A/N: I actually have no feelings towards Sid one way or the other, lol, he was just a name drawn out of the pool of available talent for that time period. And because I did get an email concerning Shawn's current behavior and concerns about future behavior: yes, it's going to get worse. Shawn wasn't always the person he is today, and this story is going to explore some of those darker avenues –liberally laced with my own special brand of dementia. If reading about Shawn before he became a born again Christian bothers you, and my "take"/"twist" on that pre-period bugs ya, you should probably stop reading now… For the rest of you, enjoy.

25: Ground Zero
09/07/97
Week 3

Shawn would have been lying if he said he wasn't nervous. Hell, he had every reason to be. He was going into the ring against the Undertaker, a man who despised everything about him. Just one well-aimed punch and he could wind up with missing teeth and Shawn had a beautiful smile.

He sincerely hoped Hunter and Fallon were on their game tonight, narrowing his eyes over at Hunter. Well, hopefully Fallon was on her game tonight. Hunter had done gone and gotten himself a minor concussion earlier in the day, making him next to useless.

Fallon was well aware that Shawn was less than pleased with Hunter's little problem, she wasn't too thrilled with it either. Who the hell went and got themselves a concussion on a night like tonight? She left him sitting on the bench in order to walk over to Shawn, meeting his eyes worriedly.

He held her gaze for a moment before bouncing from foot to foot, looking at the wall.

Frowning slightly, she moved to stand behind him, rubbing his shoulders and wasn't surprised when he stopped the bouncing in order to lean back into the massage. Shawn would be going out alone tonight, but they would be ready to come running if they had too. Well, she would, Hunter would probably be stumbling his way along.

They might not have been getting on that well these past few days, but they were still a team and she'd really hate for this new thing they hadn't even officially started yet to end because 'Taker murdered Shawn.

"I want you out there tonight with me, Fallon." Shawn said in a serious tone of voice, no pretty boy attitude, not tonight. He reached up to take her hand, slowly guiding her around to face him and dropped both hands onto her hips. "Hunt's injured, but you're not, and I'd like you out there for the support." That and if he needed help, she'd be more than willing to interfere on his behalf. "What do you think?"

"Sure, if you want." She said, smiling reassuringly at him. "I'll swing a chair or something for you."

"Just watch your ass." Hunter cautioned. "Deadman might not be so happy after you slapped him silly Friday night."

"I'd forgotten about that… hmm. Oh well." Nothing to be done about it now.

"Just be careful…" Shawn was now wondering if maybe it wouldn't be better for her to stay back here, but wasn't going to openly announce his doubts. "Promise me that if he comes after you, you'll run." He gently squeezed her. "Promise me, darlin'."

"Hey, I'll be fine. You'll be out there, distracting him because he hates you much more than me." She said cheekily, leaning up to kiss his chin when he groaned. "You got this Shawn, and I will run if I have too, okay?"

Shawn stared down at her. "Kiss me properly." He ordered in a whisper.

She hesitated, returning the intense look he was giving her before finally shaking her head no, stepping away from him before she changed her mind. "Five minutes." She said softly, glancing at the clock to distract them all.

When it was down to three, they left Hunter and headed out, halting by the ring entrance. "You ready?"

"No." He breathed, managing a tight smile. "Fallie… about the other night…"

Fallon pressed her hand over his mouth. "Typical Michaels." She could feel him frowning and replaced her hand with her lips, giving him a quick kiss. "Now's not the time to be feeling guilty about that, cowboy." She whispered.

Nodding, he stepped away from her, his gaze moving to the approaching Undertaker.

'Taker's eyes were guarded, looking from Fallon to Shawn and then back again. It was always nice to have what he already knew officially confirmed.

This was technically Shawn's first one on one match against 'Taker, so Fallon felt his odds were 40/60, and that was with her added to the mix. She kept her face blank as they got into the ring, standing back to let him pose. Though when the thunder rolled and the lights went dim, she took a deep breath.

She was out of the ring, leaving Shawn to it when 'Taker climbed through the ropes, positioning herself in Shawn's corner. From the way the Deadman was staring and already advancing, even after discarding whatever the hell that thing was he had been wearing, she knew this was going to be brutal. That wasn't helped by Shawn hiding behind the referee.

"Holy shit!" She groaned when Shawn shoved the ref into 'Taker and the poor little guy got cococked. Shawn rolled out of the ring like his ass was on fire, that wasn't surprising either; she would have done the same thing. But then again, she was a chick. He was a chickenshit.

'Taker was not amused with Shawn refusing to take his ass kicking like a man. When the commissioner came out to stop Shawn from saying to hell with the match, 'Taker proceeded to show his displeasure with the entire situation by throwing the official right out of the ring. Said official landed on both Shawn and the commissioner.

Fallon could only watch as 'Taker then brought the fight outside the ring, beating Shawn's ass up the ramp to the set and wondered why Shawn would think a concrete door would help him. She winced when Shawn was punched and went toppling backwards, doing backwards somersaults before coming to a heap on the mats, 'Taker still approaching.

She darted over to crouch down by Shawn, not touching him but urging him to get his ass up anyway, before 'Taker got to him. "Come on… you gotta move!" She hissed, turning and standing, squaring her shoulders. She was about to become a sacrificial lamb just so he had time to scramble his ass away and inwardly groaned before stepping directly into 'Taker's path.

