Chapter 11
Jaxine walked down the hallway of the arena a few weeks later and stopped in her tracks when she seen who was in the cafeteria, needing a water. Paul Bearer. Her hand flew over her mouth as she quickly back tracked and immediately ran back to Steve's locker room, knowing she couldn't let the fat man see her. She grunted when she rounded the corner, only to slam into a brick wall, falling back hard on her ass. She was glad she was wearing a long black skirt and felt her amber eyes widen at who it was once her vision cleared, the cobwebs dispersing.
Kane stared down at her, his head tilting to the side, curiously. Of course he had known she was back. It was hard to miss with the way she had reintroduced herself to the Undertaker, with a metal chair swung like a baseball bat. Not that Kane expected her to come looking him up. He bent down to grab her gently by the underarms, pulling her to her feet.
Her heart was thundering against her chest as she stared back into those mismatched blue eyes, swallowing hard, wondering for a brief moment if he was going to hurt her. When he released her arms, she sighed a breath of relief and patted his chest gently. "Thank you, Kane." She suddenly remembered Paul and immediately felt the tears in her eyes. "Do you know Paul is back?" When he nodded, she cursed, shaking her head knowing Kane was no longer apart of her life, but she didn't want him getting hurt. "Please be careful." She then walked around him and down the hallway, needing to warn Steve about this.
Kane gently caught her by the arm before she could go far, pulling her into an empty room and closed the door behind them. He held out his hands in a peaceful gesture when he seen the wary look on her face. "Paul and Undertaker." He said, his voice sounding a bit different, though still somewhat hoarse, like he hadn't been talking much, which he didn't do anyway. Who was there to listen? "Together." He cleared his throat uncomfortably, searching for the words to explain.
"What?" Jaxine felt the fear completely consume her as a few stray tears trickled down her face, not believing this. Undertaker was in cahoots with Paul Bearer? When did that happen? The last time Jaxine knew Undertaker wanted to kill Paul! "Kane, what is going on?" She softly asked, needing the answers, her eyebrows furrowing. "Y-You're not with them, are you?" She hesitantly asked and sighed with great relief when he emphatically shook his head. "Oh thank god." She breathed out and pressed a hand to his chest, her eyes never leaving his. "What are they planning, do you know?"
Kane could only shake his head again. He steered clear of them both. In fact, he steered clear of everyone just about, except his new tag team partner, X-Pac. And even then, he only wrestled with the guy then would vanish when the match was over. He didn't trust anyone and he had all the reasons in the world not too. "They started talking a month ago." He said finally, impressing himself with a full sentence. "Something big is going to happen." Now he was on a roll.
This wasn't good as Jaxine raked a hand through her hair, beginning to pace back and forth in front of him. 'Steve's going to get hurt because of me.' She thought, closing her eyes painfully shut, knowing what she had to do. "Thank you Kane." She solemnly whispered and turned to walk out, looking back at him with a smile. "I missed you." The door closed as she walked down the hallway toward Steve's locker room, wrapping her arms around herself. 'I can't let him get hurt, I have to protect him.' She was coaching herself for what she was about to do and just hoped Steve would take it with a grain of salt and move on as the WWF champion.
Steve was disgruntled, having caught sight of the fat bastard Paul Bearer waddling by his open dressing room door. Whenever that fat fuck was around, trouble was sure to follow. He'd suited up and was doing push-ups, his ice cold eyes on the open doorway, expecting the Undertaker to burst in. Something was up and he wasn't going to be caught off-guard this time around. He blinked when Jaxine walked in. "Get yer drink?" He asked, standing up.
She didn't answer at first and closed the door, not wanting anyone else to overhear this before turning to face him. "I have to say goodbye." She said, trembling slightly, not wanting to do this. God help her she didn't want to do this, but knew it was the only way. Because she was with him, Undertaker wouldn't stop and Jaxine knew that. "I'm going back home." She walked over and grabbed her bag, trying to keep the tears in her eyes. "Paul Bearer is back and he's with Undertaker." When Steve's blue eyes narrowed, she sighed even more. "Kane told me. I bumped into him on the way back from the cafeteria. Something bad is going to happen Steve." Her voice was calm and soothing, but the fear in her tone was detected clearly.
Steve nodded. "Yeah, probably be a good idea for you to go back." He said finally, knowing she had to be terrified of what the Undertaker would probably do to her if he ever got his greasy mitts on her again. "I'd protect you, Jaxine, you know that, honey. But it's your decision." Steve said, staring down into her eyes, wishing she would stay. "Whatever he's planning, we can deal with it together."
"I refuse to let you get hurt by him. I won't do it." She stated, looking back into his blue eyes, a single tear falling down her cheek and closed them when he wiped them away, more following. "Please, don't make this any harder than it has to be." She softly pleaded, sniffling, feeling him grab her hand when she went to grab her bag. "Steve..." She opened her eyes to stare at him, trying to memorize every single detail, biting her bottom lip. "He won't stop as long as I'm with you. If I disappear, there won't be any leverage he has against you." She was merely pointing out the facts, knowing she had to walk away from him.
Now Steve was royally confused, a light bulb going on over his head and suddenly cottoned on to what she was saying. "Jaxine, whatever he's plannin', it has more then to do with you." He said gently, holding her gently by her upper arms. "'Taker-and please don't take offense at this honey-, but he wouldn't focus all his attention on a woman simply because he'd considered it a weakness. Now he would work you into his little scheme, figurin' it as a bonus. Whether you're here or not, whatever's goin' to happen is going to happen. The decision is yours, but don't ever think you're puttin' me in danger. Yer not. He'd love to send me to the hospital just for the hell of it."
