Chapter 28:
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the WWE, TNA, HWA or CZW. I only own the OCs.
'Death surrounds
My heartbeat's slowing down
I won't take this world's abuse
I won't give up, I refuse!
This is how it feels when you're bent and broken
This is how it feels when your dignity's stolen
When everything you love is leaving
You hold on to what you believe in'
"I think I'm gonna throw up," Allie wheezed out, feeling the churning in her stomach. "This can't be happening." Allie felt her head begin to spin as she tried to focus on Paul's face. Finally giving up on trying to pull herself together, she motioned to the door and waited for Paul to stand up. "I need some air."
Once out of the booth she walked quickly to the door, taking a deep breath of fresh air. She felt herself begin to heave, as a gentle hand ran up and down her back. Turning quickly she came face to face with a concerned Steve Borden. She felt the tears fall from her eyes, before launching herself into his welcoming arms. "How is this possible, Steve?"
She felt and heard Steve sigh deeply before responding, "It's just a crazy messed up situation, Al, that you are an innocent victim of."
"If only you knew," she snarked out a laugh and pulled back wiping her eyes. "This is so fucked up."
"Mark explained the situation to me," Steve nodded his head slowly, giving a sympathetic look. "It is fucked up, but you can't blame yourself or anyone else. You didn't know."
"Oh my god," Allie cringed, gripping her hair in her hands. "How the fuck am I suppose to explain this to my friends? To Steph? To Jon? I still have to confront my family about this. I don't know how to do this, Steve."
"You do what you always do," The deep voice of Mark suddenly sounded from beside them. He walked up to her and wrapped her tightly in his arms. "You walk through hell with a smile on your face. This changes nothing. You're strong enough to get through this and you have a great support system. You just have to keep that chin up, Kid."
"I can't even think straight, Mark," she cried into his shoulder. Mark felt his break as his rookie fell apart in his arms. "I don't know what to even think right now." She pulled back from Mark and glanced amongst all four men, now outside. "I have to go."
Ignoring the calls of the men behind her, Allie quickly made her way to her car. Dropping into the driver's seat, after reaching her car, she felt herself begin to heave and quickly turned the car on. Taking several deep breaths, she put the car into drive and made the short trip back to the hotel.
Knowing the others had most likely already left for the arena, Allie walked quickly through the hotel lobby and into the elevator, headed for their shared suite. She struggled to keep her composure, clutching at her stomach as she stepped off the elevator into the corridor. 'Just a few more minutes.' She told herself as she fought off the inevitable panic attack.
After fumbling with her room key, she managed to unlock the suite and flung the door open, collapsing inside. She heard the quiet click of the door shutting behind her, before the waves of her panic attack took her over. Her body heaved with long, painful sobs as a rumble of foot steps approached her.
"Allie?!" came a high feminine shriek, before a body stumbled before her. Allie, perched on her hands and knees, raised her head slightly, meeting the frightened gaze of Steph.
"I... I... I can't," Allie gasped and wheezed, unable to catch her breath long enough to form a complete sentence. Instead it came out broken and harsh amongst her deep sobs. "Can't... Breathe."
"What's wrong with her Steph?!" Allie heard the scared, deep voice of Joe. "Is she having an asthma attack?!"
"N-no," Steph stammered, grabbing at Allie and pulling her into her arms, holding her tightly. Steph's voice began to break off as tears fell down her cheeks. "She's having a panic attack."
"What the fuck do we do?!" Came the alarmed voice of Jon, stooping down next to the girls. "Tell me what to do."
"Her purse," Steph said, pointing to where Allie had dropped it. "In her purse is a prescription bottle. Get me one of the pills out of it." Steph tightened her hold on Allie, having been in this situation with Allie many times before, she knew what to do. However, it was never easy to watch her best friend go through this agony. "Alicia, I need you to calm down, sweetie. Jon and I need you to take your Xanax, but you have to calm down enough to take it."
Jon returned with the open prescription bottle, trying to shake out one of the pills with a trembling hand. Colby appeared next to him, holding out a bottle of water with an equally unsteady hand.
Allie's body continued to tremble and heave with deep sobs. Steph knew they had to do something to calm her down enough to take the sedative. She looked up into Jon's terrified face, seeing him fighting with himself to reach out and take Allie from her.
