"Everybody out!" Kane demanded, earning more than a few confused looks from the other locker room inhabitants.

"Now!" he boomed. The other men didn't need anymore convincing than that. Even the toughest and strongest of them weren't particularly scared, but thought it may be best to leave the situation alone.

Kane all but threw Freyja into the dressing room, finally releasing her. She stumbled into the lockers on the far side of the room. Her hands lay flat against the metal, but not for long, she quickly turned to ensure she hadn't turned her back on the Monster behind her for too long.

He slammed the door shut, and pounded his fist against it. She heard the wood crack slightly under his force. She had flinched when he turned around, she hadn't meant to. He stared at her and said nothing, just breathed, and it came in heavy, laborious pants. Freyja could feel her blood run cold as he flexed his fists.

Open, closed, open, closed... Freyja realized people don't quite understand just how big 7 feet of person is until it's about to charge right at them.

But he didn't. He just stood there and stared. The shock had caught them both by the tongue and all they could do was look at each other, Kane ready to tear the locker room apart and every muscle in Freyja's body was tensed and screaming at her, RUN.

"Why would you sign that contract?" Kane finally belted out, slowly, his face red and angry.

"I didn't- know..." Freyja replied, and her mouth felt bone dry. "I could ask you the same thing."

Kane yelled, not liking the answer, his fist hurtling back into the wall, again, putting a crack in the drywall behind him. He lunged for the nearest bench and plopped down on it, resting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"There has to be a way out." Freyja spoke again and it came out like a whisper.

Kane scoffed from behind massive hands.

"You have no idea how this industry works." he retorted after a moment, he lifted his head, glaring at the young woman across the room. His eyes raked her body, almost hatefully, and she shifted uncomfortably under his scrutiny before he laid his forhead in his palm once more. "At least Lita had the decency to trade herself in for a newer model."

Freyja's brow furrowed, and she took a few steps toward him, "I beg your pardon?! What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Kane swiftly rose, stopping Freyja in her tacks as he towered over her. The girl wasn't so tough when she could plainly see he had her by two feet and at least 170. He used his gargantuan size to slowly back her into the wall next to the door. Freyja's panick set in when she felt the cold plaster aginst her back, and he hands immediately came up, ready to push Kane away. He was far too close for as long as theyd been acquainted.

He caught both her hands and pinned them to the either side of her head. Her immediate reaction was to struggle, wriggling her wrists desperately only for him to lean down and look straight into her panicked face. "Let me go, damnit!"

"A bit of a fighter, hm?" He let go of her, hands now resting against the wall where he'd once held her wrists. She was free and yet she still couldn't move. His fingers grabbed lightly to a stray hair and tucked it behind the terrified girl's ear. His touch was soft but his words were not. "Maybe Lita did do something right. We could have so much fun this way..."

He needed somewhere else for his pain to go, and what better target? His fingers ventured down to her cheek, and brushed the side of her neck. He could feel her heart pound and he could almost hear it as his palm rested there. Terrified, just how he wanted her.

His words crawled inside her brain and sloshed around like acid in a beaker. Freyja took a few moments to calm down, taking a few deep breaths, determined to keep her cool. With each breath she was nearly choked by his scent, it overpowered all else. He reeked of sweat and charcoal, like bonfire smoke.

Kane watched with feigned amusement as she tried to calm herself. He saw the slow progression of her face, fear melted away and dissapated until the only thing left was fatigue. She realized above her fear, she was tired of the theatrics.

"I know what you're doing." Her body relaxed, not from ease, but from apathy. She wanted to be afraid he'd hurt her but at this point, she couldn't force herself to care. "I can see right through you."

Kane's eyes flashed with fury and his free hand balled up in a fist. "You don't know anything about me."

Freyja shook her head slowly, reality was catching up to her faster than she could handle, her emotions had flipped from panic, to woe, to anger, and back again. "You're trying to frighten me to distract yourself but-" Freyja made a daring move to cup the side of his face in her hand, an almost tender gesture Kane hadn't been expecting. She said to him, not out of anger and not to taunt him but just out of pure disregard for her well being, "You're in pain, and you could slit my throat right here and it wouldn't change anything."

Kane almost leaned into her hand. His own wife had never given him such a tender gesture. But he realized who it was touching him, and why, and batted her hand away, "Careful, girl, I might have to take you up on that-"

Their "conversation" was cut short by several fists pounding on the locker room door, and cries of,

"Kane! Please, come out!"

"Freyja, we need an interview!"

"How does it feel to know your wife's been cheating on you?"

