Chapter 29

Honestly, Mark didn't mind her bunking with him. It saved him the trouble of having to ask her to basically move in with him on the road, so to speak. He also didn't think, sexually, Emery was David's type. The man preferred tall, leggy women, or women with some busty… areas. Emery was neither of those things, at least not when she wore pants. He knew how delectable those legs were.

"I think he's pissed at you, and me." He wrapped his arm around her, guiding her through the mostly empty building. "He was promised something and didn't get it, so he's blaming us both. And… I still think he's not working alone."

"I know he's not. There's no way that idiot could ever navigate his way around a computer let alone make the videotapes. That last one with me and Vince…not all of the conversation was in there because we also discussed lines for other wrestlers. So this is someone who is tech savvy, someone who knows their way around a computer and can manipulate the footage to their liking."

Emery started going down the list of people she knew, trying to weed them out and instantly canceled Cheryl. She was smart, but they were friends and she would never betray her that way. Emery hoped anyway.

"I meant what I said out there. When we find out who is helping him, they're gonna wish they'd never met either of us." Her sky blues flashed angrily, having a sinking feeling the worst was yet to come. "We need a way to make his accomplice reveal themselves."

"That's just it darlin', Batista feels more like a puppet." He would know all about that, both from playing puppet and puppet master. "He's pissed and out for blood, sure, but… someone is supplying him with information. These tapes, I don't think Davey boy would have gone out of his way to do all that. I think someone is pulling his strings. Someone who really dislikes you."

Maybe him too, but this seemed… about her. Someone who wanted him to be pissed at her, who had egged them to antagonizing each other. He remembered how all the pranks had stopped when she left the road, only to start again now that she was back.

"Who did you piss off, Emery?"

"I don't…know…"

Emery stopped walking, halting Mark as well and felt her eyes slowly narrow, her mind going a mile a minute. There was only one person that came to mind – one person who had worked closely with her for the past several years…until his recent demotion. Was Matthew really capable of doing this? He'd basically been her bitch as her proxy, dealing with the wrestlers' attitudes and abuse. Shoved into the trunk of a car and that car being towed away with him inside, for example.

"Oh my god…" Her sky blues snapped up to meet Mark's, not believing she didn't catch onto this sooner. Matthew also had a degree in computer technology, remembering him taking courses for it throughout his time being her proxy. "I need to talk to Randy. And Paul. Yeah, I need to talk to them." She began walking past him, her mind racing again along with her heart.

If Matthew was doing all of this for revenge…she was screwed in more ways than one.

Apparently, Emery had a revelation and he was curious, but… Mark stood there and watched her go. She'd tell him when she was ready. Slowly, he turned around and stared back the way they had come. Or maybe he'd just go out there and have a little chat with Batista himself.


"Randy is still off the road, Em." Paul said with a yawn, when she arrived at his hotel room, wondering why she was up and dressed at this hour. "What's your damage, sweets?" Only 10… he liked his late mornings.

"I know, he's on speaker phone and already cursed me out for waking him up. This is important though."

She stepped inside his room, holding her cell phone and walked over to sit down on the bed, her hair still wet hanging down her back from a shower. Mark didn't question her while they showered together to wash the grime and sweat off their bodies. She had given him a massage afterwards, putting him to sleep and slipped out of the room to come here.

"We have a problem. A serious problem and I need to talk to both of you because I trust you the most." Mark – she still had trouble completely trusting him after what happened, but it was building back up again. "I think I know who's been fucking with me…and who got me suspended with those strippers and clown."

"Who is it and how did you find out, Em?"

Paul's eyes were wide, suddenly awake. "Yeah, who?"

"Matthew. I think he's been pulling the strings. He's the only one I can think of who has motive to make my life hell…and he has a background in computer technology. There were parts of the video that were cut out and melded together. That conversation between me and Vince lasted well over an hour and the tape was only a few minutes long, talking about the Corporate Ministry angle. Only that angle, nobody else's. With his background and knowledge, I don't doubt he could easily navigate and cut that footage up to his liking. And if that's the case, he's working with Batista, which is how Batista is getting his hands on this shit."

"What the…"

"FUCK?!"

"Okay, okay…" Randy sighed, kind of glad he wasn't there in person because he might've beaten Matthew's ass himself. Yes, he was doing weed. No, it wasn't exactly a hardcore drug, but still illegal and that little bastard had gotten him suspended. "Why would Matthew be doing all this though? What's he got to gain? He had your spot and totally fucked it up."

