In A Breath

By Kyizi

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the WWE, the story is mine.

Rating: R, for violence and rape

Summary: Christian turned his back on his brother, on his career and on his company, was it really all because he was jealous of his brother's success? Or was he trying to escape from something…or someone?

Spoilers: Up to and including Vengeance.

Setting: This starts the day before Vengeance, but we will be taking a trip back in time every now and again.

Feedback: Always appreciated

E-mail: kyizifanfic@hotmail.com

Yahoo! Group: KyiziFic

Notes: This idea came into my head after reading Karen U's fic, "It Only Hurts" where she gave Jericho a reason for being, well, an ass, I began to wonder if maybe Christian had a reason…

(Matt and Lita aren't dating in this one and they're both at Vengeance backstage for the purposes of this fic!)

Chapter Note: I had to choose a surname for Edge and Christian, and I really want to keep this in the land of fic, so, I've just picked a random one. Same goes with Edge's 'real' first name.

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Part Thirteen

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Lita hated hospitals, she had ever since she was a child and had had to watch her grandfather slowly withering to nothing on endless amounts of tubes and drugs and machines that beeped his life away. She hated the smell, the light, the sound and the lifelessness of it all. She had vowed to herself to avoid them as much as she could, especially since her surgery when she had been forced to stay, to visit, to mend. But she was there by choice and nothing was tearing her away.

"Hey."

She looked up as she saw Matt handing Torrie Wilson a cup of what she assumed was coffee. He glanced at her and she tried to smile, but couldn't. She was cradling Edge in her arms, but he no longer seemed aware of the fact that she was there. He had slumped into the chair and simply allowed her to pull him onto her shoulders. That had been over an hour ago, and no one had moved from the waiting room since then, apart from Matt.

"How you holdin' up?"

Torrie didn't reply and Matt sat beside her. Lita knew what a wonderful support Matt was to have, and she was thankful that the petite blonde had him beside her. They still didn't know anything more than what they had speculated in their hotel room about five hours prior. Torrie had been in no state to fill them in on anything, and Lita now had more questions than before, and even less answers.

"Mr. Phillips?"

Edge jumped up and walked straight toward the doctor, Lita following close behind. She noticed from the corner of her vision that Torrie was close beside them, and looking none too steady in her feet.

"I'm Edward Phillips. How's my brother?"

The doctor sighed, and Lita realised just how stressed she really was when she was struck more by hearing Edge use his real name than the fact that they were anxiously waiting for news on his estranged brother. The doctor motioned for Edge to follow him into the hall, obviously for privacy, but Edge shook his head.

"I'm Doctor Stamford, I treated your brother from the moment he arrived." Doctor Stamford paused, letting the information sink in. "Your brother has suffered from severe blood loss and his body is in shock. We've done what we can, and physically, he should make a full recovery.

"However, I'm a lot more worried about his psychological problems. He seems to have receded into a self imposed coma. He may appear to be awake, but he is so trapped in his own mind that he can't see anything that's in front of him. He's reliving some traumatic experience over and over and I'm very concerned about what the long term out look will be if we can't get him out of it soon."

Torrie had hitched a few sobs, but other than that, no one had moved. Edge clenched his fists at his sides, and his breathing was laboured. Lita placed a hand on his shoulder and he inhaled a deep breath, glancing at her momentarily in thanks before turning back to the doctor.

"What can we do?"

"Do you have any idea what it could be that is causing him so much distress?"

Edge paused for a moment and shook his head. "I, that is, we…we haven't been close for a long time." His voice was quiet and Lita wrapped her arms around him from behind.

"Is there anyone who might know?"

There was silence as the doctor looked at them all in turn. Edge glanced at Lita before turning to Torrie, a questioning look in his eyes. She instantly broke down, and Matt steadied her, but a few moments later, Edge had crossed the gap between them and pulled Torrie into his arms.

Edge held onto the thin blonde for a long time until she had quieted and her breathing had steadied somewhat. He gently steered her into one of the chairs and sat back slightly from her, holding onto her shoulders and looking strongly into her eyes.

"I need to know, Torrie. I need to know what happened to my brother."

* * *

Christian yawned and picked up his bag, shrugging it onto his shoulders. He was exhausted, and where his half hour shower had helped sooth his aching muscles, it hadn't helped wake him up any, in fact, he felt more tired than he had coming out of his match.

As he closed the door of his and Edge's locker room, he noticed that the hallway was empty, not that he was surprised; he doubted that there were any wrestlers left except him. He loved to take his time in the shower, and he had definitely felt the need that night, so he had just told Edge to head off, and he would catch up later.

He walked leisurely down the hallways, passing few people on his way to the car park, and he didn't really notice anything else. He didn't notice the pair of eyes that was following his every move. Perhaps if he had, he wouldn't have ended up the way he did.

He still remembered being pulled into the boot of the car. He still remembered being locked in there until he fell asleep out of pure exhaustion and fear. He still remembered waking up, tied to a chair.

The room was dark and there were no windows, merely a crack of light coming from the bottom of the doorway. The chair was weighed down so that he couldn't move it and the ropes were so tight that they cut into his wrists and ankles, and no amount of movement would release him.

Noises. It was definitely the noises that kept him on edge. The sudden movements from the hallway, the banging from above him, the scratching against the walls; it was all driving him insane. Until he came. When that happened, Christian would have given anything to go back to the sudden noises and fear the unknown. Because that was better than what he knew.

The first time, Christian wasn't sure what was worse, the pain in his wrists and ankles as the writhed against the wall he had been tied to, or the pain of being entered, being used and beaten. He vaguely heard screams of agony, of torturous thoughts, and only dimly realised that they were his.

He lived by the moment, by the hopes that who ever it was would stop and leave him alone. Time seemed to have stretched and he wasn't even sure how long ago it had been that he had last spoken to anyone, had last seen daylight, or even had something to eat or drink that wasn't forced down his throat.

What scared Christian the most though, was the identity of this man that had stripped him of more than just his clothing. It wasn't that he didn't want to know, it was that he had the feeling he already did know. And the day he was given back the light, the day he was given back his clothes and his phone, he lost so much more. He lost the delusion that it would all be over. Because he saw that face and he heard that voice.

"If you don't do exactly what I say, you are in for a world of pain, boy."

Christian gasped for breath. His memories had seemed more real this time. He had lived them again, had felt every injury, every ounce of pain and every heartache all over again.

He glanced around, realising that he was in a hospital room and his first thought was that someone had found him. He was free of the small basement room, free of the pain of being bound so tightly and free of being raped.

Someone had come for him and Edge would soon be there and his brother would look after him, just as he always had. But those thoughts had only lasted a few moments, before everything came back to him, before he remembered just how he had failed his big brother, and Christian had to fight back the tears he had never shed, and put his act back in place.

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End of Part Thirteen

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