The Next Morning at the McMahon House
"Linda, I'm sorry I was out all night.had a lot of fires to put out.Linda?" Vince called, upon entering his bedroom and finding it empty. He started opening doors, seeing Stephanie's bed rumpled, but no Stephanie.
"Linda? Stephanie?" Vince called again, as he swung open one of the guest bedrooms. What he saw in there was enough to make his jaw nearly scrape the floor. In the bed was his wife, his daughter, and he was happy to say, his FORMER son in law. Hunter's arm was around Stephanie's waist, her arm was crossed over his, and Linda's arm was over Stephanie's stomach. They were all still asleep. Vince coughed loudly not once, but twice, and finally, Hunter awoke. Hunter seemed as surprised as Vince to see his bedmates but recovered quickly.
"Hey, Vince.welcome back! Looks like you missed quite a party." Hunter said in that smarmy voice Vince hated deeply.
"You-you---" Vince sputtered.
"Vince, don't worry, I know it's too early for you to think of an appropriate ending for that great beginning of a sentence you had going there. Don't worry, I'm due at the gym this morning, so I must say my good- byes." Hunter said, trying desperately not to laugh. The look on Vince's face.oh, it was absolutely priceless. Hunter wished he had a camera, so he could frame the picture for his dartboard. Hunter extracted himself from Stephanie's hold on his arm, careful not to wake her.
"See you around, Vince. And don't let Linda send the guards home anymore. Maybe fire your security team altogether. And tell them I said good morning, hey?" And with that, Hunter simply sauntered out right past Vince.
Vince called down after him: "Yeah, you'd better get working out, considering you missed your match last night.don't let it happen again!"
No longer laughing, Hunter shook his head at the callousness of the man. His own daughter.whenever he saw Vince in action, he could see how Stephanie acted the way she did on occasion. Her father was the King of Bastards. It was amazing she had turned out as great as she had, but that had to be all her own doing, or perhaps Linda's influence. On his way down the stairs, Hunter called Chad to make sure he was on his way. Chad said he was already outside, so Hunter was able to leave quickly. He needed to get over to the gym, try not to think about the reason why, for the first time in three weeks, he had finally been able to get a full night's sleep. It wasn't because he'd been next to Stephanie. No, that was ridiculous, just coincidence. Unless maybe his unconscious had sensed Stephanie was safe, because he had known she was right there. If that was the case, he was certain he'd be having more dreams, because it was not like there was any way last night was going to be a repeat performance. Hunter sat up straight, and spoke into the microphone. "Chad, change of plans. We're not going over to the gym; we're going somewhere else." He proceeded to give him the directions. Finally. Something productive he could do, something he could do to help this situation.
Stephanie sleepily walked out from the bedroom, looking for Hunter. Her mother had awaken when she had and had gone to take a quick shower. Stephanie tried out a light gingerly, and it flipped on. The power was restored. She looked down the staircase hesitantly, decided she was being utterly ridiculous and grabbed the railing tightly as she made her way down the stairs, albeit at a snail's pace. She greeted her father at the breakfast table hesitantly, still angry about everything that had happened yesterday.
"Dad, have you seen Hunter this morning? He stayed here last night and-"
"Oh, I'm very well aware of the fact that he stayed here last night, Steph. Would you mind telling me why?"
Stephanie responded to the anger in his voice with anger of her own. "Don't you dare get mad at us or Hunter, Dad. He did us a huge favor by staying here last night, and you ought to be grateful." She proceeded to tell him of the evening before's events.
"Do you think it was the stalker?" Vince asked, his anger having dissipated in the middle of his daughter's speech.
"I have no idea. There's the roses, I'm checking them out." Stephanie was careful not to touch the stems, her mother had said something about pricking herself. Which was unusual, because didn't floral stores usually de-thorn roses? She picked up the card, examining it. It said:
Hi Mom! I just wanted to thank you for letting me come stay with you and Dad. I can't wait to talk to you again. All my love, always, Stephanie
Stephanie fingered the card in disbelief. Her mother had been right. The card certainly looked like it had come from her. Wait. Wait one second- there was a second note-somehow it was folded into the card. Stephanie carefully peeled back the edges of the card. It was a slip of paper. Stephanie screamed "Oh, My God-Mom!?"
