CHAPTER FOUR: REPERCUSSIONS





A/N: This chapter began as part of the last chapter but it grew so long that I broke it up into two parts. Sorry, all you NC-17ers, no love-making in this chapter. Oh, yeah, the reason this wasn't up two days ago is that I've been busy at home finishing this off. It's all written now, just has to be typed up and uploaded. Hopefully won't take too long.





For the next two weeks things were pretty much peaceful. No one had seen Vince in that whole time - he'd been phoning in his orders to his reinstated commissioner, William Regal. Shane had been less nasty to Trish whenever they came into contact with each other, something that Rocky was grateful for because he'd been restraining himself from beating Shane to a pulp the night he'd brought Trish with him to meet with Shane and Linda. Rocky and Trish had made love nearly every night with Rocky showing Trish a new lesson in love each time. They were the best days of Trish's life, except for the tiny niggling fear of what Rocky would do when he ran out of things to teach her.

Oh yes, Ric Flair had taken to hanging around back stage soon after Vince had dropped out of sight. No one seemed sure why the ex-wrestler was there, although Rocky appeared to have his suspicions - which he wasn't sharing. Flair always had a backstage pass on him so no one bothered trying to tell him to leave. Those he didn't seek out for conversation usually pretty much ignored him and went about their business as if he wasn't there. Trish thought he appeared to be waiting for something to happen, but she couldn't even begin to guess why that could be.

Then Vince unexpectedly showed up again on Raw Is War, two weeks to the day that Rocky had knocked him flat on his ass in front of millions of viewers. An eye-witness had said that the man had arrived before the wrestlers and had shut himself away in his office. No one had sighted him since then, though.

Rocky's lips thinned when he heard the news. Vince was up to something, he could just smell it. Linda and Shane were there that night as well, Shane sporting some new scratches on his face courtesy of his only sibling, Stephanie. Them, Trish, and himself. The people that Vince had the most cause to hate right now were all under the same roof for the first time since Vince's humiliation. It couldn't be a coincidence.

It wasn't.

When the show started, Vince swaggered down to the ring to his them music, "No Chance In Hell." The crowd booed him, memories of two weeks ago still fresh in their minds. Vince appeared not to care that the fans held him in such disfavour.

He called Rocky, Trish, Shane, and Linda down to the ring. While they walked together down to the partition they missed what else he was saying. Later they were told it was basically a load of 'horse turds' about Vince unconvincingly trying to put himself forward as the good guy, the victim of the whole thing.

The four of them appeared at the top of the ramp together, then walked down to the ring side-by-side, presenting a united front against the man they all loathed. They had already decided to enter the ring while they were backstage, unwilling to let Vince stand in the ring alone and act like king of all he surveyed, so Rocky and Shane got up onto the apron first to hold the ropes open for the women. All of them kept an eye on Vince the whole time, knowing he was dangerous and unpredictable right now.

"I'll deal with you two later," Vince said to Shane and Linda, quickly dismissing them. Shane made as if to after him but Linda stopped him with a hand on his chest.

Vince ranted and raved at Rocky and Trish for a bit, surprisingly staying away from sending derogatory remarks Trish's way. When he finally finished his tirade, Vince took a deep breath and said loudly into the microphone, "You're both fired!"

Trish and Rocky just stood there staring at Vince as if he'd grown a second head, unsure of how to respond to his bomb shell. Shane had no such problems. He went over to Vince and grabbed with mic from his father.

"You can't do that!"

Vince was still close enough to the mic for his reply to be heard throughout the arena. "I'm Vince McMahon, dammit! I can do whatever the hell I want! I own this company-"

"Not all of it," Shane interrupted. "Just yours and Mom's shares. You don't have mine or Stephanie's. Well, what used to be mine and Stephanie's. We sold our stock to finance the Alliance. I think it's time that you meet your new partner."

A theme music began playing, one that hadn't been heard in years and had been never thought to be heard again - Ric Flair's.



"Gawd, did you see the look on Vince's face when Flair came out?" Trish asked of no one in particular. "I mean, I actually thought he was having a heart attack at first!"

Rocky smiled at Trish's exuberant enthusiasm. He caught her easily when she jumped into his arms, her legs settling on either side of his waist.

"We're safe from him!" She pulled Rocky's head to her for a quick kiss.

