Hi all
Hope your good, sorry for this one coming late, I'm actually trying to write the end of this right now.
OMG John is with the Nexus obviously not by choice. I know he's going to come out of this strong er than before we have to keep supporting him.
Anyway thanks to Yankees01 for your review.
I need more readers and reviewers so if you could be so kind and tell some of your readers about this fic, if you recommend it to some of them that would be great and I'd love you forever. Lol
I realised this fic is 1 year old on the 2nd of September!
Ok I'll stop blabbering, as always I don't own anything apart for Emma
x
Chapter 25 - Heart to Heart
"How are the kids?" I asked talking to Shawn and Rebecca Michaels at the party that was held at our hotel after the Hall of Fame. The company spared no expense at hiring out the huge ballroom.
I had just introducing Sam to my big brother, she had seen him before at other ceremonies but I didn't have a chance to introduce them and now I was chatting with the Michaels.
"Really good thanks, Cameron is doing great at school and Cheyenne is a handful as usual" Rebecca laughed
"I guess she takes after her dad then" I joked earning a look from Shawn
"Hey I'm not that bad" he said insulted
"But you are bad" I informed him jokingly
"I guess I am" he shrugged giving a cute look, I laughed and happened looked to my left where there was two huge doors that led onto a balcony overlooking Houston. Through the doors I saw a familiar silhouette outside.
"Can you guys excuse me?" I said politely turning back to them
"Sure see you later"
As I walked over to the doors I felt two arms hang around my neck causing me to stop in my tracks
"Hey you" Jason better known as Christian said in my ear
"Hey Jay" I turned my head slightly to see him out of the corner of my eye.
"Just wanted to tell you, you did great up there tonight" he said sweetly
"Thanks and I'm very happy you're back I just Kurt would hurry up and get his ass back" I joked
"We know that's never gonna happen, anyway well done babe" he kissed my cheek and let go of me before walking away. I shook my head as I continued on my original destination.
I walked over to the open doors before walking through them to see him leaning over the rail of the balcony with a beer in his left hand, he looked like he was staring into space. I sighed quietly before moving over to him standing on his right, I slide my arm under his jacket and round his waist, I felt him shift slightly as I laid my head on his shoulder. I could still smell the beer on him from when he drank at the ceremony.
"Hey" I said quietly
"Hey kid" he replied placing his arm round my shoulder
"What you doing out here on your own, you should celebrating"
"Nothing just thinking" he sighed
"About what?" I asked being nosey
"The past 20 years"
"Got a lot to think about then" I said before a short silence cam over us
"Can't believe it's over I mean officially, it's been over for a while just tonight makes it…." he trailed trying to find the right word
"Final?" I finished and he nodded. I shifted away from him and leaned my forearms on the rail.
"Yeah before at least I could come back do an appearance then be on my way now though no more of that, time to be Steve Austin again or even Steve Williams go back to what I was before Stone Cold came along" I nodded before looking in front of me over the balcony.
"Emma?" he asked I shifted my eyes to look at him
"Yeah?"
"No regrets?"
"Me? Nah, although I wish I hadn't eaten that bagel this morning at breakfast" I joked lightening the mood, he laughed that horsy laugh of his "I do have one regret well more of a wish really"
"What?" he asked intrigued
"I just wish we had more time together in the ring you know cause when I started we had that then you left then you came back for a short time before retiring and I just wish we could of teamed up for longer" I said sadly
"Me too" he replied quietly
"You know what I really wished more than anything.. I wish we could have been champions together, you the WWE Champion and me the Women's Champion, ruling the company together raising hell together, dominating like we should have been. You had your last run before I even got near to touching the gold so we never that chance."
"I never thought of that even though that would have been sweet" he half smiled
"What about you, any regrets?" I then asked him
"Only one, walking out the way I did, not being honest with you about the whole thing, that's the only one I wish I could take back" he said with regret in his voice.
"You did what you had to do at that time and as disappointed as I was in you I still and always will respect that decision you made" I told him truthfully.
"I think you were only one that did and I know you still haven't forgiven for me it either" he said sadly looking at me intensely and with that I had.
"I have. I wasn't mad at you the most for walking out on the company well I was… I was more mad at you cause when you had problems with Debra and your neck and stuff, you didn't tell me, you didn't talk to me about it. You weren't straight up with me, you lied to me about what was going on, I thought brothers didn't do that. I thought I was worth at least that much to you. Why didn't you tell me what was going on?"