Vince hurried over, took the paper and read it. His tan face paled, his hand shook. "Where's you Mother?" he asked abruptly.
"In-in the shower. Go, Dad, check on her!" Vince raced up the steps, taking them by threes.
For the paper read ominously: "One down, Vince..two to go. Or have I been remiss? Three, now. My Congratulations, Stephanie."
No, this lunatic was NOT threatening her baby. Stephanie's hand massaged her stomach. Screw this. Stephanie started paging through a phone book. Guards, security guards.pick a number, any number. She wanted to pick one that was well-established, ones that costed a fortune, ones that probably couldn't be bought. She thumbed through the pages. Jeez, there were a lot of security companies in New York.who'd have figured that, she thought wryly.
"Dad?" She called up, even as she dialed. "Dad, is Mom allright? Dad?" When there was no answer, she started climbing the stairs. A man had answered the phone and she told him curtly "Hang on a minute, okay?" She opened the bathroom and saw her father leaning over her mother's unconscious body. Her mother hadn't even made it into the shower, she was still dressed. "I'm going to have to call you back." Stephanie choked out, and dialed 911.
The ambulance arrived within minutes, but it wasn't soon enough for Vince McMahon. As soon as they all got in the ambulance he began screaming. "You idiots! You sure took your sweet time getting here, didn't you? Well, let me tell you something. My wife, if she dies, I am suing all of you! You got that? Every single last one of you pathetic morons! You had better pray that your incompetence hasn't cost my wife her life, or I promise you, you'll be sorry.you'll be so sorry."
Stephanie looked at her father in shock, his voice was actually choked up. She hadn't thought he had it in him. Huh. All these years, she'd never seen her father this broken up. Stephanie reached over to her mother, took her hand. It was so cold. Stephanie held it up to her cheek, rubbing it softly, trying to make her mother feel warmer. "I'm here, Mom." She whispered. "I'm here, Daddy's here.you're going to be fine, Mom. You fight this, okay? You're a fighter, a McMahon, we're all fighters, you know that Mom. We'll be here, I promise." She repeated it over and over again, rubbing her mother's hand all the way to the hospital. She slowly walked behind the EMTs who were wheeling her mother into ICU, and her father who was running along with them. "Please, let my mother be okay." Stephanie prayed.
WWF Gym in New York City
"Ugh! You sorry piece of--Oomph!" Undertaker yelled as Hunter slammed him again with his trusty sledgehammer.
"You know, I really like this thing. I've been thinking of giving it a name. You know, men name their hunting rifles, bowling balls.other kinds of balls.so why shouldn't I name my sledgehammer? This bad boy, he's seen me through some rough times." Hunter said to 'Taker, in a perfectly conversational tone of voice, as thought he hadn't just finished giving 'Taker the beating of the century. 'Taker was bleeding profusely from his arm and forehead.
"Son, I'm going to give you one last chance to save your miserable life. Get out of my sight, and maybe I'll forget this ever happened." 'Taker said in his deep baritone.
"Well, now, I'm just all afraid of what you're going to do to me. 'Cause you look real intimidating crawling around on the floor right now." Hunter barked out. "So, what do you think I should name him?" he asked, slamming the sledgehammer right above the Undertaker's forehead. "Should I name him the American BadAss The Second? Because the First one, he's on his way to an early demise, isn't he now?" Hunter hit the wall again, sending paint flying.
"You are going to be sorry for this, Son, that much I can guarantee-" 'Taker was cut off by the sledgehammer connecting with his leg.
"Next time you open your mouth other than answering my question, I'm gonna break your kneecap. Do you understand?" Hunter asked, his voice so low that Undertaker could barely hear him. His breathing was incredibly loud, so he simply nodded.