"What do we do?" He pleaded with Steph desperately, never taking his eyes of his girlfriend. "Steph, please help her."
Steph had been dealing with Allie's sporadic panic attacks since they were kids. She remembered a time when they were so bad, Allie had been put on a daily medication to help curb the frequency of the attacks. She also remembered that Allie's parents had told her that the only thing that seemed to calm her was when her mother sang to her. She had been forced to use that method on a few occasions, but not since they were in high school. Taking a deep breath, she pulled Allie even closer and began singing softly and calmly into her ear.
"Come stop your crying
It will be alright
Just take my hand
Hold it tight
I will protect you
From all around you
I will be here
Don't you cry
For one so small,
You seem so strong
My arms will hold you,
Keep you safe and warm
This bond between us
Can't be broken
I will be here
Don't you cry"
As Steph sang to her, Allie's loud desperate sobs and wheezing began to stutter and slow. She reached out slowly and took the pill from Jon's hand and slipped it between Allie's parted lips, before taking the water from Colby and handing it Allie and helping her take a drink.
"Don't listen to them
'Cause what do they know?
We need each other
To have, to hold.
They'll see in time
I know
When destiny calls you
You must be strong
I may not be with you
But you've got to hold on
They'll see in time
I know
We'll show them together"
After several long minutes, Allie's breathing began to even out and the tears stopped. Swallowing harshly, she looked amongst the group around her and sat up slowly. Steph encouraged her to take several more sips of water, as she stood her up with Jon's help and moved her to the couch in the main area of the suite.
Jon perched himself in the corner of the couch, before pulling Allie into his lap and cradled her like a precious bundle. Whispering soothingly into her ear, he felt her tremors subside and felt as if he could breathe again. He had felt helpless as he watched his girlfriend battle the attack, not knowing what to do.
After a few minutes, her steady breathing against his neck, told Jon that Allie had fallen asleep in his lap. He brushed her hair back from her face, before turning to look at the others. The two other men sat on the edge of their seats, almost afraid Allie would suddenly jolt awake into another attack, while Steph sat opposite Jon and Allie keeping a close eye on her best friend.
"Is she going to be alright?" Joe spoke up suddenly, turning to look at his fiancé. "Does she need to go to the hospital?"
Steph shook her head, turning to look at him, "No. She'll be alright now." She looked back at Jon and motioned at Allie. "She'll probably sleep for a couple hours because of the sedative. She should be awake well before Raw starts though."
The three men nodded, all eyes once again locked on the seemingly fragile woman wrapped in Jon's protective embrace. Colby stood after a few minutes, offering to grab Jon and Allie's bags, followed shortly after by Joe and Steph retrieving their own.
Jon continued to hold his slumbering girlfriend, stroking her hair gently. "What happened, baby?" He whispered brokenly to her. Even though she was sound asleep, he could still see the tension and worry in her face, in turn making him very uneasy.
After the others returned, Joe scooped Allie up into his arms just long enough for Jon to stand before she was redeposited into her protective boyfriend's arms. The group then made their way downstairs and walked quickly through the lobby, ignoring the looks and questions from their coworkers they happened to pass.
'Break their hold
Because I won't be controlled
They can't keep their chains on me
When the truth has set me free
This is how it feels when you take your life back
This is how it feels when you finally fight back
When life pushes me I push harder
What doesn't kill me makes me stronger'
Once they had reached the arena, they again moved quickly trying to get Allie into their locker room. Just as they reached the correct corridor, they were met with smirking expressions of Cena and Orton. Steph doing her best to hold back her fiancé and Colby, who had attempted to rush forward towards the two men in front of them.
"Well John," Randy chuckled, glancing between Steph and Allie. "What do we have here?"
Cena was doing his best to try and look around Colby in an attempt to get a look at Allie. He was none to pleased that neither she or Jon had taken his threats seriously and seethed internally at the site of Good holding what he considered his property.
"Jon," Steph spoke to him calmly, never taking her eyes off of Orton and Cena. "Take Allie into the locker room. We'll be there in a minute." Jon, half-heartedly agreed, knowing that the safety of the woman in his arms held precedent over his urge to kick Cena teeth down his throat.