What was she supposed to do? Jaxine didn't like hearing that and sighed heavily, knowing deep down she knew he had valid points as well. She honestly didn't want to leave him, she enjoyed being by his side, champion or not. "I'm sorry, I'm just really scared right now and I'm not thinking rationally. Would it be alright if I went back to the hotel?" She asked softly, needing sometime alone to think about things, to figure out what Undertaker was planning. This Ministry of Darkness was causing chaos in the WWF and even attacked Steve a few times, but Jaxine was always kept out of harm's way. It was like Steve became invincible to protect her. When he nodded, she smiled and kissed his cheek. "I'll be careful, I promise."
"Hope so." Steve said, keeping the worry out of his tone and off his face, averting his blue eyes because he knew she'd see it there. When Jaxine had left, he scrubbed a hand down his face, blowing out heavily though his mouth. Whatever 'Taker was planning probably had everything to do with her because since she came back to the Federation, things with the Deadman had gotten worse then ever. But if she left for Chicago, she'd be nothing more then a sitting duck.
Jaxine took precaution as she headed back to the hotel, driving Steve's truck. The man wouldn't let her take a cab and she started to wonder how he would get back to the hotel. He would figure it out as Jaxine kept driving, keeping her eyes on the road, her hands shaking on the wheel. She was scared to death now, truly terrified, especially now that Paul was back. Surely the fat man hadn't forgotten her attack the last time they were together. Sighing heavily, Jaxine pulled into the hotel parking garage and shut the truck ignition off before sliding out, purse in hand.
~!~
"She left." Paul Bearer announced, walking into the Undertaker's dressing room, sliding between the Acolytes. "You'll have free reign on Austin tonight."
He snorted, knowing with his Ministry he would have had free reign anyway, but this made things easier. He wouldn't have to let her get her ass beaten. Not that he would ever do it, no. But he couldn't stop his followers from having THEIR fun. "Good, let's make sure he never makes it back to her." He ordered gravely.
Steve was ambushed on his way to the ring. Cursing as he flew into a wall, he managed to stop himself from getting crunched by a following Viscera, dodging the big man's even bigger body. "Sumbitch!" He growled, spinning on the balls of his feet, squaring off with the entire Ministry, not surprised to see 'Taker in their midst.
Much to 'Taker's surprise, Kane appeared at Austin's side, his green eyes narrowing. "This does not concern you, Kane. Leave." He ordered gravely.
Kane just shook his head no, body tensed for a fight.
"Son, please listen to reason." Paul's voice sounded from behind Undertaker, his black beady eyes staring at his son, wearing a black suit with his hands clasped in front of him. "Austin is the enemy. He took Jaxine from you, remember? He's the reason why she won't even talk to you anymore. Do you honestly want to fight with him for all that pain he caused you?" His voice was still the same, shrill and annoying all in one. "Please Kane, join the Ministry and get Jaxine back. We both know how much you miss her."
Kane wasn't buying the bullshit, not this time. One too many bad experiences with his father kept him from even considering believing any of that. He knew Jaxine had done what she needed too to escape the Undertaker and he honestly didn't blame her. He couldn't fault anyone in her position. He just growled warningly, eyes flashing.
"Fine." 'Taker sighed, shaking his head as if disappointed. "Destroy them both."
Steve was ready when the attack came.
~!~
After a long, hot bubble bath, Jaxine slipped into an ivory colored nightgown before walking into the bedroom area, gripping her hair with her hand, trying to figure this out. What was Undertaker after besides revenge? He'd had several attempts to hurt her and never took any of them. It was all threats, but no action. Jaxine bit her bottom lip, wondering if it was a good idea leaving Steve at the arena, and closed her eyes as a tremor rushed through her body.
"Be careful Steve." She whispered before pulling her notebook out, needing a distraction.
Jaxine was woken out of a dead sleep when she heard her cell phone ring and rolled over, picking it up off of the nightstand and answered it. "Hello?" Her voice was calm and sleepy, though when she heard that dark, demonic voice in her ear, she instantly bolted upright and flicked the light on, trembling slightly. "How did you get this number?" She demanded, trying to stay strong and closed her eyes when he chuckled in her ear in that evil way, the only way he could. She had a feeling something happened to Steve and was already up, pulling clothes out of her bag to change into.
"I'd be more concerned about where I'm making the call from." He teased evilly. "Jaxine, listen..."
"Don't you dare leave that room, Jax!" Steve bellowed in the background, grunting as he was punched in the stomach, spitting at Bradshaw. "Keep yer ass there!"
"How sweet..." 'Taker's voice came back over the line. "Too bad you're not here, my pet. I'm sure you'd enjoy seeing what we do to both him and Kane." He laughed demonically before hanging up, leaving her with nothing, but a dial tone.
She ignored Steve and was out the door, dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a black tank top with black steel toed boots, her black hair flying behind her. Both of her favorite men were in trouble and she had to do what she could to save them. She ran down the stairs and kicked the door open to the parking garage, pulling the keys out to Steve's truck and got in, locking the doors before shakily sliding the key in the ignition and turned it, tears flowing down her cheeks. She ignored the ringing of her cell phone as she peeled out of there, needing to save both of them. No matter what she had to do, even if it was take their place.
"I'm coming guys, hang on..."
Kane was standing in a corner, his hands chained to the wall to keep him from ripping someone's head off as the Brood kept dancing in and out, zapping him with tasers. He growled, constantly trying to side step them, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, under the mask as another current of electricity coursed through his body.
Steve wasn't faring too much better, being passed around between the Acolytes, Mideon and Viscera, his head reeling from the blows that never seemed to stop. The only reason he was still on his feet was the momentum of the punches.