"Now, then, I think we understand each other. So I'm going to ask you the same question I asked you ten minutes ago. And this time, you're going to do the smart thing, and you're going to answer me. And you're going to tell me the truth, or I swear, by the time I am finished with you, I'm going to make what I did to Austin in that truck years ago look like child's play. Got that?" When 'Taker nodded, Hunter knelt down in front of him. "Good. Now. Are you the one who's stalking the McMahons? Are you the one who is threatening my wife?"
"Last I heard, she ain't your wife-"
"Wrong answer!" Hunter yelled, aiming the sledgehammer for another blow but 'Taker held up his hand, so he paused mid-swing.
"I ain't the one who's doing it, whatever you're talking about. All I want from this damn company anymore is your title..and I plan to get that by getting you face to face. I'm not one for these stupid little mind games."
"No, I didn't really have you pegged as a subtle man there, 'Taker." Hunter said thoughtfully.
"Then why in hell are you attacking me!?"
"Because you did kidnap Stephanie once before. And you do hate Vince.oh, you've been doing a good job pretending you don't as of late, but we all know sooner or later, you're going to be right back on his ass. You hate his guts, you're his enemy.
"You know that ain't saying much there. Is there a person on God's earth who doesn't hate Vince? If that's how you're planning on finding this guy, well, kind of like picking a needle out of a really big ol' haystack, now ain't it?" 'Taker drawled.
"I see you understand my quandary, here. So many enemies, so little time to carefully look at them all!" Hunter sighed. "But guess what?"
'Taker frowned at the sudden cheerfulness in Hunter's tone. "What?" he asked listlessly.
"It's your lucky day, 'Taker! I believe you! So, guess what? I'm gonna quit beating you, and I'm gonna go. How's that sound?"
"Well, I'd say that after this, you're stupid to leave me here still breathing. You know I'm going to come after you for this some day."
"I know." Hunter replied, throwing the sledgehammer over his shoulder.
"You know what else, Son?" 'Taker called. "I understand." Hunter turned, curious. "My own wife, Sara.that freak DDP came after her, I wanted to kill everything that could possibly hurt her. So I do understand your predicament, Son, but it still doesn't mean I'm not going to put you in a world of pain after you've figured out who the s.o.b. is doing this to your woman." Hunter nodded, seeing 'Taker in an entirely new light.
"Well, when you can walk again, you be sure to give me a call." He said, but there was a wealth of respect in his words. 'Taker watched as Hunter left, rubbing his leg, trying to get some feeling back. He almost felt sorry for Stephanie's stalker.but not really. He'd been in Hunter's place once, and it wasn't something he'd wish on his worst enemy. But he knew Hunter, knew what that man was capable of, had known it even before this little encounter of theirs, and that dumbass stalker had something real bad coming his way.
Hunter, meanwhile whistled to himself softly as his footsteps echoed down the hallway. He went back over to the bench press on which sat a single piece of paper he'd written in the limo. It was a list of names: Undertaker, Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Andrew Martin, Paul Heyman...and a dozen others, including Trish Stratus and The Rock but Hunter thought they were long shots. This kind of thing wasn't Rock's style, and while Hunter thought Trish had the brains and meanness of spirit to do this, he didn't think she really cared that much. But he'd find out for certain. He wasn't prepared to discount anyone at this point.
"Hey! Austin? Can you come out, man? I want to talk to you!" Hunter called into the gym's shower room.
Ah, the good old-fashioned process of elimination.
"Yo, Austin! I haven't got all day to wait for you here!" he yelled again. "Kind of on a bit of a time table here." He muttered to himself.
"What the hell do you want?" Austin asked, dressed only in a towel, as he had just emerged from the shower.
"Just a few answers to some questions. Now, it's clichéd, I know, I really do, but we can either do this the easy way--Hunter hefted the sledgehammer-- or the hard way. I'm easy, I can go either way."
