She woke the next morning to a heavy, overwhelmingly hot arm cast over her torso. But, she was awake, and Edge was not. Now, she needed to remove it from her. His skin was too hot and she desperately needed a shower. Rolling her head to one side to see the man asleep on her shoulder, Lita sighed, she looked about the hotel room. Clothes and half-empty liquor bottles had been haphazardly thrown about the room. The truth of what she'd done, and why all the celebratory refuse littered the hotel suite, dawned on her as familiarly as the face of the lover that slept next to her.
Lita heaved a sigh, her reality was crushing. She'd really done it. She'd signed off on the damnation of someone else. Oh, Lord, how she thought she was going to be sick. Within her mind thoughts wandered without her consent. She could only imagine what horror Freyja had undergone at Kane's hands the evening before. Knowing what her, now-ex, husband was capable of, she brought her hands to her face, covering tears of guilt that threatened to spill from her eyes.
Somewhere in her tumult, Edge had awoken, arms outstretched creating space for her heaving body to fill. He held her close, kissed her head and rocked her back to sleep, much like a child. In honesty, it was what she needed right now. She let herself shake in his arms, while across town, a different kind of awakening was occurring.
Kane's arm was also cast across Freyja. Not so much in adoration but in an attempt to keep her put. She laughed, very silently, to herself. What a wedding, indeed.
Weddings were supposed to be joyous occasions. Full of happiness and love. Instead, the evening before was a travesty. Full of anger, of fear, of sacrifice, on all facets. She looked at Kane's sleeping face, almost peaceful, and she looked at her own body, trapped by him, and she saw not two lovers.
She saw instead two sad, sorry assholes, determined to prove themselves to anyone who would listen. She was laser focused, almost hell-bent, on putting Lita down; and Kane, well, he was a recent divorcee intent on drowning his sorrow in someone who might begin to understand the feeling of utter betrayal, in the form of manhandling and vicious glares. Whatever makes him feel better.
But now was no time for feelings. It was time for actions. The plan was coming together, in its own way. If there was one good thing to come out of the evening before it was the deal between her and Kane, iron-clad by the shackles of matrimony, a promise made by a friend, by Hurricane, and she knew he'd come through. Lita would pay, she'd be sure of it. And if she had to deal with Kane's domineering behavior every night for the rest of her life, she'd have it. Her determination triumphed over her creeping sense of disdain. But it was an odd mix of emotions, as she didn't resent the man beside her. Not really. It wasn't his fault, she reminded herself.
She struggled against his giant arm to rise, and even in his half-awake state, he easily pushed her back down to the bed. Freyja pushed on his arm, vainly, it didn't budge and Kane groaned like a teenager.
"Kane," Freyja huffed. "I need to get up."
The man grumbled again and turned over, freeing the young woman to retreat to the bathroom. Quickly she showered, and got herself put together. Exiting the bathroom she found him sitting up in the bed finally, eyes blinking to adjust to the once-dark room; so, a slow waker, and not a morning person. The young woman couldn't say she was surprised. Freyja started to pick up her discarded clothing items, throwing them in her bag and pulling out a new outfit.
She had her back turned, but she knew Kane was watching her. She dressed quickly, not wanting to leave herself vulnerable to his eyes any longer than she had to, though, they were pretty much past that point by now. Bed creaking under his shifting weight, Kane's arms stretched wide as he took his time getting out of bed. He had every right to, they didn't have anywhere to be. On a normal Tuesday morning, they'd have some sort of appearance to make, but the show managers probably thought it best not to disturb the beast and his new bride.
"Where'd you get that scar?" was the first thing Kane said all morning other than "unnnhghhg", and his voice was gravelly with sleep. Freyja tried not to look surprised, peering over her shoulder at the long pink line on her lower back and hip.
She walked over to the dresser, where she kept her phone and flipped it open, eighteen missed calls from her mother, and 10 voicemails. Two from Hurricane, who only left one. "Back home, I used to Swanton dive off the Chickenhouse like Jeff does but... well, you can tell I never quite got the hang of it." She laughed nervously.
Kane huffed and took his turn to shower and dress. Freyja listened to the 10 frantic voicemails in Euskara from her mother, asking, 'What on earth are you thinking?!' and 'You should have gotten help' and 'You should have come home.'
Freyja dialed up the call back number, knowing the long distance call was going to cost her dearly, but, what kind of daughter would she be if she said her Ama's peace of mind wasn't worth it? The phone rang just twice before an answer.
