Chapter 28

"Hey Raja, where's Taker?" Dwayne asked as he strolled up, chomping on a sandwich, pure concern in his dark eyes. He couldn't help looking her over a few times to make sure she was really alright. Kane's attack had him on high alert and Dwayne hadn't been able to find the big red bastard or else there would be no Kane anymore. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Dwayne, I promise." She hugged her brother, kissing his cheek. "I'm just headed to find Stephanie."

"What is going on with you?" He suddenly demanded, going into big brother protective mode. "You're lying to me and you know it. You're headed to Taker's dressing room."

"Um no I'm not, thanks for assuming what I do and don't do around here. I'm doing my JOB and trying to find my BOSS. And speaking of Taker, he's protecting me if you haven't noticed and we're just friends."

"He's not doing a very good job of it."

"You're such an asshole." Rajani stormed past him and jogged down the hallway, wondering where the hell Stephanie was.

If she ended up having to run the show again, Rajani was running as far away as she possibly could.

Taker was leaning in the doorway on his locker room, arms folded over his chest, a pair of sunglasses over his eyes even though quite obviously he did not need them. "How was the Princess?" He asked quietly.

Knowing she had originally gone to see Stephanie, Rajani also knew that Stephanie hadn't been in her office. How did he know that? Because Stephanie had stopped in to talk to him about Kane after she and Alex had handled whatever issues they had been having with the crew.

"Good question, she wasn't in her office and I'm trying to find her. Have you seen her?" Rajani asked, gritting her teeth, still angry at her big brother for his accusation and what he said about Taker. When he just shook his head, Rajani started walking away and sighed when Taker stopped her, pulling her into his dressing room by the hand. "Taker, I really don't have time for this-" Her dark eyes softened when he pressed his finger to her lips, silencing her and felt her tensed shoulders slump.

He began massaging her shoulders, working the tension out of her as he stared down into her eyes. "Have you tried using that damn cell phone you're on all day long?" He asked quietly, seeing her eyes widen and took that as a no. Stephanie always carried hers on her and Alex normally sported a pager. "Why don't you text her and see where she is? Save yourself the trouble of all this runnin' around, hmm?"

"Yeah, good idea." She mumbled, being guided into a chair and melted against Taker's hands, sighing. "John was in her office when I walked in and...we got into a little heated argument." Rajani told Taker everything and wasn't about to stop now. "He actually asked me if I loved you. Just like my brother demanding to know what's going on with us. Apparently it's a damn crime to be friends with the opposite sex and I'm getting tired of it. I told John we would have to stop what we're doing for now until this situation with Kane is handled for good and he wasn't happy about it. He claimed he could protect me, but we both know he can't. Kane would chew him up and spit out the bones..."

That about summed it up. Kane was a monster, and Taker knew him better than anyone. Or at least, he thought he had. He had always known Kane had a bit of a dark side; hell, everyone did. But to do some of the shit he had...no. Of course, John Cena wasn't a pushover, he would give the kid his due, but he lacked the coldness and disregard for others Kane possessed.

"Darlin', if you want to try making things work with Cena...I'm sure between him, your brother and me, we can keep you relatively safe." Taker had to swallow down everything he really wanted to say.

"We both know you really don't mean that, Taker, so I'm going to pretend you didn't say it." When he just shrugged, Rajani left it at that, neither of them elaborating. "I really need to go find Stephanie." Whipping her cell phone out, Rajani called her boss, only for it to go straight to voicemail and cursed. "Damn it, no answer. I need to go back to the office though." Pulling away from him, Rajani stood up and rolled her shoulders, which felt a lot less tense. "Thanks for the massage, Deadman."

"Anytime darlin'." He said, winking down at her and then bared his teeth. "Beats me nipping at you, don't it?" He was referring to his habit of waking her up with a bite. Something he hadn't done this morning since she hadn't exactly been having any good days this week. "Course, if you're feelin' tense in other-" Taker didn't finish his sentence, pleased to see the usual flush spreading across her face. Damn, he liked picking on her, she took it so well and looked so fetching when flustered. "Go on Jani, go find Steph, before I change my mind about bitin' you."

Swallowing hard, Rajani could see the desire swimming through his eyes and secretly wished he would bite her in other places, flushing even more. "See you tonight." She mumbled, flying out of there before she ended up doing something both of them would regret, like pounce on him.

What was going on? Where was this sudden attractiveness coming from with Taker? Rajani walked back to Stephanie's office and stepped inside, smiling at Alex, relieved at the sight of him.

"Hey, where's Steph?"

"She's in a business meeting with her husband. Shouldn't be too much longer. It's regarding Mania."

"Ah yes, he hasn't given his decision about the match with Taker yet."

"Right, can you sign these?"

"What are they?" Rajani took them hesitantly, thankful to have something to focus on besides Taker for the moment.

"Consent forms that Stephanie doesn't have time or patience to look over."

While she reviewed the forms, Alex began straightening up Stephanie's desk. How she could trash a desk when she only used it once a night was beyond him, but she did. Then, he pulled a bottle of Midol out of his front pocket and set it down next to her water bottle. They could question his sexual orientation all they wanted, but when it came to a woman on her cycle, he was just like any other male out there. He did not want to deal with Aunt Flo when she was on a monthly visit. When Stephanie came back into the office a little over an hour later, both Alex and Rajani looked up simultaneously, each of them holding their breath at what she was about to announce.

"He accepted the match..." Stephanie looked worried as she walked over to her desk, popping the Midol and swallowed them down with water, looking very uneasy.

"Something tells me you're not telling us everything."

"Good observation, twit."

They both ignored that, too focused on the troubled looking Stephanie. "What is it, Steph? I thought you'd be happy about this..."