When Cena made a move towards Jon and Allie after they had entered the locker room, Joe lunged forward with a threatening growl. Steph's left hand quickly came up to his chest in an attempt to stop him.
The flash of diamonds and emeralds caught the attention of Randy, who looked down and blanched at the site before him. He seethed as he growled out to the group with a finger raised in the direction of her hand. "What the fuck is that?"
Steph glanced down at her hand, before returning her gaze back to Orton. "Not that it's any of your business, but it's my engagement ring."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Orton exploded, making Steph jump and Joe and Colby growl deep in their throats. The hounds were not pleased with his tone. Before anyone could respond, however, he stormed off, kicking some equipment crates along the way.
Cena watched him walk away, before snickering and shaking his head, turning back towards the group. "Got quite the temper, doesn't he?" No one responded and John took that as a sign to continue. "Do me a favor. When my girl wakes up, tell her I need to see her."
Steph sneered at him. "Well I would John," she snarked at him, "but Nicole and I aren't exactly on speaking terms since she and her band of non talent bimbos decided to jump Allie."
"I wasn't talking about Nic-" John stopped and stared at her for a moment before he spoke again. "Wait, when did Nicole jump Allie?"
"As if you don't know," Steph continued to sneer at him in disgust.
"I don't," he growled, taking a step towards her, but was stopped suddenly as a fist came flying at his face and pummeled him in the nose, knocking him to the ground. Regaining his senses, Cena looked up and came face to face with the angry scowl of Jon.
Before Cena could scramble away, Jon was on him with a fury of punches, not letting up. Jon laid into him for several minutes, before he was pulled off with great difficulty by Joe and Colby.
"You stay the fuck away from my girlfriend," Jon yelled out at Cena, as he struggled against Joe and Colby in an attempt to launch himself back at John. "I'm warning you. I'm already going to kick your ass for everything you've done. I've put it off long enough. But, so help me God, if you come anywhere near Allie again, I will castrate you myself."
With that said Jon was pulled back into their locker room, Steph slamming the door once they were all inside. Joe and Colby let Jon go after he calmed enough and watched as he walked to the couch his girlfriend was sleeping on and sat on the floor in front of her.
Jon suddenly turned to face Steph with a sudden idea. "Do you have Heyman's number?"
"Yea," Steph knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. "Why?"
"Allie was at lunch with him," Jon said, turning back to Allie and running his fingers through her hair. "I wanna know if something happened when they were at lunch or if it happened after she left them."
Steph sighed heavily, wanting nothing more than to agree with his idea. "Jon, I think it's best if we just wait and ask her. If she finds out that we-"
Steph was interrupted by a knock on the door. She stood from her seated position on Joe's lap, causing the three men to stand as well, prepared for a fight in case Cena had come back with Orton. Steph approached the door and cracked it open enough to peak outside, then pulled it open once seeing who it was.
"Hey Mark," she said surprised, as the Dead Man walked into the room and shutting the door behind him. "What are you doing here?"
"I came by to see Rook," he answered her and turned towards the rest of the group. Stopping in his tracks at the site of the unconscious Allie laying on the couch. "Oh, no."
Mark walked quickly over to her, squatting down next to her. Glancing up at Jon, who seemed to have a look of worry and anger in his face. "Panic attack?" Jon nodded simply, folding his arms across his chest.
"We had to sedate her," Steph said quietly, stepping up next Jon and placing a hand on his shoulder. "She couldn't breathe. She was hyperventilating so violently Mark. It was one of the worst she's ever had."
"Damn it," Mark swore under his breath. "I shouldn't have let her leave."
Jon's arms dropped from their folded position and stepped closer to Mark. "You were there?" Mark stood up and nodded, turning his attention to Jon. "What the hell happened?"
Mark sighed and ran a hand over his face. "It's not my place to tell, but what I can tell you is that Allie received some really Earth shattering news today and she's gonna need all the love and support she can get right now."
The group stood in silence for a few minutes looking down at their friend/girlfriend. No one really knowing what to say and everyone anxious for Allie to wake up. After a while, Mark moved and headed towards the door, visibly upset, not making eye contact with anyone. "Call me when she wakes up," he tossed over his shoulder before leaving the room quickly.
The others watched the door shut slowly behind Mark, knowing that whatever happened had greatly upset Allie, in turn upsetting her mentor. Now all they could do was sit and wait patiently for her to wake up and tell them what happened.