"Hello?"
"Ama, it's me."
Freyja heard some clattering and a heavy gasp before the lecture started in, "Freyja Katixa, what in God's name?! There had to be some other way."
"There wasn't." Freyja replied. "I'm sorry but, Andone thought of everything. It's ironclad."
"Psh, and we all see what a good job Andone did of protecting you." Ynga muttered.
"Hey!" Freyja snapped. "He's doing his best, ma. And don't worry about me, okay? Kane's not gonna hurt me, I have a plan, it'll all be okay. Okay?"
"You're a smart girl, Freyja." Her mother relented with a sigh. "But I fear for you."
Freyja smiled, unsure. Her mom was half-right, though she hated to admit it. Freyja had an idea for a plan, but not much of one, and Kane was... well, complicated. She wanted to explain, but this was about to turn into a $20 phone call.
"I have to go." She dismissed. "Love you, ma."
"I love you too, maitea, please be careful."
Freyja hung up the phone as Kane reentered the room, his nostrils flared and staring her down with no small amount of intensity. He'd heard the conversation and the indecipherable language, he asked with hostility, "Who were you talking to?"
"My mom." Freyja explained, readying the next message, from Hurricane. She barely registered that Kane had completely crossed the room to where she stood in what seemed to be only two strides. His hand came around to the back of her neck while he grimaced at her,
"Last time my wife told me she was on the phone with a "family member", you happened." He snarled. "So I don't believe you." Freyja lay a hand on Kane's forearm, trying to soothe him out of his borderline rage. She showed him the number on the phone.
"That's it, look." Freyja held the phone aloft, feeling his grip start to relax ever so slightly. "Spanish phone number. Even if I had a boyfriend in Hegoalde, you really think I'd let him waste his money on a plane ticket to get all his teeth knocked out by you?"
The woman's hands began to push at his arm, trying to get away. "My mom saw what everyone saw," Kane closed his free hand around both wrists easily, making the struggling Freyja drop her cell phone on the carpeted floor. "How I have to spend the rest of my natural life with you. Of course she's worried."
The man stared her down evenly, looking for the lie in her face, and when he couldn't find one, released her roughly, almost jerking her back away from him. Freyja huffed and rubbed at the back of her neck, kneeling to retrieve her phone. She retreated to the far corner, hopefully if he lost his shit again it would give her room to fight him off. She clicked through to the voicemail Shane had left her, put it up to her ear, watching Kane out of the corner of her eye, get dressed with such force she was surprised he didn't rip his clothing and staring at her intensely.
"Hey, Citizen Freyja! It's me, ah, you know who it is. Remember last night you told me to round up some friends? I got them, just need to know what your plans are uhm..." Hurricane faltered a bit. "I think some of us are going to breakfast at the Denny's across the street from my hotel. Would love it if you came, uhhh... mostly to make sure you haven't been murdered. Okay bye!"
Freyja deleted the message and hung up with a sigh. She looked over to Kane, fiddling with his boot. She flipped the phone closed and leaned her back against the wall, shoving it in her back pocket.
"They thought I was gonna kill you?" Kane pressed. He'd heard everything, and his face kept turning brighter and brighter red. She wasn't sure if he was angry, or who at, and she didn't much care at this point.
Freyja put the phone away and sat on the edge of the bed with her new husband. She though best to skirt around the original question. "Well, you wanna go to breakfast?"
Kane scoffed. "No."
"Okay, well, I guess I'll see you later then." Freyja shrugged, standing from the edge of the bed and moving to grab her room key. A large hand flew to the back of her head and tightened in her hair, and she was yanked toward Kane without warning. Freyja struggled against him at the rough treatment, a small cry escaping her lips, but Kane would not be moved. The young woman stumbled back into him, Kane narrowly kept her from smacking her head on the corner of the headboard, but he kept his grip, his other hand wrapped around her waist as she wriggled about trying to free herself.
"You're not going anywhere." He snarled into her ear. "Don't forget that I own you now." His face got right up close to Freyja's, his hot breath brushing against her cheek. Kane turned her head towards him, so she could look in his eyes as he pressed a kiss to her unwanting lips. There was no affection, only aggression, Freyja had no choice but to concede, and hope his display would be over soon. She let herself melt into him, some unspoken promise that she wouldn't just run away.
"Kane." Freyja's voice shook after he'd burned off his steam with the searing kiss, and his hand's death-grip on her hair had loosened. Her hand ventured down to the one of Kane's that held her by her waist. She felt him tense, but he didn't move. "My friends are just worried."
