Chapter 35

Taking a deep breath, she made her entrance and kept her eyes on the ring, the crowd erupting when they saw her. For reason, she had no idea. She looked behind her and around, not trusting David wasn't up to something, but nobody came. It was her. They were cheering HER. Frowning, Emery walked around to ringside and took a seat beside John Bradshaw Layfield – most called him JBL. He offered her a bottled water and she shook her head, clasping her hands together in her lap and watched David and Mark make their entrances. Before long, the match was underway and it started out fierce, competitive and harsh. Of course David was the villain here, he had made that abundantly clear when he had basically bullied this woman on television in front of thousands, not that they knew it was real. For all they knew, it was scripted.

"Hey, dork chick!" He shouted at her after he managed to get away from Mark's punches, his head spinning. "Want another round with the Animal?" Let the Deadman sort out what that meant.

Emery showed him exactly what she thought of him, flipping him the bird and shrieked when he grabbed her by her braid, yanking her up from the chair. She remembered what Mark showed her, the anger flooding through her body and promptly kicked him between the legs, making him instantly release her. Emery stumbled back against the barricade just as Mark flipped over the top rope and her eyes instantly devoured his chest whole since he'd tugged the straps down to hug around his waist. His eyes asked her silently if she was alright and she nodded before taking her seat again, holding the back of her head. She hoped the mother fucker couldn't have kids with that kick from her steel toed black boots she had on.

The match went on, with Mark taking the upper hand, thanks to Emery's rather painful looking kick to the balls. He knew how that felt… he'd been there. Eventually, Batista came out of it enough to start properly fighting back and the brawl escalated outside of the ring. He had to keep David away from her, away from that side and they brawled their way up the ramp, to the stage, exchanging punches. David's head was going to explode if Mark didn't stop hitting him there and he blinked, clearing his vision before snapping forward with a spear.

"Jesus Christ!" JBL screamed through the headset when both men went over the stage.

"No!"

Emery popped out of her chair and took off running around the ring up the rampway, stopping to take in the horrific scene. When Batista speared Mark, the entire stage on the right side -left from where she stood- collapsed on top of them with sparks flying. That wasn't staged or planned! Emery covered her mouth with her hand, watching the officials rush out from the back to try to get the carnage off of both men. Neither answered the count of 10. Neither could move…for what seemed like forever.

Then, miraculously, Mark emerged and Emery clutched the barricade, relief flooding her body. JBL described it as him rising from the ashes like a newborn phoenix and she couldn't have agreed more. Emery waited until he was out of the carnage and felt his arm wrap around her waist, drawing her against him while they looked back at the explosive ending to the match. David had emerged as well, but he looked worse for wear, especially since his leg was heavily taped prior to the match.

"Do you need to go to the trainer's?" She asked Mark quietly, looking up at him while they headed through the curtain. He had to be hurting after that spear.

He nodded, not saying a word. That fucking bastard… his ribs were killing him from the spear. The fall and landing with David on top of him. If something wasn't broken, it would be a miracle. Mark really hoped the other man was dead, because he had managed, somehow to grab David's head and crack it on their way down. It would easily be written off as an accident and he'd feel a lot better.

Guiding him to the trainer's room, Emery watched as Mark was laid down on the padded bedding while Larry looked him over, chewing her thumbnail nervously. She felt someone walk up to stand alongside her and didn't have to look up to see who it was, feeling one hand on her shoulder and then another on the other. Her boys. They were always there for her and Emery would miss them, but the WWE was no longer home to her, not after everything that happened. She would find a new home, a new path in life and felt tears swell in her eyes, her eyes not leaving Mark for a second.

"That was a hell of a fall. Are you okay?" Randy asked quietly, already knowing she wasn't, but felt it was necessary to anyway.

Emery shook her head, knowing she was far from alright.

"If you love him…"

Another head shake stopped him from saying another word.

Given the severity of the situation, Randy didn't even feel the need to punt Mark's fat head off his ugly neck for the text earlier. Instead, he looped his arm around her, feeling Paul doing the same and they nestled her between them, letting Emery know they were here.

"Well, congrats champ, you have a broken rib AND a title to defend."