"He said the only way they can top what happened at Mania last year is if...is if..." Tears suddenly spilled down her cheeks as she looked away from both of them, chewing her bottom lip. "He's so stupid to want to do this!"

Now Alex was more than intrigued. "What's his stipulation?"

"Hell in a Cell." Stephanie whispered solemnly.

Alex stared at Stephanie, wondering if she were serious, if Paul was serious. Hell in a Cell? A match both men tended to dominate? He could very easily see this becoming a bloodbath and glanced at Rajani to see what her reaction was. She looked stunned.

"I'm going to venture out on a limb and assume that Taker doesn't know yet."

Of course not! Stephanie wouldn't go tell him right away. If she was smart, she would Rajani to smooth that one over if Taker didn't like what he heard.

"Of course he knows! It was the only way for both of them to do Mania this year!" Stephanie cried out, slumping into her chair and buried her head in her hands. "That's why Paul was hesitant about telling me yes right away because they had to figure out some way to top what happened at last year's Mania. This is suicide! They are going to KILL each other and Mark knew about it this whole damn time and didn't tell me! I should fine his ass to hell and back!"

Rajani didn't say anything and just sat there, going back to doing her paperwork, wondering if Taker was insane. Hell in a Cell? She wasn't angry at him, but concern and worry flooded her for his well being. He hadn't wrestled in a year, so what the hell made him think coming back to a Hell in a Cell match was a smart idea? It wasn't! Alex decided to shut the hell up before Stephanie decided to use her PMS as a valid excuse to justify killing him. Clearing his throat, Alex backed away, finding himself something to do on his laptop. Browsing for a new job was on the agenda, he was probably going to need one after Taker and Paul killed each other and the widowed Stephanie went into retirement.

Nothing much happened that night besides the promo of Taker and Triple H, which was outstanding. It was one of those moments that would be remembered for all time, one of those promos that the WWE universe would never experience again. Rajani felt breathless after it was over and couldn't believe the show hadn't ended like that. They picked the perfect music for the match too. The match that would probably end both men's careers since it shot both of their careers up to the top. Of course, in Rajani's personal opinion, Taker far exceeded Paul, but she kept her opinions to herself to avoid confrontation. Taker ignored the dirty look Stephanie gave him when he walked into her office after the promo, Paul right behind him. Both men halted when Alex gave them a petrified stare. Rajani was hiding her own emotions about this obviously and Stephanie looked pissed.

"You have fun with that, son." Taker snorted, smacking Paul on the back.

"Screw you. Stephanie, don't look at me like that. You know this is good for business."

"Not to mention it gives me the chance to walk out of WrestleMania on my own..." Taker shot Paul a disgusted look.

"Mark, you don't need to put your 2 cents into this." Stephanie warned, ignoring her husband and stalked over to where the Deadman stood, pursing her lips tightly together. "We have children. We have three children who want their daddy to be able to WALK and TALK regularly for the rest of his life, do you understand me? I realize you don't care about your kids and wellbeing, but Paul DOES and if you hurt him, I will PERSONALLY hurt YOU."

Rajani blinked, trying not to let her jaw drop because she'd never seen Stephanie this emotional, knowing Paul had just put their family on the line.

"Steph, I'm gonna be fine." Paul gently grabbed his wife's arm and turned her around, only for her to bury her face in his chest, nodding silently at Taker. "It'll be fine, doll, I promise."

All Stephanie could do was cry on her husband's chest, scared to death for him. Considering Taker had no intention of going out into that cage without meticulously going over the match with Paul -He was a professional, damn it- or pushing Paul past whatever limits the man set for himself, he found that comment about not caring about his kids wellbeing to be a very low blow and squared his shoulders. She was emotional; he was going to let it slide this time. Stephanie ever said it again though and it would be her in the damn cage with him. That was definitely a low blow and Rajani could tell it stung Taker as he stalked out of the office, immediately following him.

"Taker, she didn't mean it..." Rajani followed him all the way back to his dressing room and barely got inside before he slammed the door shut, ducking when a chair flew toward her, even though it hadn't been directly aimed at her. "Damn it, will you STOP? You're going to end up sending me back to the hospital again!"

Stephanie was very lucky that Taker hadn't snapped her neck back there, or ripped her tongue out for that matter, because everything she said was way out of line. Her words didn't calm him down, but they did make him put down the cooler he was about to throw next, knowing he was very likely to hurt her right now. His temper was UP, just a bit. Taker had only given his all to this company, was fixing to do it again, and for that spoiled little bitch to throw that bit about his kids in his face...He took a deep breath, exhaling through his open mouth and closed his eyes. Taker had to get himself under control before he hurt her, the one person he didn't actually want to hurt.

Honestly, Rajani didn't blame Taker for being angry at what Stephanie said because he didn't deserve it. Taker was probably the most professional being in the locker room, which is why he was the locker room leader. Stephanie was emotional though and not thinking clearly, but that still gave her no right to spout off at the mouth about Taker's family and personal life. Slowly, Rajani made her way over to him, not knowing what she could do, but she had to try after all he'd done for her. Chewing her bottom lip, Rajani wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, pressing her cheek against his back and closed her eyes, hoping this helped him calm down somehow.

No, it wasn't helping him calm down, though later on when Taker wasn't seeing red, he would remember to thank her for the attempt. As it was, feeling her hugging him, like he was the one with the emotional trauma just seemed to fan the flames further and he whirled around, forcing her to let go. A moment later, Rajani had been pulled right back against him, this time face to face, and Taker fisted his hand in her hair. Pulling it out of whatever style she had it back in, his lips descended on hers without warning.