"That… is a good point." Paul didn't doubt Emery, at all, but he couldn't understand why Matthew would bother. "What'd you do to him that pissed him off? Or what does he think you did?"

"Well, he was my proxy for a couple years and…took a lot of shit from the wrestlers. I mean A LOT." Emery lowered her eyes from Paul, unable to meet his gaze at the moment and rubbed the back of her neck. "It was his job, yes, but…Calaway shoved him in the trunk of a car and that car got towed away with him STILL in the trunk. You don't think that would piss him off and make him vengeful? Then there's the whole being choked out, slammed against walls and being booted in the ass so many times, I bet he doesn't even have an ass anymore. Do I know if it's him 100%? No, but he's suspect #1. Not to mention, after I came back from suspension, he was DEMOTED to being a personal assistant for the same wrestlers who abused and ridiculed him while he was my proxy."

Well, that was awkward. Paul had never really given Matthew much thought. Sure, the guy had been her proxy, but… that was about the extent of brain space Paul had devoted to Matt. He realized now… the dude had suffered quite a bit and money only went so far. "I guess we all kind of treated him shitty…"

"Not yet," Randy growled, his voice pure ice. "I'm going to punt his fucking head off his shoulders."

Paul groaned, staring helplessly at Emery. "So what next?"

"Punt. His. Skull. In."

Now, this is where Emery became nervous, especially hearing the pure ice in Randy's voice and she stood up from the bed, pacing. "I have to tell you guys something…and it CANNOT leave this room. Randy, I know you're pissed and we're going to get revenge on him, but I need you to calm down, okay? Please?"

Only because it was Emery and he thought of her as a little sister did he take several deep breaths, feeling ice running through his veins. "What's going on now, Emery?" Randy demanded gruffly, lighting up a cigarette and tossed his PlayStation controller away so he didn't break it. He was pissed.

"Um…" Her cheeks turned a deep crimson and she could NOT look at Paul when the next set of words came out of her mouth. "I'm being put on television…because of the videotapes. And it's gonna be with the Undertaker."

"WHAT…"

"THE FUCK?!"

"No Emery, that isn't happening!" Now Randy was moving to his laptop, pulling up his browser. "I'm fucking booking a flight to you. You are NOT going out there, you hear me?" Because she wasn't a trained wrestler. She had no business in that ring. "Batista will fucking destroy you!"

"Who had this brilliant idea?" Paul demanded, staring at her like she had lost her mind, which in his opinion, she had. "You aren't a wrestler, so why would you even agree to that?"

"It was Mark's idea. Look, my face is all over the place now that those videotapes have been exposed. There's nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. It was either Mark brings me on-screen or Batista would've found a way to do it, and you both know I'm right. Vince would've capitalized on this instantly because of the ratings." Emery refused to tell them how Mark had convinced her to do this, feeling Paul wrap his arms around her shoulders to sit her down on the bed. She was trembling at the thought of having to do this, but…like Mark said, she had to face this head-on with him. "I'm not coming to you, Randy." Mark would just hunt her down and force her back on the road to do this anyway. "Mark is training me…giving me some moves to use against Batista and he's also making me weight train to build my muscle mass up." So she could perform moves on the bulky son of a bitch.

"Emery, pull your head out of Mark's ass and listen: I said I was coming to you." He had already booked a flight and he had every intention of beating the Deadman down, pulling her on-screen. What a crock! "How do you know he's not fucking with you?"

"He was… pretty upset."

"Upset isn't the word." Randy was throwing belongings in his bag. "He was livid; he was going to kill you."

"I'm so confused."

"Randy no, you can't do this! You're on suspension and if the company catches you anywhere near the hotels, your ass is fired!" Emery cried out, shaking her head frantically and felt tears burn her eyes. "I'm doing this…I don't need your permission or anyone else's." Her voice had dropped from hysterical to low and calm. "If you want to risk your career, that's fine, but I'm doing this. And you will not touch Mark, do you hear me? It may not seem like it, but he knows what he's doing and…I owe him. I owe him a lot for everything I did to him. For ruining the Ministry and…possibly even his marriage." The Deadman didn't know about THAT one yet either. "I just wanted to tell my two best friends that I trust. I'm sorry if I upset you, but…I'm getting off here now and going back to my room."