"You're not funny." Mark groaned, really hoping David was dead now. He had wrestled injured before. "I got time off…"

"Take it. You'll need it."

Cringing at the news, Emery hoped he'd be alright by himself since she was on her way back to Sedona tonight. The guilt ate away at her, not wanting to leave him. She didn't want to leave him, period, but that wasn't an option. He didn't want her, he only tolerated her because of this line and now it was over. She silently hoped David was hurt a lot worse than Mark, her icy blues glazing over with tears.

"I need to go." Her flight was leaving soon and Mark wasn't done with Larry, but she wouldn't leave without saying goodbye. Stepping up to the doorway, she tapped on the door and Larry walked out to give them a minute alone. "Cracked rib, huh? That sucks, I'm sorry." The injury could've been a lot worse. "You got lucky."

"Yeah, a legit excuse to go home for a bit." Mark laughed, then winced, his ribs heavily wrapped, knowing that would get old fast. "No word on Batista yet, but…" He bet they were keeping him elsewhere, out of the line of danger. Or he was dead. "You heading out, darlin'?"

"Yeah…" Emery didn't know what else to say to him, her heart cracking down the middle because this really was it. She would never see him again. "I just wanted to…say goodbye. Thank you for everything. Take care of yourself, Mark."

Reaching out, she squeezed his hand briefly and then walked out, their fingers slipping from each other. Emery hugged Randy, telling him to call her later to talk about the baby situation and then hugged Paul. She promised both she would call once she walked through her front door. Taking one last look at Mark in the trainer's room, Emery headed down the hallway and walked out of the arena, finally letting the tears stream down her cheeks.

"You fucked up." Randy informed Mark almost as soon as Emery had disappeared down the hallway.

"Don't I know it." He grunted, sitting up slowly with assistance and then proceeded to wait for Larry to fill out the paperwork for his trip to the ER for x-rays.

"So… how are you going to fix it?"

How was Mark going to fix it?

It'd been a month since Emery left the WWE behind and started over. Her realtor wasn't having any luck with selling the house and, after thinking about it, she decided not to sell and canceled the realtor. She loved her house and now that WWE was a thing of the past, she could focus on the future. The money wasn't an issue; the WWE had paid her well over the past 10 years so she had a nice nest-egg to live on until she could find a job. Instead of wallowing in despair and heartache, Emery attended some gaming functions and soon, Comic Con would be coming to Phoenix, which she would be attending. It was nice sleeping in her own bed, though Emery still cried herself to sleep at night missing Mark. She didn't know if the pain of losing him would ever go away, hoping it did.

"So how's it going with the baby?"

"Randy is still panicked over it, but other than that fine. My first ultrasound I heard the heartbeat and fell in love." Cheryl sighed wistfully, rubbing her still flat stomach. "I'm only 2 months along, but I feel like it should be longer."

"I wouldn't know, but I'm happy for you guys and don't worry about Randall. He'll get more excited once you start showing and it becomes real to him." He'd been stuck on the road while Cheryl was home at the first OBGYN appointment, which he was upset about and had bitched to her for an hour straight about Vince being a heartless dick. "Did he stop smoking weed at least?"

"Yeah, that's probably why he's a grumpy bastard lately. Still love him though."

"You're brilliant, you know that?"

"Get out of the mirror, Orton," Mark snorted, glancing over his shoulder to find Randy chatting at himself in the mirror. "It was my idea."

"It was, and I will admit, a beautiful one. I honestly didn't think you could be so…"

"If you call this romantic, I will beat your ass."

"Hey, for someone like Emery, this is practically a marriage proposal."

"Tell him how Cheryl is mad because you proposed."

"Shut up, we were talking about his idea and how I had to pimp my face and my ID just to get it going."

"I'm sorry I'm not a fucking dork?"

Mark would never understand why these idiots felt the need to bother him. They thought they were friends or something and, once again, he blamed Emery. This was all HER fault. He had JUST come back on the road and they were so stuck up his backside, he was afraid he'd never dislodge them.

"Anyways, he proposed, like… as soon as he seen her, with this cheap ring and she LOST HER MIND because she said he didn't love her, he just didn't want a bastard child."

"Ouch."