The chatter outside was maddening, and Kane straightened. He didn't want to talk to anyone, but they'd never leave him alone if he didn't just get it over with, unfortunately. He knew what these so called "journalists" were all about. "This isn't over." he grumbled, hand hovering over the handle.

"I know." she replied softly and slipped out as soon as the door swung wide. Freyja kept her head down and shoved past the reporters accosting her toward the women's dressing room.

She blindly and briskly walked down the halls, feeling all eyes on her. Eyes that were full of pity she didn't want. She rushed to turn the handle and push open the oak door that read: Ladies.

The other women stopped in their tracks, any conversation, giggling, or preening ceased at once when she walked in. She looked across all their fair, beautiful faces and saw... fuck it, more pity. She also saw relief. Relief that it was her and not them. The whole locker room knew it could have been any one of their own, and to say that they'd breathed a sigh of relief that Lita had chosen Freyja as her victim was an understatement.

Freyja didn't want to meet their eyes, she said nothing and made straight for her locker, head turned to the floor. The other girls finished quickly and packed their things, clearing the room as fast as possible to avoid the awkwardness of the situation. This was what Kane had turned her into already. A pariah.

No, it wasn't Kane's fault... it was Lita's.

Speak of the devil, the door pushed open again, and Freyja turned at the sound of laughter. Lita was walking in backwards, her attention turned to someone outside the door. Edge, no doubt. There was no telling when or if the demon that stalked these halls would wantto take his revenge tonight.

"Yeah, I'll see you in a second, babe." she smiled, and closed the door, looking into the locker room to find only Freyja, standing there, staring at her.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Lita knew the door was cracked open. Of course a camera was following her. Wasn't there any privacy in this business?

She knew the answer was no.

Lita stood her ground, expecting a chewing out from the smaller woman. , but all she got was a quick and forceful,

"Get out."

Lita sneered, "This is just as much my locker room as it is yours."

Freyja rushed across the room to the duffelbag she knew was Lita's and lobbed it furiously at the veteran, a few of her things falling on the floor. "Not anymore! Get out!" she exclaimed.

Lita reeled back, eyebrows gathered in the middle, she threw her bag on the ground again, and kept her stance, "Look, you'll have to understand-"

"I don't." Freyja interrupted, hands closing into fists.

Lita grasped the bridge of her nose, "I had to do, what it took, to get out of that relationship."

"Oh, was it hard being Kane's wife?" Freyja feigned sympathy, and gave a scoff. "Forgive me for not feeling sorry for you."

"I found way out of marrying Kane, you can find one, too." Lita taunted, knowing full well her contract was iron-clad.

"I don't care about Kane, Lita!" Freyja's voice raised in exasperation, the tears threatened to well up the more worked up she got. "Kane is not the problem. It could have been anyone on the roster and it wouldn't matter, what you did was a tremendous overstep! I'm a person. You don't get to make decisions like that for anyone!"

"Like I said, I did what I had to." Lita deadpanned.

Freyja rolled her eyes and blinked a few times at the light on the ceiling, keeping the waterworks from turning on before she looked at Lita again, eyes tired. "Just go."

Lita smirked, hiding her regret, and her fear for her colleague's well being. The older woman grabbed her duffelbag, picked her things off the floor, and sauntered out of the room, leaving Freyja alone and for the first time that evening, in unadulterated silence. In her complete solitude the fatalist natire of her situation finally hit home. Unsure of what was to happen to her beyond having to marry a stranger, She let her back hit the lockers and slid down their surface.

The tear finally came, she slammed the back of her head against the hollow metal with a sob, before running her fingers through her hair, which she'd realized was still done, and she ripped out out of its ties to let it down. As she was wiping away some of the tears and the damage they'd done to her mascara, the door opened again.

Andone walked in, knowing the only woman in the room was his neice, he watched the other women leave, in his hands he held a copy of the contract. He, of course, immediately requested one after her match. Eyes still scanning the pages with horror, he looked at his woeful client.

"Freyja I-" Andone started, but he choked on his words. He was supposed to be there. But he'd failed her. "I'm so sorry."

Freyja shook her head. There was no reason for him to be sorry, it wasn't his fault he got attacked before the signing. Poor, dear, Andone blamed himself for everything. He couldn't get over the guilt. All he'd had to do was read the contract, one it was apperent now that he was never meant to read, by any means necessary. But he couln't even do that, he couldn't have gotten ahold of and read a few peices of fucking paper, and now he cpuldn't protect his own family. He'd fucked up, he'd failed. Freyja didn't see it, she didn't blame him, she couldn't understand.

"It is useless to hurry," she motioned to the contract in his hands. "The water has already gone by."

