It's time to end the hiatus! Thankfully the muses are firing on this story once again. :) Kudos to AeonBlue for reviewing this story as I am getting ready to post a new chapter. Are you spying on me? How did you know I was getting ready to update this?

*This story makes reference to events that occur in real life. This is not with the intent of making light of these events. Read the story. See how they affect the characters.

**This is fiction. I do not have any claim to characters or people associated with the WWE.


Monday, June 9th – after RAW in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jon and Joe were fitting the jigsaw of luggage into the back of their car when Sam and Torrie touched their backs gently. Both couples stood quietly, wrapping their arms around each other as they took in the scene two cars over.

~! #$%^

Nick had his carry-on bag throw over his shoulder and dragging his suitcase with one hand, bumping and banging at his heels. In his other hand he carried his phone, staring at it as if he could will a message to come through. Torrie whispered into Joe's shoulder, "That is so sad. My heart breaks for him."

Sam nodded in agreement. "I wish there was something we could do."

Jon and Joe hugged their women harder as they watched Nick trudge passed the cars. Colby popped around the other side, calling his name. "Nick! Nick, bud, here's the car." He circled wide, obviously trying not to surprise the other man. Sam and Torrie gasped at the state Nick seemed to be in. Colby grabbed the suitcase from Nick and tried to turn him towards the car. "Dude, you walked right passed the car." The couples couldn't hear what Nick said, but they saw Colby drop the suitcase and try to keep Nick upright. Jon and Joe ran to help him. "Dammit, Nick, you've got to hold it together!"

Jon, Joe, and Colby listened to Nick cry in the parking lot. "Sh-she m-m-misses me. She can't s-say w-where sh-she is. I-I-I h-h-hate this sh-sh*t. I-I-I m-m-miss her! Wh-why c-c-can't we win?"

Jon shook his head. He grabbed Nick's shoulders. "Yes, it sucks. Her job is dangerous. You didn't break down like this before and this time you know she loves you. That has to make it better, yes? She's going to do everything possible to come home. You have to have faith. Man up, get in the car and sleep for the ride. When you get to the hotel, take some time to come up with something sickening sweet to send to her. Make her feel loved. And stop being such a d*mn wet mop!" He gave Nick another good shake.

Colby touched Nick's shoulder. "Jon's a direct kinda guy. He is also a great friend, loyal to a fault." Colby swallowed hard. "I may have been a little less brutal but I agree with what he said. You need to man-up for your sake and Shannon's."


Elsewhere in the world…

Shannon walked into the mess tent running her fingers through her still-wet hair. The marine who had brought her the earlier bad news waved her over to his table. "You look a little better, ma'am. How are you feeling?"

"I have to admit that getting a few hours of shut-eye felt good. I feel guilty about it, though." she admitted.

A second marine spoke up. "That's common. You have to battle those feelings, ma'am."

With a heavy sigh, Shannon took a bite of her breakfast before continuing. "I am familiar with the symptoms of survivor's guilt. This is a combination of that and feeling overwhelmed by the fact that they just keep coming. No matter what we do, no matter how many warning lists I make, they just keep coming. You try to stop them but people keep dying."

Both marines held up their hands. A third sat down beside Shannon. "You keep doing what you are doing. We will keep hunting the bad guys. What we don't know is how many people we save when we catch those that are responsible. Working together, we save lives. Yes, we lose some in the process and we mourn them but we keep doing this for the ones that we've stopped and the future attacks that we've thwarted. You have to focus on that."

The first marine that talked to Shannon said, "Like I told you, you have a skill set that we don't have. As a linguistic code breaker you do things and see things that my men and I could never put together. You've got to focus on those skills and keep doing them so we can do what we do." Shannon took another bite and stood up. Nodding to the men, she headed back to her work room. Time to suck it up and make those lists. She could get the highly-likely targets categorized for these marines.


a little over a month later…

"I can't believe that Shannon will be coming home soon!" Nick was bouncing with excitement. "Seeing her in person will be so much better than e-mailing. Skype has helped, when she was able, but finally, here, in person!"

"Are you sure you want everybody here when she gets home?" Jon asked with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"Don't be such a jerk!" Isabelle said with a smack to the back of his head.

"Don't be such an arse." Stephen agreed.

"He can't help it" Colby laughed.

"Be nice!" Sam hollered.

Nick looked at all of their friends crowded into the small apartment, decorating and cleaning. "Absolutely. Shannon and I have both been miserable. We need time with all of you to celebrate life, love, and friendship. We need you all."

Kay emerged from the hallway. "I found extra blankets. She's got lots of decorative pillows all around."

Torrie stowed the vacuum before chiming in, "Adam's bringing air mattresses so he can crash the party. No one minds the Rose Bud, do ya?"

Joe muttered, "I might kill the Rose Bud, but he can join the party. Maybe no one can pin it on me that way."

Torrie wrapped her arms around his neck. "He's my friend. No maiming the Bud."

A heavy knock at the door brought the room to a stand-still. Claudio opened the door slowly. "Hey, we were just…" he trailed off as he realized something was wrong.

The normally happy and jovial man quietly walked into the room and sat the air mattresses on the floor. He walked over to Nick and asked him quietly, "Do you know how Shannon was flying?"

"What do you mean?"

"Was she flying military? Commercial? Do you know her flight number?"

"You are freaking me out, man." Nick muttered. Other people in the room began checking their phones. It didn't take long for them to see…

Adam asked again. "Just answer the question. How was Shannon flying home?"

Sam answered. "She always flies home on a commercial flight. We don't know where she was stationed and we haven't heard from her in a few hours. We just don't know."

Nick looked around the room at the somber faces of his friends. "Don't know what?"

Adam pushed him into the middle of the room so everyone could encircle him. Joe shoved a footstool underneath him and knelt at his feet. "Nick…" Jon grabbed Nick's shoulders. Joe started again. "Nick…" Colby grabbed Joe's shoulders. "A plane was shot down…"

"No. No."

Colby said, "We don't know. It's a plane. She could walk through that door."

Sarah said, "She could be working the case."

Nick began to sway. "No. No. No."

"We just have to wait and see, Nick." Jon said softly.

"We ah hea fo ya." Stephen quietly assured his friend.

Nick sat quietly and cried.

Kay turned on the television. This is what she did for a living. This was her wheelhouse. MH17 was shot down. If her friend was on that plane, she would identify who was responsible and call in every favor she was owed.


I know you were anxiously waiting for this update. I hope it was worth the wait.