yeh up fer all tha' jus' yet?"
Drew lowered his eyes. "I… I'm still a bit sore. But I love you and I want to show you how much."
Stephen smiled. "Ah know yeh do, an' yeh ken show me in other ways. But if yeh insist…" His smile widened and Drew grinned in kind. The two embraced again, remembering the taste of each other, before finally pulling apart and making their way to Drew's room. Stephen insisted on carrying both their bags, making Drew shake his head and roll his eyes. They teased and generally messed around with each other as they did their ablutions but they eventually managed to crawl into bed. They both laid on their side, facing each other, stroking one another's face before leaning in to resume their earlier kiss. Stephen reached down to knead one of Drew's muscular buttocks while the Scot massaged the Irishman's back. Drew thrust his pelvis up against Stephen's and felt his lover harden at the motion.
"Ah, yeh've got the Devil 'imself in those hips, Andrew" whispered the Irishman, hoarsely. Drew grinned and redoubled his efforts, making his lover bite his lip and grab his ass even harder. The Scotsman slid downwards, trailing his tongue along his lover's pale skin as he did so. He stopped when he reached the now throbbing member, twitching in mid-air as if begging for relief. Drew extended his tongue and started from Stephen's sack, licking slowly from base to tip. The Irishman sucked in his breath through gritted teeth, arching his back and gripping the sheets with clenched fists. Drew ran his tongue around the head a couple of times before taking it into his mouth, sucking slowly and running his hand up and down the shaft.
Stephen placed a hand on Drew's head and began to guide him. He took a handful of hair and pushed his head downwards. Suddenly Drew shot backwards and sat up, a look of horror on his face. Stephen sat up as well. "Wha's wrong? Wha' happened?"
Drew was breathing like he'd just ran a marathon and it took him a minute to answer. Stephen moved to him, put an arm around his shoulders and held him until he calmed down enough to say, his voice shaking: "It was just like what he did tae me. He pulled my hair like tha'. It made me gag. I'm sorry."
Stephen silently cursed himself and held Drew in tighter. "No, love. Ah'm sorry. Ah should've known it was too soon fer yeh. Ah should've been more careful. Ah was bein' selfish, please forgive me. Ah'm so sorry, darlin'."
Drew sniffled and wiped away a tear but steadied himself and shook his head. "No, it was nae yer fault. I wanted it, same as ye. Dinnea blame yersel'." They sat there a while longer, comforting one another, before crawling back under the covers and falling asleep wrapped in each other's arms.
Early the next morning the two Celts were woken by the sound of Drew's cell phone ringing. Drew had to dig into the pocket of the jeans he'd been wearing the day before to find it, but he eventually managed to tap the screen with a finger and answer groggily "Hello?"
"Drew? It's Paul. Sorry to have to do this to you but we could really use you at Stamford. Could you get here as soon as possible, please?"
Drew was suddenly very awake. "What, you mean like today?"
"Yes, today. As soon as possible. Believe me if I could send the jet I would; but it's Vince's plane…"
Drew sighed. "Yes, of course. I'll head straight to the airport and let you know when I can get to you. Okay. Bye."
Stephen was now awake and sitting up, watching Drew with a concerned look on his light-skinned face. "Wha's goin' on? Yer goin' someheres?"
Drew nodded. "That was Paul. He needs me at Titan Towers asap. Looks like it's time for the big showdown."
Stephen put a hand on the Scot's shoulder. "Ah'll come with yeh. Let me have a quick shower; me bag's still packed. We kin go as soon as yer ready." Drew gave him a small smile and nodded. The Irishman leaned in and placed a kiss on his lover's cheek. "It's gonna be alrigh', Drew. You'll be fine. Ah'll see to tha'." The Scotsman turned and smiled again, then leaned in to give Stephen a lingering kiss in appreciation. The two then got out of bed, Stephen heading to the shower and Drew pulling on a pair of jeans before going down the hall to inform Stuart of the development.
