"I don't know if I can do this," Cara whimpered. Shannon held onto her shoulders and tried to reassure her.
"You can, Cara. Just stay close to me." He spoke softly. At the appropriate time, they walked out to his music and Cara couldn't have been more scared.
Shannon came down the ramp with a mic and fury in his step. He held Cara's hand, holding her close to him, though he was obviously trying not to scare her. It had been two weeks since they had appeared on Smackdown and though the crowd cheered for the couple, none were excited to know what had scared Cara. He climbed into the ring and helped her through the ropes, wrapping his arm low around her waist. Shannon stood in the middle of the ring with nobody but Cara.
"Now, two weeks ago, somebody thought it would be funny to play a little prank. Somebody thought it would be funny to scare a beautiful woman." His arm visibly tightened around her. "Right now, I want to know who did it. I want the sneaky son of a bitch who thinks its fun to scare women to come out right now and explain himself." Shannon growled. Nobody approached; no music. "Alright then, if nobody wants to man up and take responsibility for it, I'll find out myself." He started to climb out of the ring when the lights dimmed again and Cara screamed.
"No need to get your panties in a twist, Shannon Moore." A cruel voice called.
"Show yourself!" Shannon shouted. The lights resumed their brightness and a man stood at the base of the ramp. Cara almost screamed again.
"No need to be testy either." He smiled pleasantly. "You see, Mr. Moore. I'm a business man and I put quite an investment in certain, shall we say areas. And I made quite a fortune with the help of a very specific person. My little girl, my daughter, Cara." Cara edged away, frightened and almost ready to run. "But then, something happened. Didn't it, Cara? My little girl ran away, left me with almost nothing. So it took some work and I called in a few favors to find you. But it was all for not; you hid yourself well. And then, I'm scrolling through the TV channels a few weeks ago, and lo and behold, there is my Cara, with the WWE."
"That's not the story I've heard from multiple sources," Shannon growled. "And I wouldn't believe you even if I hadn't heard it."
"Oh, Mr. Moore. You think I'm cruel to my daughter, don't you? You think I would hurt her if I got the chance?" He laughed. "You see, she's the last little piece of my wife I have left. Why would I want to get rid of her?"
"Shannon," Cara whispered. His arms wrapped tightly around her. "Please," she begged.
"I'm a decent man, Shannon. I've just been tossed a bit of a bad hand. I lost my wife and now my daughter. You wouldn't want that to happen to you, would you?"
"Of course not," Shannon replied.
"Then why don't we all leave this public spectacle behind and we can talk in private. Robert Frost is a man of his word." He smiled. Shannon watched him for a moment.
"No." his response rang with finality.
"You're being unreasonable. My beloved little daughter, my sweet Cara, is all I have left. And you're going to keep her from me?"
"Your beloved daughter? Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself?" Shannon barked. "I can easily say I have shown more love to Cara in the past two months than you have shown her in seventeen years."
"I gave you the chance for us to be reasonable about his matter. Now, I'm going to take back what's mine and show you what happens when you cross me!" Robert spoke harshly and Cara visibly flinched. Robert slid into the ring and Cara almost screamed again.
"You want her?" Shannon taunted. "Take her from me if you really think she's worth the broken bones." He threw down the mic and tackled Robert Frost to the mat. The punches he threw were not held back and were not in any way merciful. They rolled out of the ring, still fighting viciously. Security guards and Superstars stormed the ramp and Cara slid out of the ring, crying weakly.
"SHANNON!" she almost fell to her knees as they fought. Surprisingly, it was the superstars holding back the guards. The Undertaker, tall and imposing, circled the ring of fighters and gently took Cara's shoulder. Robert Frost saw him and broke away from Shannon, through the ring of superstars and swung at the taller man. The Undertaker easily caught the punch and began tightening his hold on the man's fist.
"Stay away from her." His dark voice growled. Shannon pushed his way through, intent on continuing the fight. But the Undertaker hauled the man up and tossed him over the barricade to the cold concrete outside. Shannon grabbed a mic and held onto Cara's shoulder.
"You want her so bad, Robert Frost? Then you're going to have to fight me for her! In this ring, no holds barred until the last man standing!" His demand was firm and Robert Frost stood shakily, clutching an injured hand. He nodded and slipped away into the crowd.
"No," Cara begged. "Shannon don't!" she insisted. He shook his head, ignoring her weak pleas. She clung to his arm, crying fully now. He pulled her along, surrounded by superstars and they all disappeared behind the curtain.
Shannon pulled Cara along, ignoring her cries for him to take back the challenge. The other superstars guarded them to the stage office. It was strange to see them all totally together about protecting them. Josephine wrapped her arms around Cara in the stage office, holding her while she cried. Shannon leaned against the wall and nursed his sore jaw. For a long time, he stood there, nursing the first of the battle wounds he had earned. Cara eventually stopped crying and shaking, only sitting in a chair as if all the emotions had been sucked out of her. Josephine did not say a word, only emoting comfort and support.