"Then trust us when we tell you that this is the dumbest thing ever!" Randy practically screamed into his cell, wishing she was right there in front of them so he could shake some sense into the woman. "Wait… ruin his marriage?"

"Emery… what did you do?" Paul asked quietly, blocking the door before she could leave and wondered just what exactly Mark knew about her and her lines. What she had told him. "Emery?"

Tears flowed from her eyes as Emery dropped to her knees, burying her face in her hands. "I-I didn't mean for it to happen! I just…I came up with the stalking angle with DDP back when the Invasion was going on, after WCW went out of business. Mark was the American Badass at the time and I – I heard through the grapevine he was bringing his wife on the road for a while to travel with him. I went to Vince and told him about this idea about bringing the Undertaker's wife on television to make it more realistic. To give the fans something they'd never seen from his character. Vince jumped on it and forced Mark into the storyline. His wife was all for it because she wanted her 15 seconds of fame." Emery snorted, remembering meeting Sara briefly in catering one night at Raw and that woman's attitude grated on her nerves. "Then when they wrote her off Raw, after she beat DDP with Mark's help in a match, she was brought back a year later during his feud with Brock Lesnar in 2002. And she was pregnant at the time with one of their daughters. So, I brought her back into the fold, with Vince's blessing…and I know that's what lead to their ultimate downfall." Mark had recently gotten divorced from Sara due to personal reasons that were disclosed. "And no, he doesn't know about any of this yet. I'm sure he's about to though if David and Matthew have those conversations I had with Vince about the lines recorded."

"Holy fuck…"

"Oh my god, Emery…" Randy whispered, shaking his head. "You had Vince force him into letting that happen?" Mark had been notoriously private about his home life, his wife and his children. "Why would you do that? Why would… his private life was his, why?"

"Never mind that… does he know about you being involved in that?"

Because if he didn't, and he found out through another of those videos, Mark would kill her outright. The man had been blindly in love with Sara, until those lines, and then something had changed. When she shook her head, he sank down on his bed, groaning.

"You need to either tell him or run far-far-far away."

"I already told him there were other things throughout the 10 years I've been here that will pop up. He asked me if there was anything that sprung to mind, but I lied to him. There's no way I'm telling him I'm responsible for his marriage to Sara ending. And I don't know if he knows this or not, but…she was cheating on him…with DDP." Emery saw Paul's jaw drop to the floor and she was pretty sure she could FEEL Randy's do the same thing through the phone. "I caught them…in an empty dressing room. I don't know if he knows about that happening either."

"Fuck me…"

"You gotta tell him, Emery. You got to come clean about everything – EVERYTHING – you did to him while you were the lead script writer." Randy wanted to tell her to leave the WWE altogether. It would be healthier for her than being under the Undertaker's thumb in a storyline.

"Do you understand now why I have to do this with him?" In a way, this was her penance and punishment for all the storylines she'd forced Mark to do with Vince's blessing.

"Emery, you're not listening, you're LYING to him. AGAIN." Randy wondered if his best friend was suicidal, or stupid, maybe a little bit of both. "It doesn't matter about Sara cheating; he probably knows, that might even be why he divorced her. What DOES matter is your involvement and the fact that you keep on lying… god, please stop… just tell him the damn truth."

"If you don't, and you're in a line with him… Em, he's crazy, please… We'll be with you when you do."

"I know…" Emery whispered, not having her glasses on at the moment because the contacts were still in. She figured leaving them in for the day wouldn't cause any harm. "You're right…I have to tell him. I have to tell him everything. The Inferno match, the Casket match fiasco, this…" All of it had to come out before David could use it against her. "Randy, I have to go. I'll call you later…if I survive this." Hanging up with him abruptly, Emery hugged Paul tightly around the neck and closed her eyes, saying a silent prayer. "Let me leave and do this." It had to be done right now. "Don't do anything to Matthew either. Let me handle it."

"Are you sure about this?" Paul was honestly worried about her, knowing Randy was probably going out of his mind with worry as well. "We can be there…"

"No, this is something I need to do on my own. I'll be okay." She hoped and kissed his cheek. "I'll call you later." Then she walked out of the room and headed back to her own, every step feeling heavier than the next the closer she came to the door.