"I don't know" he shrugged
"You know you really pissed me off more than JR more than Vince was, I was pissed at you the most but I learned to forgive you" I told him
"We've err never really talked about this before have we?" he shot me a weak smile and I shook my head
"Not like this no I guess we haven't, it's nice to get one things off my chest actually" I smiled back
"You know when you talked about when you decide you're gonna hang them up?" I nodded "How long?"
"I dunno really all I know is I'm running out of venom, running out of time before that happens" I said truthfully.
"You'll know when the time comes" there was short pause between us as he swigged some more of his beer
"Speaking of knowing when that time comes, you remember before Wrestlemania 19 when you got rushed to the hospital? Man you had me worried sick" I said thinking of that day…..
March 29th 2003, The Night before Wrestlemania 19.
I walked along the sidewalk dressed in some black yoga pants and a red sports bra, my hair pulled in to a ponytail. I was walking back to hotel just coming from the gym, there were a few fans outside the hotel they saw me and I happily signed a few autographs before heading inside to the lobby, I clutched my gym bag in my right hand as I walked over to the elevator to go back to my room, It was getting a little late on in the day and I needed my rest for tomorrow. Just as I got there I heard my cell ringing in my bag, I pulled it out and pressed the button to answer
"Hello" I answered happily into the phone, a smile spread across my face
"Emma?" I heard J.R's voice say sadly
"Jim? Is everything ok?" I asked concerned and confused to his tone
"Emma, it's Steve" he said seriously my smile disappeared, y shoulders dropped and sudden worry came over me "He's in the hospital" my breathing quickened and my heart began to race.
"Is he ok? What happened?" I asked frantically getting into the elevator and pressing the button hoping the damn thing would hurry up.
"I think you better get down here as soon as you can" he said calmly, however I was freaking out.
"Yeah I'm on my way see you soon" I said frantically
"Bye honey" he said finally. I ended the call and clutched onto my phone.
"Oh god please let him be ok" I said to my self as my eyes began to fill with tears threatening to spill
I found my room and quickly opened the door where John was sitting watching TV, he looked up and smiled when he saw me enter the room but soon saw my expression and rushed to greet me and in seconds he was in front of me with his hands on my upper arms
I dropped my bag but still clutched onto my phone
"Em you ok? What's wrong?" he asked studying me with concern
I looked up into his eyes as the tears finally ran down my cheeks
"It's Steve, he's in the hospital, I gotta go" I whispered
"What happened?"
"I dunno, Jim just I need to get there asap" I shrugged then wiped some of my tears with the back of my hand.
"Ok, you are no state to drive, I'll take you" he offered or more like told me he was going to like I didn't have any option.
"No you don't have to" I protested shaking my head
"I want to" he said softly reaching up and wiping my fresh tears away with his thumb
"Thanks" I whispered feeling numb
"Come on" I nodded and grabbed a hoodie sliding it on as I was still in my gym clothes as John grabbed his keys and a key card to the room before leaving for the hospital.
When we arrived we went straight to the family room where Jim was waiting
"Oh Jim" I collapsed into his open arms as soon as I saw him "What happened?" I asked pulling away
"Well he was in his hotel room thinking about tomorrow night and his career and he said his heart rate began to rise rapidly, he said he was emotional and started to freak out. The hotel called the EMT's" he told me
I nodded before a doctor came and approached us with a clipboard in her hand
"Excuse me are you the family of Mr. Austin?" she asked politely
"Yeah I'm his sister, Emma" I informed
"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Dr. Edwards, I've been analysing your brother" she said opening the chart and looking down on it
"Is he ok?" I asked stupidly. Of course he's not ok he wouldn't be here if he was.
"Yes he's fine now, he's just resting, we believe he could have had a suspected Pulmonary embolism which is a blood clot in one of the main arteries of the lung. We ran all necessary tests and he came up clear on all of them so there is no explanation as to why he suddenly had these symptoms. We've give him some medication to slow his heart rate to normal and we'd like to keep him in over night just for observations. Otherwise he's going to be just fine" she told me with a smile placing a sympathetic hand on my shoulder
"Can we see him?" I asked taking in what she just said
"Of course, like I said he's just resting right now so try not to startle him"
"Thank you Doctor" Jim said and the doctor walked away, I ran my hands over my face and breathed out a huge sigh of relief I'd been holding in
"See Em, he's going to be ok" John said walking up beside me
"Yeah…..I'm gonna go and see him, are you guys coming?" I asked them
"No I think it's best you see him on your own" Jim said
"Ok, I won't be too long"
I followed the doctor and arrived at Steve's hospital room and entered quietly, I look over at him resting peacefully in the bed at the centre of the room. He looked so helpless so vulnerable; defiantly how I'm not used to seeing him.