"Cara! Shannon! Your scene's up!" a stage hand barked. Cara stood and walked out, not waiting for Shannon. He caught her and hugged her tightly before the scene began. They separated, and Cara started walking into the shot.
Cara walked down the hall with red eyes and a look of despair on her face. Shannon ran up to her and grabbed her arm.
"Cara, trust me on this!" he said.
"NO! Shannon, I can't let you do this." Her voice was cracking. "This is not your fight! This is my mistake! I don't want you getting in the way, where you can get hurt."
"Too bad, Care Bear. I'm not taking back my challenge. If he really wants you that bad, he's going to pry you from my dead hands first." Shannon spoke harshly.
"NO!" she cried and turned away from him. "I don't want you anywhere near him. You don't know him like I do!"
"Then tell me, Cara!" he shouted. "What is it about your father that scares you?" She turned and kissed him urgently. The crowds cheered as tears poured down her face.
"This is a man you tell your kids to stay away from, to avoid when you see him on the street. How do you think I feel when this is my own father?" Cara spoke against his lips.
"I won't let him hurt you."
"It doesn't matter about me, Shannon! That's the point! I've been hurt so much that new pain is not going to matter! But I won't let him hurt you! I mean, how can I let you do this, fight my battle, against a man that people fear?" She laid her head on his chest. "I don't want you to fight him. He won't be alone; he'll have friends, he'll have people to take me away win or lose." She shivered as his hands ran over her back.
"Do you really think I'm going to let that bother me? I made you a promise to protect you! All I've ever wanted since I first saw you was to make you happy. And now that I have a chance to make sure you can be happy forever, you won't let me?" Shannon barked harshly at her. "I don't think so, Care Bear. I'm taking care of him once and for all. I'm not going to let him torment you because he's loose."
"It's not about me, Shannon!" She banged her small fist on his shoulder. "This is never about me! You could be hurt here, seriously. This is not a hurt you go into surgery and are back in the ring in six months. I mean a hurt that you will never recover from. I can't live with the thought that you may be hurt fighting for me."
"Then call me crazy," he whispered. "Because I'm not giving up." His voice held finality to it that she could not argue with. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
Cara pulled away from him at the end. This was a horrible reality to her and the writers were turning it into a faked story. Shannon wrapped his arms around her and kissed her shoulder.
"I don't want you to do it." She whispered.
"You didn't want to go onscreen either, Care Bear," he pointed out. "In this business, just because you don't want it, doesn't mean it won't happen. You are at the mercy of a higher power that you either obey or leave."
"But this isn't a story, Shannon!" She turned on him with angered eyes. "This may be a story to you but to me this is a harsh reality! My father, the man who destroyed me and made me this hollow shell I am, is here and the person that I care about most in this world is the only one standing between us. This is a man who delights in causing pain because it lessens his own! Did you know that when I was five years old, he had seventeen strippers and hookers at our house? Seventeen women running around half-naked for him and his friends? My first exposure to sex was at five years old seeing a stripper screw my father. And he let me see it." She admitted. The tears cascading down her face while she pushed her hair back. "You are coming in at the middle of the war. This has been my war since I left him." She turned away and tried to stop the hysterical screams from coming out. "I have had to see more therapists than I care to mention because of what I've seen. Every day that I was there, a hooker was at one point in my house. My father let whores smack me around when I got in their way. I can remember when I sat at the kitchen table, doing homework and having my father fall across the table, and start screwing a dumb stripper right in front of me. If they didn't like it, he smacked them around just like me. I delivered his drugs. I suffered through his abuse because I was so naïve to think that this was not what life had planned for me. And yet, I'm the one left with the scars. I'm the one who is broken beyond repair and scared of the fact that there is no happiness for me. The things I might have hoped for—a husband, a child—are all gone for me. Shannon, you scare me most of all. Only my father can scare me more than you do.
"Because this is my reality. I'm just a broken person that's been tossed aside because this is what fate ordained I had to have. I'm the one left in the gutter because of this life that I've been given. It's impossible for me to believe this is what life and God had for me. Did He give all the best lives to everyone else and decided to give me the life of a drug-dealer's daughter?" Cara shook uncontrollably. "To you, this is a fight to be fought, an enemy to defeat. To me, this is a reality, I can't escape from. This is not my nightmare, its worse. This is the life I've been given." Shannon wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her small arms.
"Cara," he whispered. "I can't help that I scare you. But please believe me when I tell you that I don't want to leave you. The one thing I wanted to see was you happy. You may not like it Cara. But I'm fighting this war for you, to see you smile. I don't care what happens to me. I just want you to be happy." His voice was soft in her ear. Now a lot of Cara's little quirks made sense. She always seemed a little uneasy around him, especially when he didn't have a shirt on. But now it made him cautious. He would be more careful. "I never said you had to stay with me Cara. If you need to leave, just tell me and go to Jo's. I don't mind. I just don't want you feeling miserable because of me." He kissed her softly; it was quick, passionless kiss to not add to her intellectual thicket. Cara reclined into his arms; Shannon cradled her close to him and finally let her go, stepping back and smiling softly as he walked away. She shivered and almost followed him; yet, she shrank back and sat on a crate, hiding from his gaze. Mark stopped on his way to a match and touched her shoulder.