"Not completely," Rocky said gently, "but things will be easier for us with Flair around."

Trish let her legs slide back down to the floor, her enthusiasm dimmed not a bit by Rocky's sensible words. "I just have to go get my purse from our dressing room," she said perkily. "I just remembered that I forgot to put it in my gym bag earlier."

"Want me to go with you?"

Trish smiled. "No, that's okay. I won't take very long. I'll meet you at the car, alright?"

"Alright." Rocky kissed Trish on her sweet lips. "See you in a few minutes."

Rocky walked alone to the rental car and was putting his and Trish's bags in the trunk when a sense of foreboding shot through him. He sensed a deep panic that he felt certain was not his own. "Trish!" he whispered. He slammed the hood of the trunk and ran back to the dressing room area, not caring that he'd just left the keys sticking out of the lock.



Trish walked along happily, feeling that all was right in her universe. Rocky had improved her outlook on life so much since they'd met and they'd only been together for a month. God, how she loved him! She stopped in her tracks when the thought popped into her head. She tested the words on her tongue. "I love Rocky Maivia." Yep, sounded right. Now if only she could be certain he felt the same way. Her life would be perfect then. Well, she wouldn't go around spoiling what she did have by outwardly wanting more, not without knowing how deeply Rocky felt about her in return. She wanted to enjoy her time with him to the fullest, however long that was.

When Trish arrived at the dressing room she and Rocky had shared, she opened the door and walked in, wondering why the lights were on when she clearly remembered turning them off not ten minutes before.

An arm suddenly came from behind her and wrapped itself around her neck, cutting off her air. She tried to yell for help but only little squeaks issued forth from her open mouth.

"Well, Trish, looks like I'm going to get my revenge on you tonight after all," a familiar voice said directly into her ear.

"Vince!* She fought to stay conscious, struggling as much as she could to try to escape Vince's strong hold. She managed to bring a leg up between his legs and kick him in the crotch, not very hard but painful enough to receive instant retaliation. Vince punched her in the face just below her left eye and threw her to the floor, knocking the wind out of her.

He was instantly on top of her, tearing at her clothes. Trish got her breath back and started to scream. Vince raised himself slightly and slapped her face. Trish was dazed by the blow, tasting blood.

Suddenly Vince's weight was no longer on top of her. She heard two men trading blows and rolled to her side to get a look at her saviour.

"Shane!"

Shane turned, distracted by Trish's voice. Vince took advantage of the moment to give his son a few head shots.

Kurt Angle appeared as if from out of nowhere and grabbed Vince's arms from behind.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Vince yelled. The once-great man was losing it.

Kurt ran both of them into the nearest wall, slamming Vince hard against the painted concrete blocks. He released Vince's arms and moved aside as the man fell over like a newly chopped tree. Blood ran from his nose - probably broken.

Trish looked over at the unconscious and bloody man, very aware of what he'd just tried to do to her. Her stomach acids churned and she struggled to her feet, knowing without a doubt that she was about to throw up. Shane was there suddenly, helping her get to her feet. He watched her run to the bathroom and heard her retching her guts out a second later. He turned to look back at Kurt, who was staring with disgust at Vince.

Kurt looked up suddenly into Shane's eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

"I'll just go call the police, then, to come pick up this scum."

Shane nodded. Sure, the exchange was a bit distant, but it was what they'd both agreed to when they'd started their relationship - no affectionate displays while they were at work or in public. People were more tolerant of gay men nowadays, but Shane had still worried about the harm the publicity could cause to Kurt's career. Kurt, in turn, had been worried about Shane, so both had easily agreed to the rule.

Shane headed into the bathroom. First he'd take care of Trish, then he'd go look for Rocky. Trish was still hugging the toilet bowl, dry-heaving over it. Though a useless gesture now, he went over to her and pulled her hair back, holding it out of the way for her.

Trish dry-heaved a few more times before shakily getting to her feet with Shane's help. He released her hair and moved over to the sink to get her some water, grabbing a paper cup from a dispenser as he heard her flushing the toilet. "Here," he said as he gave her the full cup. "Rinse your mouth out." She did as he told her, spitting twice into the sink before dropping the cup as she felt tears threaten.