"Well, they should be." He snapped, "And we aren't going."
"Hurricane got people who are willing to help us bring Lita down!" Freyja argued further, straining against his hand to peck at his cheek. "That's why I need to go. Kane, please just relax."
Kane closed his eyes, turning away for a moment to slow his breathing. He hated when people told him to relax. However, if Freyja was only going to help serve Lita her just desserts, he hated to admit that was important. Not just to his wife but to him as well. In all honesty, he just didn't want to get fucked over again. He took his time thinking about it, Freyja quite uncomfortably trapped in his grasp. She leaned her head against his shoulder from where she was, thinking it better to just get comfortable and let the man think.
Kane's eyes jerked down, only to see Freyja staring straight ahead, almost.. shut down. This wasn't right. She was supposed to hate him, she was supposed to be scared. But, she seemed determined to get in league with him. He stared her down, that grimace on his face, until he, surprisingly, let go of her. "Fine." he said. "But I'm not going, so get the hell out of here, then."
In honesty, it was probably a damn good thing he wouldn't go, better to leave the man alone. Freyja rubbed the back of her head, made a little sore by his grasp. Freyja sighed, and nodded her head slowly. She grabbed her room key, and purse, calling a taxi to come get her. Kane didn't say another word, only shooting glances at her every once in a while. He could stare all he wanted.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~
The cab pulled up to a dilapidated looking Denny's in the parking lot of a strip-mall. Wasn't exactly a high quality establishment, but hey, they had food and Freyja hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours. The hustle and bustle of any regular day was enough to distract her, but yesterday was a whole different ball game. Leaping out of the taxi and paying the driver, Freyja strolled into the restaurant, which was almost empty save for a rowdy bunch of men and one very, very familiar young woman.
"Citizen Freyja!" Hurricane called, motioning her over to an empty chair at his side. She smiled in greeting, and strolled over to the table to get a better look at her "army". Hurricane, of course, Big Show, RVD and... Trish?
"It's good to see you... looking well." Hurricane chose his words carefully and snapped her back to the conversation at hand. "Where's your beau?"
Freyja smirked at the nomenclature. "I don't think I have to tell you how much he hates people."
The whole table shrugged and nodded in agreement. It was a fair enough assessment of the Big Red Monster.
"So," Rob started up, "Shall we talk strategy?"
Freyja was the only one to tilt her head in confusion. "Strategy? This is a gang fight we don't need a strategy."
"Of course we do!" Trish corrected. "If you just go after her, it'll all be over in a week."
Freyja looked around at the table, brow furrowed, the explanation made zero sense to her. "That's... the opposite of a problem?!"
Big Show started laughing at her, shaking his head and hiding his reddening face from the rest of the group. The waitress came by and set a glass of water down before Freyja, taking the groups orders quickly and soon retreating once more.
"I don't..." Freyja faltered, after the waitress left again, "I still don't see why I can't just take a baseball bat to her in the parking lot."
"Oh, you can, just not yet. Maybe that's how they do things in the 'old country', but what we do here requires a bit more... flair." Shane explained, taking a sip of his coffee and trying to ignore the table-wide utterance of 'Whoooo', and stay on track.
"It takes build up," Trish went on. "Vince loves having us at each others' throats just... not the way normal people are. You fuck Lita up right away?" Trish pursed her lips. "Big boss won't be happy."
Freyja nodded, slowly, understanding with some more clarity. "So... I need theatrics."
Rob threw his arms wide open. "Exactly! And we all agree that this little episode with Lita was WAY out of bounds. So, are we an army that suits your desires, madammmme?" he slurred the end of his speech like a member of the English aristocracy, forcing a small smile from Freyja.
"I'd say so, you're all tough, strong, good wrestlers, but..." Freyja's attention turned to Stratus. "You surprise me, Trish."
The blonde shrugged, fiddling with her coffee cup. "What can I say? I hate Lita... I mean, of course I hate Kane too but... it seems like people are starting to pick sides and... I hate Lita more. The only reason Kane ever came after me was because Lita asked him to."
Freyja nodded, she knew well what it was like to have Kane turned on her by Lita. She grasped her own glass, redirecting her attention. "Well, it's settled then." She held her water aloft in a toast. "To causing a ruckus!"
She was met with a chorus of 'hear, hear', and Freyja Kutlass finally had an army.