The Englishman decided to head home, dropping the Celts off at the airport en route, and they booked the first available flight to Connecticut. Stephen could tell that Drew was getting more and more nervous the closer they got to their destination. While they were at the airport he was able to cover his trepidation by getting 'into character' and posing for pictures with fans as if he didn't have a care in the world. However, his lover knew him better than anyone and he could tell his antics were merely a cover. Drew chewed nervously at his nails during the flight, not that he had any to begin with. It was a terrible habit he'd had his whole life and Stephen wanted to take Drew's hand and hold it in his own, almost as much to stop the chewing as for comfort. The need for 'discretion' stopped him, though.
The Irishman shook his head. Again he was being forced to deny Drew comfort when he desperately needed it just so they could maintain a public image of being only co-workers and friends. The Irishman gave his lover's knee a nudge with his own, easily enough done in the close confines of plane and the fact that even business class seats were small to men their size. Drew turned to look at Stephen and the Irishman gave his lover a wink. The Scot smiled and gave a knee-bump of his own. The two leaned in so their upper arms were in close contact but only gave the outward appearance of two large men in a too-confining space. Drew looked out the window and Stephen flipped through the pages of a magazine, not really registering anything that he saw. His mind was too busy thinking about what awaited them at the end of their journey.
They were picked up at the airport and driven to Titan Towers. They were met at reception by one of Paul's lawyers, who gave Drew a few instructions as he led them to the boardroom. "Don't speak to Mr McMahon directly. Always talk to me, answer only my questions to the best of your abilities. We're going to show the video so we shouldn't have to ask you specific details, and if you want to leave the room when we show it you're perfectly within your rights to do so." Drew turned slightly green but he nodded and took a deep breath. Stephen put an encouraging hand on the Scot's shoulder and Drew gave his waist a pat in return.
The trio reached the boardroom and the lawyer opened the door for the two Celts to enter. Drew's breath caught but he held a stoic facial expression when his eyes met those of Vince McMahon. Stephen gave Drew's shoulder a squeeze and openly glared at the Chairman, who was flanked by several men in suits, presumably his legal team. Paul, who had been sitting on the opposite side of the table to Vince, stood up when the three entered. "Guys, please come in. Drew, you can sit here. Steve, why don't you take a seat next to him?" He indicated seats that were further down the table from himself, so that they could see the Chairman but were a distance away. The two Celts sat down, and waited for the lawyers to signal the next move.
Paul spoke first: "Alright, we all know why we're here…"
Vince cut in. "We're here because Mr Galloway has made a frankly ludicrous allegation against myself; and while I sympathise with his obviously fragile state of mind I think we're wasting everybody's time by even having this meeting." Drew's face went crimson and Stephen struggled to keep from leaping out of his seat and giving the Chairman the beating of his life, but the lawyer on Paul's team raised a hand in their direction and the COO gave them a subtle nod.
Paul turned to his father-in-law. "Ludicrous allegation, is it? Well why don't we see for ourselves?" He turned to the Scotsman. "Drew, if you want to leave…"
"I'll be just fine, thank you." Drew's voice was clear and did not waver. Stephen was proud of his lover's strength in the face of adversity and smiled at him, then turned his eyes defiantly towards Vince. One of Paul's team went to a laptop and the video was played for all to see on a blank wall in the room. Stephen fought hot tears and again had to stop himself from delivering a beating to the monster who sat a mere few feet away from him. Drew did not watch the video but instead focussed on the face of his attacker, who remained apathetic throughout the replay. When the lights were brought back up Paul spoke again.
"So, Vince. Are you still maintaining that the allegations are ludicrous?"
The Chairman leaned over as one of his team whispered in his ear. He sat back up and said "What you need to understand is that what you witnessed there was a game. You see, Mr Galloway prefers it, if you'll beg the expression, a little rough…"
Stephen couldn't contain himself any longer. He leapt to his feet. "You fecking lying cunt. Ah'll tear yer heart from yer chest fer tryin' ter make out Drew wanted any o' tha'!" Drew was looking down at the table, visibly shaking, and Paul and his lawyer moved to try and calm Stephen down. Vince sat there with a shade of a grin on his face as it took them almost a full minute to get the Irishman to retake his seat. When order was restored Paul's lawyer turned to Drew.
"Mr Galloway, do you have anything to say in response to Mr McMahon's statement?"