I walked over and take a seat by his bed and hold onto his hand just watching him sleep.
I must of fell asleep myself cause the next thing I know I heard a familiar voice
"Kiddo, wake up" my eyes flickered open adjusting to the light, I looked up and Steve's sitting up awake
"Hey" I whispered
"Hey there yourself"
"You ok?" I couldn't help but ask
"I'm alright now, man I dunno what happened, I'll admit I was scared there for a minute" he joked
"Doc says you're gonna be fine, they wanna keep you in overnight just incase" I told him causing him to nod.
"You should go back, get some rest for tomorrow, it's probably late now" he said acting all big brotherly on me.
"Yeah I think I will, Jim and John will be waiting for me" I said standing up "I'll be back first thing tomorrow to get you" I leaned over carefully hugged him
"I love you" I whispered in his ear
"I love you too" he replied hugging me back
"Now get some rest and I'll see you in the morning" I pulled back and kissed his cheek
I walked over to the door but stopped and turned round before I walked through.
"You know you scared the shit out of me so I need you to promise me something" I said
"Sure"
"Never leave me.." my eyes started to well up again "because I can't do this without you"
End of Flashback
"I meant what I said to you that night, I can't do this without you, without you guiding me" I said hanging my head
"You've managed without me before" he whispered
"Yeah but at least you were only a phone call away, I don't know what I'd do if something had happened to you that night" I said
"I'm here to stay, you can't get rid of me just yet." he tried to joke
"I hope not" I whispered
"You know when I first started being Stone Cold I thought no one was going to like me. I maybe still don't" he chuckled lightening the mood
"I like you" I glanced at him "not very much but I like ya" he chuckled deeply at the fact I said his own line to him
I sigh deeply before turning serous "Look, I don't know what to say to make you feel better about tonight, I'm not really good at this soppy stuff and neither are you and even though you're done here you've got so much more to look forward to" he nodded
"….. and I just want you to know that I'm really proud of you and I love you" I finished
"I love you too are we good?" he asked putting his beer bottle on the floor and pulling me in for a hug, I lean my head on his shoulder and close my eyes
"We're good"
We hug for a few minutes till he pulls away, his arms still round my shoulders. I look up to see his head turn to my left slightly. I look up at him confused to what he sees
"Looks like you have someone waiting for you" he said looking back down at me
"I hope it's Prince Charming" I laughed
"Close enough" Steve said winking. I looked over in the direction Steve had looked to see John standing at the doors waiting patiently.
"I wish" I whispered so only he can hear
Steve pulls fully away from me before bending down and retrieving his beer
"3:16" he said holding out his clenched fist, I laughed slightly
"3:16" I smiled repeating him, bumping his fist with my own, he then leans in and kisses my cheek before walking back inside, he shakes Johns hand as he passes him and says something that I can't make out to him.
I suddenly become nervous and my bracelet becomes really interesting at this point…
John
"She's all your man" Steve said shaking my hand as he passes me back into the hall
"Thanks and congratulations on tonight" I reply, he nodded before disappearing. I look over to Emma who's fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist again.
I begin to walk over to her and as I reach her I gently reach out and take her hand into mine startling her and stopping her from what she's doing.
"You know if you're not careful you're gonna break it" I joked, she looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes, I could see the moonlight shining in them making them sparkle, she smiled softly at me before taking my other hand into her other one and holding on tight.
I studied her for a minute looking at how gorgeous she looks, she always looks beautiful to me yet tonight all dressed up she looks breathe taking. She looks sexy but in a classy way. That dress hugs her in all the right places.
I always said a girl or woman in Em's case who is extremely confident in the way she carries herself is just drop dead sexy and Emma is the epitome of confident, she oozes confidence. The way she carries herself is indeed sexy but I guess when you're an Austin you don't know how to be anything else.