Shane pulled Trish into his arms, not quite sure why he was doing so. Earlier today he had still hated her. Hell, just two hours ago as they'd walked down to the ring together with his mom and Rocky, he recalled feeling distaste at the sight of her. Now, though, he couldn't summon up so much as a mild dislike for the woman that had slept with his father and hurt his family. Though she had gone into that relationship willingly, he couldn't help realising that she was also a victim in a way. Not going by what had just almost happened tonight, but by his own instincts that were finally saying something different about this woman.

Trish couldn't believe the care and concern that Shane - Shane, of all people - was showing her. It completely undid her. She began trembling and suddenly sobs burst forth. They consumed her entire being until they completely closed out everything else. She wasn't even aware of Rocky's arrival.



"Trish? Trish!" Rocky looked down at his bloody, unconscious boss. Where the Hell was Trish?

"In here, Rocky," he heard Shane's voice calling to him from the bathroom at the same time as Trish's muffled sobbing reached his ears. He stepped over Vince, ignoring the temptation to kick the bastard in the head, and quickly made his way to the bathroom.

"Trish," he said softly when he saw her. Shane manouvered Trish into Rocky's arms. She went willingly enough once she realized what was going on. Rocky just held her and let her cry.

Shane left them alone, a little envious of their freedom to show their closeness when and how they wished. In the other room he showed none of Rocky's reluctance and kicked Vince in the head as he walked out the door into the hallway.

*Bastard probably has a concussion, he's been out so long.*

As he stood just outside Rocky and Trish's dressing room, Shane thought back to simpler times in his life. Times before he knew he was gay, before he realized what kind of a man his father truly was. None of Vince's darkness had ever touched him back then. Not the golden boy, who was Vince's link to eternity, the one who would carry on the dynasty - both in heirs and business. Then Shane, in his late teens, had brought home his first boyfriend - first and only, until Kurt. That had been the beginning of the end of anything good that had been between him and his dad. Scott had disappeared and he'd suspected the worst for weeks until his mother had delivered a verbal message. "Doing fine. Good-bye forever."

A tear slipped down Shane's cheek. He wiped it away and noticed someone standing nearby. He looked up. It was Kurt, holding his cell phone is his hand. Shane gave him a small smile, letting him know without words that he was fine. Kurt looked over at the open doorway.

"Rocky's with Trish, Vince is still unconscious."

"Bastard probably has a concussion. Good." Kurt rubbed his hands together.

Shane couldn't help the short laugh that escaped, hearing his thoughts from a few moments ago being echoed in Kurt's voice.

The police soon came to arrest Vince and take statements from Trish, Shane, and Kurt. Rocky was fiercely glad to see Vince being hauled away and brought Trish back to the hotel, where he held her all night long.



Rocky barely slept that night, soothing Trish through a few nightmares and watching for others to occur. He was almost afraid to sleep, wondering if he'd have nightmares of his own, nightmares in which Trish had not been rescued in time and possibly even been killed. If he had lost her, he wasn't sure if he could've gone on living. He might not have committed suicide, but he wouldn't be truly living anymore, either, just...existing. Most people didn't realize how big a difference there really was between the two words, not unless they had lost someone very dear to them.

He could lose her in another way, Rocky realized sickeningly. Trish could choose to leave him to be by herself or with another man. They had started this relationship with him teaching her about love. When he eventually ran out of things to teach her, would she leave him then? That would be almost as horrible as her death, for he knew both would kill him inside. He loved her, he realized then. Perhaps he had all along, right from the instant he'd grabbed her hand and determined he was going to help her have fun on her birthday. The tender way he'd loved her later that night, well, it was beyond him to express in words. Yes, he must have loved her all along. He'd just been a little slow in realizing it.

*Will she ever love me back?*





A/N: I got out the main idea that I wanted for this chapter - Vince's failed revenge and Trish getting attacked by him and being saved by either Shane of Rocky - but the second one didn't come out exactly as planned. Trish was originally going to be attacked in the inside parking lot after being told by someone (for some reason I came up with Lance Storm), or handed a message, for her to meet Rocky at the car. She'd wonder about the change in plans (meet in dressing room or somewhere else and go to the car together) but still goes. Vince would jump her and Shane would save her, then call the police and Rocky from his cell phone. Kurt just popped in there again, demanding another mention in my story.