When he went to sidestep her, she sidestepped with him, not surprised when she wasn't given a second chance and was sent flying backwards into a somersault of her own. "Ouch…" She rubbed the back of her head, looking up to find Shawn had somewhat gotten his ass in gear. Nope, 'Taker had just caught him again.

Her headache wasn't so bad, she mused, watching as Shawn's own head met the edge of the ring apron. Then the steel steps, and now he was being strangled with cords. She was back on her feet, slowly, and entirely certain she shouldn't be because she liked breathing. "The shit I do for my job." She thought.

If Fallon knew what was good for her and enjoyed being able to eat without the usage of tubes, she would keep her pert ass out of the rest of this match. Though when 'Taker felt something connecting with his back, he knew she was choosing for a hospital visit. Whirling around, he glared at her, his eyes acidic. She had just hit him, with a damn chair, again.

He began advancing on her, only to wind up with Shawn attacking from behind and inwardly cursed himself out for taking his eyes off the ball. Shawn managed to keep up the assault long enough for them both to wind up back in the ring, and then he was treated to a boot right to the face. Flicking his hair out of his face, 'Taker dropped down for the pin.

There were two problems, Fallon realized immediately. One, there was no official to make a three count and two, the match hadn't even technically stared. 'Taker apparently remembered the lack of a referee because he suddenly did not look happy.

It went from there, Slaughter finally doing his damn job and sending out a referee, one who actually started the match. Shawn was getting back into the game, taking out 'Taker's knee from behind, whipping him into the turnbuckle, attacking his head again.

He was pushed away, he went right back. Pushed away again, right back, got caught for a chokeslam, countered. Took out the knee again, went to fly and wound up dropped. Then when he got up, he was clotheslined right out of the ring.

She was there to help him back onto his feet, green eyes wide. "Come on Shawn, he's not even paying attention to you right now…" She murmured encouragingly in his ear. 'Taker looked like he was taking a breather.

'Taker had to recover because Shawn had been relentless in his attack. He got his second wind and went after Shawn again, the battle once more on the outside. He kept Shawn down and one eye on a worried looking Fallon.

Eventually, Shawn was back on his feet and had even started gaining and then keeping the upper hand in the match. The problem was once again a lack of an official since neither he nor 'Taker had any regard for the poor refs.

Second problem, 'Taker apparently didn't realize he was supposed to lie down and stay down because he kept getting back up.

Fallon had had enough of that and reached down the front of her corset top. "Shawn!" She called, tossing him a pair of brass knucks. She watched as he promptly slid them over his knuckles, turned and clocked 'Taker before stuffing the illegal weapon down the front of his tights. "Stay down, Deadman!"

No, he would not stay down, not even when he was seeing stars. Trying to shake it off, he slowly opened his eyes and caught Hunter urging another official into the ring. He waited until a three count had nearly been made before throwing his arm up.

"Goddamn it!" Shawn cursed, pushing himself onto his feet in order to kick 'Taker over and over again, ignoring the ref who was trying to stop him.

While Shawn was now distracted by the official, 'Taker got vertical and watched in dark amusement as yet another referee was taken out. He began advancing on Shawn from behind when he felt something hitting him and turned.

Hunter could already see that his concussion was about to get worse.

Fallon got involved at that point and soon enough, 'Taker was back on the mat, being beaten down by the trio.

It ended in a double disqualification and the entire WWF locker room came out trying to break up the little war going on. It was 'Taker vs them vs everyone else and she completely ignored Hunter when he tried getting her to get out of the ring. He was the one who was the damn liability, not her.

Finally, when they were separated from the Undertaker, they all slid out of the ring. "I say we run." She said nervously.

"Christ, I can't…" Hunter groaned, his head spinning.

"No, you don't!" She grabbed Shawn by the wrist when it looked like he might go back into the ring, wondering where the sudden surge in balls came from. "You're bleeding, Hunt's woozy and… hey, where'd my top go?" She stared down at her strapless bra in confusion. She knew she had come out in a silver corset…

Payback was a bitch and that bitch was sporting some battle bruises from tonight, Rocky was a happy man. He smirked when her eyes finally landed on him, throwing the corset out of the ring.

She was tempted to go back to the ring just to smack him, and growled when Shawn tried again to get back in, referees now holding him back.

'Taker was gauging distance and then went for it. He bounced himself off the rope and ran full speed, diving over the top rope and right onto Shawn and the officials. It hurt like hell but it had been worth it. His aim was excellent.

Fallon could only stand there with wide eyes, aware that Hunter was trying to dig Shawn out from under 'Taker. When security came out to clear everyone out so Shawn and 'Taker could be tended too, she just walked with the crowd.

That had been fucked up and she knew this wasn't over, not by a long shot. She also had her own sideline issues to tend too before getting a shirt and joining Hunter, and then probably going to the hospital with him since that was definitely where Shawn was heading.

Less than twenty minutes later, Rocky was rethinking his decision on ripping Fallon's top off. She had found him and low blowed him with a lead pipe, and he had never regretted doing something more than right now.