"It's alright, kid. He knows what he's doing." Cara shrank away from his touch. "Let him do this for you; he's got his head in the right place and his heart is with you."
"He doesn't have his head the right place." Cara looked up into his green eyes. "This is absolutely insane and he's doing this for nothing more than a whim."
"He may be a little punch-drunk sometimes but he knows what he's doing. Just listen to him. Let him do this because it's the only thing he wants for you." Mark patted her shoulder again and left for his match. Cara stayed still on the crate.
"Cara," Shannon's voice called to her. "Cara, I'm sorry but this is the only way I can see things." He paused and pushed back the loose curls of her hair. "I can't stand seeing you scared. I want to do this; I'm sorry if this isn't what you want."
"Why would I want you to get yourself hurt, Shannon?" she asked angrily. Do you think I want to see you fight? I'd rather have my father arrested and taken away before he fights you." Her voice softened. "Shannon, it kills me to think you are the one who has to fight this battle for me. And the fact that I couldn't because of everything I've seen."
"Cara," Shannon pulled her close to him, enough to wrap his arms around her shoulders. "I'd rather not fight but I know people like him. They don't care only as long as they get what they want. He wants you to hurt you, to make you miserable. I can't let that happen." He kissed her hair, running his hand down her back. Cara shivered and moved into his arms.
"Promise me one thing and I won't put up a fight anymore about this." She demanded. He nodded, caressing her cheek with his thumb. "Don't put your whole career on the line for this. Don't take the risk of permanently hurting yourself to beat him. Please, just don't end what you love most for me."
"I'd sacrifice the world if it made you happy. But if this is what will make you happy, alright. I'll defend myself for you," Shannon kissed her softly and held her closely. Cara nodded and he helped her off the crate. "Come on," he led her out towards the garage.
"Too easy, right?" a cocky voice made him pause. A woman's laugh floated from a partially open door.
"Way too easy. You should have seen her face; I mean, talk about priceless. And him, well he could have had a better reaction but it's amazing how good he feels." The female voice replied.
"Like I really want to know this. Just make sure to keep things up, make sure they stay apart for good. It's really sickening to watch them." The male voice interrupted. The woman sighed. Shannon pulled Cara away; something in his gut told him to burst into that room and find out who was talking but at the moment, Cara was his priority.
The hotel room was dark for most of the night. Cara had crawled into bed after changing into shorts and a large t-shirt and had barely moved since then. Shannon lay on top of the covers, keeping his shirt on and only lightly caressing her shoulder.
"I wish you had told me, or at least given me a hint," Shannon spoke suddenly. The quiet TV was forgotten as she looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"I wish you told me that I scared you so much. I shouldn't add to your stress."
"It's alright, Shannon. I have to overcome my fears by facing them. It's the only way I'll ever get over what's happened."
"And me?"
"I don't want to be afraid of you." Her chocolate eyes met his and she ran her hand over his arm.
"I should have guessed. I can't believe I never saw how frightened you were of me. I mean, when I first had you sleep beside me, you only thought it would create gossip. I didn't know that it scared you so much." Shannon was voicing his thoughts now. "I just wish I had seen it to make this easier for you."
"It's not your fault. I'm just a little difficult." Cara tried to smile though the effort was hardly worth it. Shannon's phone rang on the nightstand behind him and Cara jumped, almost screaming. He shushed her, placing a light kiss to her forehead before turning to the infernal device.
"Hello?" he greeted.
"Shannon? It's Bautista. What floor are you on?" Dave's voice sounded angry and urgent.
"Fourth floor. Why?" Shannon glanced apprehensively at Cara.
"Get up to the sixth floor now and leave Cara behind." He barked. Shannon started to object but Dave cut him off. "Just get up here." Shannon agreed and stood, grabbing his shoes.
"What's wrong?" she asked, sitting up. Shannon held onto her shoulders and kissed her forehead again.
"I'm not sure. Dave just asked me to go up to the sixth floor. I'll be right back, ok? I'll take a key so just stay here and relax." He waited until she nodded and he walked out the door. The ride up the two floors seemed to take forever. Questions were buzzing in his head. Dave was standing in the hall waiting for him. "What's this about?"
"Remember the girl, who pretty much killed your relationship with Cara?" Shannon scowled and nodded. "Well, found out how she got in your room, and who got her there." Shannon's face darkened. Dave led him down the hall without another word. Mark was standing outside a room, the door propped open.
"Aren't you glad to have us, kid?" his smile was slightly shocking and Shannon grinned. "Come on, meet the person who tried to break you up," Mark kicked the door open more and Shannon walked in.
I know, I know. I'm evil, blah blah blah. You didn't think I would just give it all away? Alright, this is your weekly dose of Frostbite! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! (it's hard to type an evil laugh.)
EW;)