9

The next day Hunter and Morgan woke in each other's arms. They had eventually made their way to Hunter's bed. Morgan snuggled against him seeking the warmth of his body and Hunter thought how wonderful it was waking up next to her. If only he could have this forever. Morgan stretched like a cat and Hunter ran his finger down her nose.

"Morning Hunt." She said gently nipping the tip of his finger.

He smiled and laughed.

"What's so funny baby?" She asked

"I've been called a lot of things in my lifetime, but you are the only one who has ever called me Hunt. I love it when you call me that!" They lay in each other's arms for a long time.

Finally Morgan spoke:

"So what happens now?" Morgan asked him

"Morgan, I love you, I do. But I can't divorce Stephanie. She owns ECW, If I do I'll lose it. I'm sorry baby. Can this be enough for you?" Morgan swallowed hard when he said he loved her.

"Actually I meant are we going to let people know we are together?"

"Hell angel, they already think we are, so it doesn't make any difference!"

"That's true." She planted a kiss on his lips and hopped out to get a shower.

She was in the shower when he poked his head around the corner, "Hey Morgan I am going out to get some more firewood."

Hunter pulled on his jacket and gloves, it had stopped snowing sometime last night but it was still cold as hell outside. He opened the back door and took in the sight of the smooth white snow. Enjoying the sight of the huge secluded estate. He was walking towards the garage when he noticed the footprints in the snow. There shouldn't be any footprints out here...

He followed the trail around and saw where they stopped in front of the living room window...

"Shit!" He exclaimed. Someone had been spying on them. He walked back in the house. Morgan was pulling on her boots at the kitchen table when he walked through the door.

"Morgan, someone was outside last night. I found footprints in the snow."

"Why would someone be out in that weather?" She asked.

"I don't know Morgan but I don't like it. Come on I am going to show you where I keep my guns. Just in case. Do you know how to use one?"

"Hell yes, are you forgetting my dad was a cop? I've been shooting since I was 10!"

He showed her the gun in the drawer of the table in the entryway, the one in the kitchen cabinet, and the one in the bedroom closet.

"It's probably nothing but better safe than sorry." He said as he made sure all the guns were loaded.

Morgan had a brief flash, that had been Test's nickname when he started with the company 'The Loaded Gun' She quickly pushed the thought of him out of her mind.

She wrapped her arms around Hunter's neck. "I want to do some shopping, can I borrow you're car?"

"Sure thing angel." He pulled the keys out of his jeans pocket. "Don't be gone to long ok? I'll miss you."

"Me too."

Morgan drove into town carefully. She shopped for several hours picking up little things for Hunter for Christmas. Video games, movies, nothing to meaningful. She bought him a watch, she knew he had broken his last week and was constantly looking at his bare wrist. He hadn't had a chance to replace it. She waited while the jeweler engraved "To Hunt from Morgan 12-25-2001" while she waited it had started to snow again. She hoped the guy would hurry. It would be dark soon and she would have to drive even slower to navigate the dirt roads that lead to the house.

It took Morgan almost two hours to get back to the house. She had called Hunter to let him know she was on her way. He had been worried.

Morgan pulled the car in the drive but the garage door opener wouldn't work. The house was dark too.

'Must be a power outage' she thought to herself.

She opened the front door and sat her packages on the table. It was then she heard the gunshot. It had come from the bedroom. Morgan grabbed the gun from the drawer and ran down the hall. She could hear screaming but couldn't make out who it was. The flickering of a candle showed through the door of the bedroom barely illuminating the hall.

Morgan stepped in the doorway gun leveled chest high just like her daddy had taught her. She saw Hunter first, he was sitting on the bed, his hand on his upper arm. She could see the blood running over his fingers...

The next thing Morgan noticed was the shadowy figure standing across from him. A gun pointed at him.

The rage in the voice bordered on psychotic. "I'm gonna fucking kill you Hunter Hearst Helmsley. How could you? This is the last time you fuck me over!"

They hadn't noticed Morgan yet...

In a voice calmer than she thought possible Morgan said "Merry Christmas Hunter" never taking her eyes off the figure she saw the long hair whip around as the figure whirled toward the sound of her voice.

Before Morgan pulled the trigger, she said:

"Hey Steph, Let the bodies hit the floor!" And she fired once. Her father's words echoing in her mind "Aim for center mass, Morgan if you're going to shoot, shoot to kill..."