"You know," Randy began defensively, not amused as Paul and Mark had a really good laugh at his expense, his ears were bright red and he wore his hair short so everyone could see! "Most women WANT to be proposed to. I've had girlfriends PUNCH me because I DIDN'T propose, so how the fuck was I supposed to know?"

"Timing is everything, son."

"Can you believe that prick?!"

"Uhm…" Emery had no words, wondering if Randy really was that stupid or maybe he was dropped on his head as a child. "Umm…"

"Exactly – EXACTLY! That asshole proposed to me only because of the baby! Not out of love or anything – oh no! I can't believe him!" Cheryl began crying, burying her face in her hands. "I-I do love him, but…I don't want him marrying me out of obligation just because I'm popping his kid!"

"Right." Emery just nodded and smiled, knowing better than to argue with a 2 month pregnant, hormonal and emotional woman. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No!"

After dealing with a hormonal pregnant woman on the phone, for 2 hours, Emery was ready to do her raid on World of Warcraft and blow everybody and everything to smithereens. Her head hurt, but thanks to Advil liquid gels, she was ready to rock and roll with a Pepsi in front of her. Caffeine jolt in case she began feeling sleepy. This was going to be a long raid, at least 3 hours, so she hoped Randy had gotten himself situated because it was game time.

"RKO, are you there?" She asked in her headset, leaning back against the couch and began typing to someone else within the guild who couldn't make it for tonight's raid.

One person down wouldn't matter.

"RKO, what does that even mean?" A guildmate asked, snickering.

"It's a wrestler. He's gorgeous."

"I bet he's a faggot, wrestling is gay."

"Eat me, troll." Randy was not gay; he had a baby on the way! Of course, baby mama drama in abundance, but a little RKO Jr on the way.

"This guy is new, you should boot him, RKO."

"Punt his ass?" He sent a private message to Emery to check the guy's profile and see if he was new. That meant he was probably a troll as their guild was usually chill.

"And booted, see you troll." Emery snorted, rolling her eyes and laughed when everyone started cheering her that was truly in their guild. "Okay guys and gals, gals and guys, you know what we're doing tonight. Our goal is to get to the castle, it's a long trek, so I hope you all are prepared for a long journey. If anyone needs breaks, let me or RKO know. Watch your backs, you know the drill. Let's go!"

It was the usual saying she gave whenever they had a raid. Randy did it sometimes, but mostly she did because he didn't feel comfortable with speeches. It was a way to get everyone fired up for the raid. This was the perfect distraction since Emery couldn't forget about a certain green-eyed man lately. Usually, Randy would be sitting at his laptop, or sprawled out on a bed, naked and smoking cigarettes and pot. Tonight, he was sprawled, naked, with just the cigarettes. Cheryl was trying to get him to quit.

"Hey Boss, you let me claim the final blow and I'll send you unsolicited pics." He joked, hearing his guildmates laughing. He bantered with her that way; Randy could do that, just not make speeches. He felt like a dork and stuttered whenever he tried.

"Are you… naked, playing World of Warcraft?!"

"Uh… yes?"

Emery laughed, overhearing Cheryl ask him that and seconds later, he logged off, feeling her jaw drop. She didn't blame him though; the woman was off her rocker and drowning in hormones right now. After the 4 hour raid finished, Emery was still wide awake and decided to look up tickets for Comic Con in Phoenix to get it over with. They had gone on sale earlier that day and it was only a few weeks away. She bought 4 tickets, one for her, Randy, Cheryl and Paul, hoping they could all make it. If not, she'd either eat the money she spent or sell them, which wouldn't be hard. With the tickets bought, fatigue finally set in as Emery shut her Alienware and trudged to her room, tears instantly filling her eyes at the loneliness that ensued.

Would this ever change?

It took forever to set this up and Mark would grudgingly admit these geeks knew their material. He had learned to appreciate the coding aspect, and the design, but still was never playing. Posing for pictures and image rendering had been interesting, but nothing new since he did the same thing for the WWE, so… he had been here before. But then Mark got to watch as he was 'customized' for the event. He smirked when the final footage of how the end of the event would play out.

One day only, battle to reach the boss, but only one user would be able to unlock the 'special ending'.