'Don't you give up on me
You're everything I need
This is how it feels when you take your life back
This is how it feels when you fight back'
A couple hours later, Allie finally began to stir, earning the attention of the others in the room. Jon, who was sitting on the floor beside the couch, spun around and kneeled next to her. "Baby?" He whispered, as her eyes fluttered open.
She turned to look at him and her eyes instantly filled with tears. Before the first could slide down her cheek, Jon scooped her up and cradled her in his arms as he sat on the couch.
"No, no, no baby," Jon whispered to her, as she tried to control her breathing. She clung to his shirt and buried her face into his chest. "Talk to me darlin. What happened?"
After taking a moment to compose herself, Allie sat up in his lap, taking a deep breath. Looking between Jon, Steph, Joe and Colby she retold her lunch with Paul, Mark, and the two Steves. She watched Steph's eyes widen when she told them about Paul's revelation.
"Are you- what the fuck?" Steph exclaimed, not knowing what to say. "Did they tell you who?" Allie scoffed with a sarcastic laugh, sniffing back the unwanted tears.
"Oh, yea," she responded, pushing up out of Jon's lap to grab a water. The dryness in her throat had begun to make her sound hoarse. "That's the real kicker."
"Does he still work here?" Colby asked from his position beside Joe. The protective tension coming from the guys was overwhelming, but welcome at the moment, settling a warm safe feeling in Allie's heart.
"No," she said after taking a deep swallow of her water, and swallowed harshly as if fighting down bile, "but his son does."
"Who the fuck is his son?" Joe barked out, as Steph's hand slapped over her mouth in surprised horror, seeming to already know."
"No," she whispered out, receiving a nod from Allie in return. "Oh my god, Allie."
"I'm a fucking Orton," Allie seethed with disgust, hot fresh tears rolling down her face. "Do you have any idea how it feels to know that not only did I not know that Randy is my brother, but also that supposed brother beat the holy shit out of me after he pretended to be in love with me? This is a whole new level of fucked up."
The looks of shock and fury filled the faces of the three Shield members.
"I can't believe this," Jon spoke up, moving to collect his girlfriend in his arms. "Does Orton know?"
"No," Allie shook her head. "Bob doesn't even know who I am. He made it a point to make me disappear and never cared enough to find out where his own daughter ended up."
"Al, I'm sorry for even asking this," Steph murmured, the clear hesitation in her voice and face, "but did you and Randy ever... ?"
Allie scoffed out another laugh, "Thank god, no. I don't know what I would've done if we had. This is hard enough as it is."
Jon walked up behind Allie and wrapped his arms tightly around her, burying his face in the side of her neck. She instantly felt her body begin to calm and relax. "I'm so sorry, darlin'," he murmured against her skin. "I wish I knew what to say or do."
Allie sighed deeply and leaned back into him, "You're doing it." After a few minutes she spoke again to the group. "I don't want to deal with this right now. I don't even want to think about it. Right now, let's just focus on Raw."
The others agreed, although reluctantly, feeling Allie needed to take some time to process this, but in the meantime they silently agreed to help her get through the next couple days of work and travel.
Jon kept an especially close eye on her as they geared up for the show and began to prepare. Watching Allie's frustration at the time that had been lost due to her sedation after the attack, leaving them less than preferred time to get themselves organized. This is were spontaneity came in. Something they were all know for and Jon was amazed at how well Allie was doing at hiding her emotional pain.
It probably helped that they hadn't encountered Orton while she was conscious. However, she and Steph had seen a somewhat battered Cena cornering a cowering Nikki Bella. He seemed to not be pleased about something and Steph could wager to guess what that something was, but instead of voicing it, merely shrugged when Allie looked between her and the other two in confusion.
Allie met up with the boys again when it was close to cue time for them and got into place. Hunter, Randy, Kane and Stephanie stood inside the ring beginning the segment and the eventual confrontation between The Authority and the returning Shield.
"I guess it's true what they say," Hunter laughed at the 3 members of The Shield and Allie, "A leader only fights when their best warriors have failed. And trust me Allie, your warriors have failed. You may be responsible for the biggest failures the WWE has ever seen. I mean that's why you're here isn't it? To salvage what minuscule amount is left of your little group."