"You ok?" I asked softly
She nodded in response
"I kinda overheard your conversation with Steve" I said uneasy as I didn't want to think I was ear wigging.
"Where you ear wigging?" was she a mind reader?
"No I just came to find you and Shawn said you were here so I silently waited and heard what you guys were talking about, you really laid into him Em" I said carefully
"I've been silent on the subject for a long time, he needed to know how I felt, he walked away and never even uttered a word about it before, now was the right time to let my feelings out. I finally lifted a weight that has been on my shoulders for long time"
I nodded understanding leaving it there as it was their family business "You errr.." why was I so nervous around her
"You really kicked ass up there tonight" I finally said
"Not literally I hope" she smiled cocking an eyebrow
"No, what I meant was your speech was moving what you said about your brother and all…" I trailed off
"I know what you meant John. I was playing with you, you know it was really sweet what you said on the video and on the Jimmy Kimmel show about him" she said causing me to smile. I had basically said Stone Cold was my favourite wrestler of all time, he's the biggest name in the history of our business and that Austin 3:16 is the biggest marquee in history of the WWE.
"I meant every word, he's the best" I said honestly
"Even though he's a pain in my ass, yeah he is" she joked
"He can't be that bad" I said, she cocked an eyebrow at me telling me I didn't know half of it.
There was few moments of silence between is, I was still holding onto her hands. I looked down and around and back at her as she looked out over at the scenery.
I hung my head to the ground until I heard her voice again
"John?" I raised my head to answer her "you know when you get married?" she asked
"Yeah"
"Are things gonna change?" she asked with wonder in her voice
"What do you mean of course they won't." I told her. I don't understand why she thinks that.
"They will though, Liz is going to want you to be hanging out with me and Randy and even Dave after you get hitched is she? Especially me because I'm a woman and…" she blabbered on
"Emma" I said softly causing her to stop and look at me "We've been through this before. I promise things won't change, we'll still hang out" I reassured her
"I just feel like…I feel like I'm losing you slowly and I'm gonna lose you completely after July" she said sadly looking down
"Listen to me ok" she looked back up at me "read my lips you are not going to lose me, face it you're stuck with me Shorty whether you like it or not"
She smiled softly and I pulled her in for a hug. I felt her sigh against my chest
"Hey what do you say to bunking with me tonight?" I asked her pulling away yet still holding her in my arms
"I'd love to but you better not snore I need my sleep for tomorrow" she laughed
"I'll do my best otherwise you can throw me out onto the balcony" I said
"I might hold you to that" she giggled "I think I need a drink" she sighed
"That we can do" I pulled away completely and took hold of her hand, smiling at her which she returned "Come on let's go get a drink and find the Orton's" I said giving her hand a reassuring squeeze and we begin to walk back inside.
"You know what I just realised?" I said randomly thinking about this.
"What?"
"After being round all these Texans, I realised you don't have a Southern accent like the rest of them, you don't talk like a typical Texan either" I told her
"I guess I got off lucky then can you imagine me going round saying 'Howdy y'all' all the time I don't think so, no offence to anyone that does" she said scrunching her face up making me laugh.
"I could actually" I said cheekily
"You are such a geek" she shook her head laughing when we reached the building.
Emma
The next night at Wrestlemania, I defended my title successfully in my home state against Melina then we both later on competed in the 25 Diva Battle Royal to crown "Miss Wrestlemania" which featured Divas from past and present, the participates were Alicia Fox, Beth Phoenix, The Bella Twins, Eve Torres, Gail Kim, Jillian Hall, Katie Lea Burchill, Kelly Kelly, Layla, Maria, Maryse, Michelle McCool, Mickie James, Miss Jackie, Molly Holly, Natalya, Rosa Mendes, Sunny, Tiffany, Torrie Wilson, Victoria, Melina, myself and the eventual winner Santina Marella.
John beat Edge and Big Show in a triple threat match to become World Heavyweight Champion
And Randy was defeated by Triple H for the WWE Championship.
Good news was that Dave returned the next night on Raw.
After the Hall of Fame and Wrestlemania, John was still promoting 12 Rounds and was asked during some of interviews about Steve passing John a beer and that represented Steve passing the torch to John. He told me that if that's what people thought then it was cool and that they can take and look at what Steve did how they want to.
Personally I think Steve was passing this fictional torch that everyone talks about to John telling him he's the next generation of Superstar in the WWE.