Hunter smiled, a not-very-nice smile as he saw a bit of fear enter Austin's eyes. Hunter wearily crossed out the next three names on his list. He felt certain that none of them were responsible for what was happening to Stephanie. Austin had gone down after the first hammer blow and it had taken fifteen minutes for Hunter to get him back awake and cognizant enough to talk. He'd thrown cold water at Austin, slapped him, kicked him, but it had taken Hunter's waving of some peachy kind of perfume in Austin's face to finally rouse him, sputtering. Austin had denied everything, and from his days back when they'd been partners in crime, Hunter had gotten a good feel for the man and believed he was telling the truth. Kurt had started running when he'd seen Hunter rounding the corner, that was cute. Kind of made his day even more fun. But he'd caught up with Kurt of course, and had finally reached the conclusion Kurt wasn't the stalker but he was hiding something, something big, which Hunter would just have to pursue at a later time. Jericho had actually gotten some good shots in before he'd admitted that he hadn't had a freaking clue what Hunter had been talking about. Next up, Andy boy. He hadn't seen Andrew that morning around WWF training facilities, so he decided to just go track him down at the hotel. His cell phone vibrated in his side pocket. He closed his eyes, for some reason, the he always liked the sensation of the vibrating phone. Still smiling, he looked at the Caller ID-Stephanie's cell phone. He answered brightly: "Hello, Princess. What's up?"
"Can you come over to the hospital? I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call. There really wasn't anyone else I wanted to call, to tell you the truth." Stephanie said dully.
"What's wrong?" He asked immediately. But he was already moving out of the building.
"I-It's my mother. She's here-and the doctors-they don't think---they don't think she's going to make it."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. You want me to keep talking to you until I get there?"
"No.that's okay, really. Just get here when you can, okay?"
"Yeah, I'm on my way. What hospital?" Stephanie gave him directions and they hung up. He got to the hospital within ten minutes, telling Chad to break all speeding laws.
He saw Steph immediately, she was sitting in a chair. She didn't stand up when he got there so he just sat next to her. "You know what's funny?" she asked. He shook his head. "I didn't even think before I called you. Whenever I have a problem, I always call you. I never realized that. I never realized a lot of things, apparently." She choked out. "But you know what? I can't do that anymore, can I? It's all different between us. I can't keep running to you whenever I need you, I-"
"Just shut up, okay? It's fine. It's normal you called me.for a while, all we've had in the world is each other and it will take some time to adjust to not having that anymore. But we'll get there, and for now, I'm glad that you called me."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah.now tell me what happened to your mom. Are you okay?"
"I'm not the one who's been hurt this time.my mother.she and I, we've never been really close, you know that."
"I know.but I know how much you love each other, Stephanie."
"How? How exactly do you know that? You've seen us together, you've seen the way we argue, fight.we've never had a normal mother and daughter relationship. Hunter, it's all a joke!"
"I don't understand."
"Life! It's a joke, don't you get it?" Stephanie seethed hysterically. "Every time it seems like things are finally going to go right, things are coming together and everything is finally starting to make a perfect, beautiful kind of sense.like all of the events of your life have just been meant to lead you to be at a certain place, a certain time, when everything you've ever wanted is within your reach, and then, wham! Something like this comes along to show how much of a joke it all really is!"
He couldn't let her start thinking this way. It was self-destructive. "Stephanie.that's not right at all! No, nothing in this family is normal. Do you know why? It's because normal doesn't exist. It's a fallacy, Steph. How do you define normal? And even if you could define it, why would you ever want to be normal, Princess? Normal is for freaking morons, not for people like us. People like the two of us, we're different. We're better than just ordinary, mundane everyday people off the street because we know life isn't for living. It's for taking, molding it into whatever it is that we want it to be. And the only joke about life is on the people who are stupid enough to get in our way."
"If my mother dies."
"Why are you even talking like that? She's not gonna die."
"Are you suddenly God now? I don't think so! You weren't there, you didn't see her, you don't know! She was so cold, I tried to make her warmer, but she still felt like ice. What if she dies without my ever saying.there are so many things I need to say to her!"