Drew looked up. Stephen held his breath, apprehensive at them pushing the young Scot for a response to such an outlandish statement. To his amazement Drew simply held up his wrists, his hands back so that the bandages poked out from his shirtsleeves.
"That's how much I wanted it."
The smirk dropped away from Vince's face and Stephen took a deep breath through his nose, overwhelmed with emotion and pride. Drew was showing such bravery; he'd never been so proud of the man. He felt his chest constrict with love for the Scot and bored a hole in Vince's face with his eyes. They were going to beat this man, one way or another. Through sheer will alone, they would beat this monster for what he'd done to Drew.
Paul nodded and placed his hands on the desk, interlacing his fingers. "Well, I guess that answers that one. Vince, I'm going to cut to the chase here. What you've done amounts to gross misconduct and makes your position as Chairman untenable. I am asking you to do the right thing and step down."
Vince raised both eyebrows and leaned back in his chair. "Is that so? Well, I believe that I have the right to a fair trial before being convicted of an offense, and we both know that I can afford the best legal team there is." He waved a hand to indicate the suits flanking him. "It could take years of legal wrangling to even get to court. Is Mr Galloway up to all of that?"
Drew's face was ashen. He looked at Paul, then at the lawyer, and nodded. Paul made a face as if he considered the options, then said: "That's a fair point, Vince, but you may want to think about dragging this through the courts. Especially when there are two people willing to bring charges against you."
Vince, Stephen and Drew all looked at Paul, confused. The Chairman brushed away his counsel, who had leaned in to speak in the Chairman's ear, and demanded "Two? Who the fuck is the other one?"
Paul raised his eyebrows. "You mean you don't know? How many guys have you been abusing, Vince?"
The Chairman's face contorted with rage and started to turn red. "Don't you start fucking with me, you putrid little shit. I'll fucking eat you for breakfast…"
Paul raised up a hand. "Now now, Vince. Let's keep this civil. We're family, remember? Speaking of family…" he gave a nod to one of the members of his team, who stood up and went to the door. When the door opened in walked Shane McMahon, with John Hennigan following behind. The two Celts' eyes went wide. What the hell was JoMo doing here? Shane sat John next to Stephen, and the three wrestlers gave each other a nod in acknowledgement.
Vince's face had gone from shock to confusion and slowly back to rage. "What the hell is he doing here? He is no longer an employee of this company. I do not want that pothead in my fucking building."
John looked the Chairman in the eye. "Nice to see you too, Mr McMahon. Or do you still want me to call you 'Daddy'?" The two Celts' jaws dropped in unison and Vince's face went crimson.
"I don't know what the fuck it is you're smoking these days, Hennigan, but it's obviously addled your brain." Vince turned to Shane. "And you. How dare you turn on me like this? How could you believe this bullshit about your own father?"
Shane replied. "Oh I've known about this for years, Dad. It's why I left the company. I couldn't work here knowing you were scouring for fuck toys as much as for talent. It made me sick. I could have dealt with it more if you had at kept it to the ones who went along with it, but then you started forcing straight guys to bend over for you. It was too much. I had to leave."
Vince was stunned into silence and his counsel whispered into his ear. "You can't prove any of this" the Chairman finally said. "There's no proof I laid a hand on Hennigan, or anyone else. It's my word against his, and everyone knows he's a druggie."
Shane pursed his lips. "That's not precisely true, Dad. You see, one of the times that you… were with John I happened to walk into the locker room looking for you. I saw everything. So, I could actually testify against you."
There was a heavy silence in the room for a few moments, until the Chairman spoke, quietly. "You wouldn't do that to me, Shane. I'm your father."
Shane nodded. "True, but I also stand to inherit almost half of this company when you go. Paul gets another quarter. Let's face it, Dad, you've been more of a hindrance than a help to this company lately. I think it's time you let the next generation take the helm." He and the COO gave Vince a direct stare and the Chairman's counsel rubbed his face before leaning in to speak in his ear again. The Chairman balled his fists before glaring at the three wrestlers sat at the end of the table, then at his son and son-in-law.
"This company will be nothing without me. I hope it folds before you all rot in hell."