The heat of the crowd echoed around the arena as he spoke. "And, while we're being honest here, why not recognize the fact that the brainchild of this faction is a washed up, has been that is barely able to hobble around on that ticking time bomb you call a knee."
The boos became deafening, when all of a sudden the arena went dark. The roar of the crowd quickly became an excited one, when thunder sounded around the arena and a bolt of pyro lightening struck several surfaces.
The arena erupted when the lights came back up and now standing in the ring was Allie and The Shield. Allie smirked as she watched the retreating forms of The Authority as they all dashed out of the ring and up the ramp.
Allie held the three men back as they made to rush the ramp and beat the feeling out of Hunter's body. While managing to stop Roman and Seth, Dean still struggled forward. Allie placed one hand on his chest and the other on his cheek, as he continued to yell obscenities at Hunter. Allie slid the other hand up his chest and rested it against his neck, dragging his gaze down to finally meet hers. The two proceeded to have a conversation with their eyes, before Dean finally calmed enough to back off.
After making sure all three men were not going to be making a mad dash for the ramp, Allie turned back towards Hunter. Raising a mic to her mouth, "Failures?" She hissed, causing an eery feel to settle in the arena.
"Failures? You're seriously going to call the greatest faction that ever hit the WWE failures?" She raged at his audacity, as the crowd seemed to agree with her statement. "These three men have run wild on this business and changed it for the better. They've revolutionized it."
"Their success thus far has carried a rarity that terrifies even you. It took months before any super team could beat them. They won their debut match at Wrestlemania. They became the United States and Tag Team champions after only being here a few months. They've made a laughing stock of your locker room of supposed talent. And they're the failures? You had no problem using these supposed 'failures' to do your biding."
The arena continued to agree with her as they cheered her on, when Hunter cut in, finally unleashing some hostility for what happened the previous week.
"You crossed a line last week, Allie," Hunter growled out. "You attacked me backstage and restrained me. Then you attacked my wife and left her embarrassed and dismantled in the middle of the ring."
Grabbing the microphone from Hunter, Stephanie bellowed into it with her annoying Billion Dollar Princess shriek. "You will suffer the consequences for your actions and you will do so tonight."
Allie smirked waiting for The Authority to hit her with their best shot. "Let's see how healthy you really are. I wanna see you pushed to your limits and there's only one person standing here who can do that." Allie raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her before she continued. "So tonight, for the first time in seven years, the WWE Universe will see the Anti-Diva in action when she goes one on one with a person who's probably just as warped and twisted as she is... Kane."
Kane looked down to the ring and gave Allie his sinister smile, before taking up a mic as well. "I look forward to the opportunity to send the Princess of Darkness straight to Hell."
Allie smirked back just as evilly, "Oh Kane. To me, Hell's just a sauna and you? You're just my towel boy." With that the arena went dark and The Shield once again disappeared to the roaring ovation of the fans.
'No, not gonna die tonight
We've gotta stand and fight forever
(Don't close your eyes)
No, not gonna die tonight
We've gotta fight for us together
No, we're not gonna die tonight'
A/N: Hey guys! I wanna give a shout out to angelsdee327 for guessing correctly on who the father is! 'Cowboy' Bob Orton! I've been missing your reviews and I was so excited when you guessed it. Why did I choose this route? Because it's different, not the usuals, and makes the storyline WAY more interesting.
I'm so sorry for the delay in this chapter. Unfortunately real life has been rather difficult on me. Some days it's hard to find the time and, to be honest, the motivation to sit down and write. I can't express how much your reviews mean to me and all the love this story is getting is unbelievable.
Allie's occasional struggle in this story with panic attacks is a real life thing for me. I didn't put it in here to make anyone uncomfortable and I hope talking about now doesn't either. I put it in here because it's a real thing and it's being used to make her seem a little more human and real. I hope anyone who deals with panic attacks or any silent disease understands that you're not alone. For you lucky ones that don't suffer from these things, I hope you understand, which I'm sure you do, that they are real and not attention seeking means. It's a real everyday struggle and it sucks.
I love you all and I look forward to your thoughts on this interesting twist! 3333
Songs:
Skillet- "Not Gonna Die"
Phil Collins- "You'll Be In My Heart"