Andone laughed softly through tearful eyes. It was something her father always said. A father he knew would be calling him at some point, but for now, he had Freyja to worry about.

With a small sigh, she stood from her spot, and grabbed her bag. She retreated to the locker room, and came out freshly showered and changed. As she approached her uncle, she clasped his shoulder, "Come on."

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

"Oh, babe, lighten up!" Edge laughed, shaking his woman a little with his arm around her in the back of the big black taxi. "It's over now, okay? Over."

Lita managed to crack a smile at Edge's jeering. "I guess so. We can really start our life together. We can be happy, now." Lita began to feel the mirth her boyfriend was trying to drive into her.

Edge's other arm snaked it's way around her waist, pulling her close, his lips hovering over hers, "Aren't you happy, now?"

"You have no idea." She said, and closed the distance between their lips. The driver took off, it was almost a fairytale ending.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

The locker room was so quiet save for the heaving breath of the Big Red Monster himself, and the creaking of the wooden bench he rocked himself back and forth on. The reality had finally hit him, too.

He'd been spurned by his lover. His wife no longer wanted him. The worst part, the worst of it was that she'd done it publicly, and with deceit. She'd humiliated him, she'd made a fool of him, she was forcing him to take some second-rate replacement.

She needed to pay for what she'd done. He was going to make her life Hell if he had anything to say about the matter. He was angry, yes, very angry.

But he was also in pain. It was a new sensation for him, he was unaccustomed to pain. He was the one who made others feel pain, and so the pain he felt was not right, it was unnatural. It didn't belong inside him, he wanted it out.

Lita had to pay.

She will pay.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Freyja threw the ball up, and watched it fall down, catching it just before it smacked her in the face. She'd found it in the parking lot, a small blessing in an otherwise very long night. She threw it up again, and let it fall back down. All her ears could hear was the ticking of the clock and her own tinnitus. In her own head, though, she heard over and over,

"You've won Kane."

It was maddening.

Freyja heaved a great sigh. She looked over at the tray on her bedside table, with a little slice of chicken and some rice Andone had brought for her, and she wondered if eating was even worth it. She wasn't particularly hungry, and who could blame her? The uncertainty of her future was crushing.

A knock on the door was what finally roused her. She popped up from the hotel bed and gazed through the peep hole to see none other than Hurricane himself. Until recently, he'd been the only one that actually seemed interested in talking to her, and with that in mind she tentatively opened the door. She should not have.

The green clad hero bust through the cracked door and slammed the wood behind him like a man being chased by wolves. Freyja was left reeling at the intrusion, about to get on to her friend about barging in, but he caught her off-

"Damsel!" He addressed her with a grandiosity that wasn't quite warranted. "Pack your things, I'm taking you away from this place!"

He rushed to the window and peered out the blinds with vigor. He was a man possessed, he'd worked himself into some sort of frenzy.

Freyja shook her head, "Hurricane, why-"

"You're in danger, I'm going to save you, citizen." He puffed out his chest, and seemed quite like a valiant knight in a cartoon, and the image eased Freyja a little bit.

"Hurricane, I'm not in danger!" Freyja laughed awkwardly, she wasn't sure it was true, but she couldn't stand people obsessing over her situation like this.

His expression darkened a bit, quite uncharacteristically. "You don't know Kane like the rest of us. He's volatile, he's violent. You are in danger."

Freyja sighed. "I'm not going with you, and I don't need your pity."

"Whats up woth that?! Citizen Freyja, let me save you! You need my help..." he pleaded, and went on, his words speeding up and turning quickly indiscernible. She didn't get it. She couldn't survive Kane. Lita barely did, and Lita was tough as nails.

"Shane!" She replied firmly.

"I asked you not to call me that." Hurricane's voice lowered as if they were sharing a secret. Freyja rolled her eyes and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"I'm not just going to run away. It's an act of cowardice." She assured him.

"Really?" Hurricane leaned an elbow against the dresser, catching his breath. He didn't know how else to help, other than just talking her away. Why won't she listen? In an unusual show of sincerity, he removed his mask. Freyja could see his whole face, furrowed brows and faint freckles and all. His worried expression was more apparent sans-mask. "No one would blame you, ya know? No one would call you a coward for running from that."

"I'll figure something out." Freyja crossed the room and laid a hand on his shoulder. "But I'm not going to turn tail and run."

Hurricane silently nodded, and moped towards the door, refastening his mask. He had tried, and he wasn't ready to give up, but for tonight it had seemed enough.

"Good night, valiant hero." Freyja called softly after him as he left down the hallway.