Thanks for the awesome reviews, ladies! Nothing much about Stephanie's repressed past is given away in this particular chapter. But it does serve as an accidental, mean solution to one of her problems. You'll see...and hopefully enjoy!

Stephanie had been in control for three whole days. Other than the stupid dream her mind insisted on replaying for her, Selene hadn't made an appearance. Well, if she had Stephanie sure hadn't noticed. She didn't have the strange feeling that she was just waking up...unless she had actually been sleeping the previous night.

Part of her was even scared to do that. Every time she laid her head down, she feared that days, weeks, maybe months would pass before she really woke up. She knew that extreme stress and anxiety were the catalysts that allowed her to be taken over. Realizing that you had a totally different person living inside of you that was determined as hell to destroy pieces of your life had to qualify for that.

And during the latter part of her engagement to Andrew, Selene had gradually and quietly been plotting to change everything. She'd succeeded. But she'd been so cunning and stealthy about it that Stephanie hadn't seen any of it coming.

What if she did the same thing now? She said it – rather her dream said that slow and steady would win the race. If that was true, then Selene wasn't going to do anything drastic. Like a slow-acting poison, Stephanie wouldn't be able to stop her until it was too late.

She still hadn't come up with a way to take herself off the road. Faking an illness wouldn't buy her very much time. A couple of weeks at best. It was unlikely that her problems would be sorted out that quickly.

While she contemplated, she paid very little attention to her husband's match with Kurt Angle. She understood that her reluctant love triangle brought in big bucks for the business. But, she was resentful that Commissioner Foley was exploiting it by consistently egging the two men on.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if the triangle was actually her fault. But, it wasn't. She didn't start this. Selene did. For whatever reason, her husband had demanded that she stay backstage. She was too wrapped up in her own worries and thoughts to ask why. Normally she would have protested. But quite honestly it might be better if she stayed as far away from Angle as possible. The last thing she needed was for Selene to randomly take over and cost Hunter the match. Or do something questionable out there with Kurt.

No, she was just fine with sitting in the back, thinking of excuses to drag herself out of the mess that was her life.

She heard the bell ring and Hunter's music play. Absently, she smiled. He really was a master of his craft. All at once, the music cut off, the crowd rumbled their disapproval and the bell was being rung frantically. She lifted her gaze from the floor and turned it to the television.

Hunter's ankle was in Kurt's hands, being twisted at a sickeningly abnormal angle.

Stephanie jumped up from the couch, exited the room and ran down the hallway. She had to stop this. The referees were too damn chicken to hit Angle to get him off of her husband. But, she wasn't. Right as she reached the gorilla position, Kurt stepped through the curtain.

He was breathing heavily and practically sweating bullets. But, he still sent her the biggest smile he ever had.

Like a deer in headlights, she was frozen and rational thoughts evaded her mind. Before she could stop him, Kurt grabbed her and kissed her.

She snapped back to reality immediately and pushed hard against his chest until she successfully got him off of her. She didn't take the time to mull over why he looked so damn confused; she simply slapped the hell out of him repeatedly. Wildly, she looked around her and was relieved to see that the area was totally and completely deserted. The last thing she needed was someone misrepresenting what just happened to her husband.

"How dare you! You try to injure my husband then you force yourself on me? What the hell is wrong with you?" She yelled at him

Kurt gestured to himself with wide eyes. "Me? What the hell is wrong with you? You're the one who asked me to take him out!"

Stephanie wasn't able to muffle her gasp or avoid widening her eyes. Dear God. This is what Selene and Kurt must have been doing together just three days prior when Hunter had seen them hugging. She'd been plotting against her husband. She had no way to explain this. Nothing that didn't reveal the truth, but still made sense. She swallowed down the lump that had suddenly lodged itself in her throat. "I didn't mean it. I-I have to go to him. Please, just stay away from us," she requested before continuing on through the curtain.

Her long legs walked with purpose even though her heart and head felt heavy. As she approached the ring, she saw her husband curled up into the fetal position clutching at his ankle. With his other hand, he was swatting away the officials that were trying to poke and prod at it.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she crouched down next to him in the ring and began to rub his back. She brushed his hair back from his face and mouthed that she loved him. He was hurting and it was all her fault. The man had no idea what he was getting into the night that he made love to her. In her defense, at that point she wasn't absolutely positive about what was going on with her. Not until she was able to actually view the tapes of some of the things she said and did. Stephanie shook her head. That was a lame excuse. Whether or not she had been sure of Selene's existence, she owed it to the man she loved to be honest about her issues. Because at the very least, she knew she had problems.

With his help, she was able to stay in control more often. She thought she had it – Selene – beat for good. And maybe she did, right up until her marriage was threatened.

Stephanie sighed and moved to the side as Hunter was rolled out of the ring. That was no excuse either. No relationship was perfectly happy every minute of every day. Trials and tribulations were bound to creep up from time to time. She should have forced herself to think ahead to that very likely possibility. She should have sought help back then. But, she didn't. Instead, she'd buried her head in the damn sand and pretended that she was perfectly normal.

And she was, aside from the nagging fact that there was a totally different person in the recesses of her mind just waiting for her to show weakness so that she could take over.

Stephanie watched as Hunter was lifted to his feet. He hobbled along up the ramp on one leg with the assistance of two other men.

Well, she thought. Selene didn't intend for this to benefit me. But she just gave me my excuse to stop traveling.