"I get it." Hunter said oddly. "What you said, I get it now. Once again, Steph, it's all about you!"
"What?" Stephanie gasped.
"You said all you ever did was argue and fight.and now you're afraid she's going to die because that would make it all about you, just like everything always is. All you're thinking about is yourself..do you even give a damn whether your own mother even dies?"
Stephanie blinked in shock, then her eyes widened. She flew at him, unthinkingly, striking his face so hard it left a white imprint on his cheek and his head jerked back to the side. He swallowed hard and looked down at her, saying nothing.
"For you to even say that to me.you.do you really think that badly of me? She whispered.
"No, I don't. How do you feel about me right now?"
"What?"
"I asked, How do you-"
"I heard what you asked. What do you mean?"
"I meant that what I just said to you is on the same level as some of the things you've said to your mother. Did it change the way you feel about me? Did you suddenly hate me and want nothing to do with me ever again?"
"No, of course not, it was just so cruel.."
"Well, that's all you really need to know. Yeah, you've said some horrendous things to your mother, but that wouldn't change the fact that you're her daughter, she loves you."
"So what, this is all some kind of demonstration?"
"Basically, yeah. Do you get it?"
Before Stephanie could respond, a haggard looking nurse came over.
"Would you like to sit down? I'm afraid I have some bad news."
"What.?" Stephanie asked, afraid at the nurse's pitying expression. 'No, I don't want to sit down.just come out with it already!"
"I'm very sorry, but she didn't make it. Your mother died." The Nurse said sympathetically.
Hunter caught Stephanie before she fell to the floor. "Princess, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." he murmured into her hair as Stephanie started crying on the floor. Neither of them noted the young man coming up behind them, waving frantically.
"Linda, I'm sorry I was out all night.had a lot of fires to put out.Linda?" Vince called, upon entering his bedroom and finding it empty. He started opening doors, seeing Stephanie's bed rumpled, but no Stephanie.
"Linda? Stephanie?" Vince called again, as he swung open one of the guest bedrooms. What he saw in there was enough to make his jaw nearly scrape the floor. In the bed was his wife, his daughter, and he was happy to say, his FORMER son in law. Hunter's arm was around Stephanie's waist, her arm was crossed over his, and Linda's arm was over Stephanie's stomach. They were all still asleep. Vince coughed loudly not once, but twice, and finally, Hunter awoke. Hunter seemed as surprised as Vince to see his bedmates but recovered quickly.
"Hey, Vince.welcome back! Looks like you missed quite a party." Hunter said in that smarmy voice Vince hated deeply.
"You-you---" Vince sputtered.
"Vince, don't worry, I know it's too early for you to think of an appropriate ending for that great beginning of a sentence you had going there. Don't worry, I'm due at the gym this morning, so I must say my good- byes." Hunter said, trying desperately not to laugh. The look on Vince's face.oh, it was absolutely priceless. Hunter wished he had a camera, so he could frame the picture for his dartboard. Hunter extracted himself from Stephanie's hold on his arm, careful not to wake her.
"See you around, Vince. And don't let Linda send the guards home anymore. Maybe fire your security team altogether. And tell them I said good morning, hey?" And with that, Hunter simply sauntered out right past Vince.
Vince called down after him: "Yeah, you'd better get working out, considering you missed your match last night.don't let it happen again!"
No longer laughing, Hunter shook his head at the callousness of the man. His own daughter.whenever he saw Vince in action, he could see how Stephanie acted the way she did on occasion. Her father was the King of Bastards. It was amazing she had turned out as great as she had, but that had to be all her own doing, or perhaps Linda's influence. On his way down the stairs, Hunter called Chad to make sure he was on his way. Chad said he was already outside, so Hunter was able to leave quickly. He needed to get over to the gym, try not to think about the reason why, for the first time in three weeks, he had finally been able to get a full night's sleep. It wasn't because he'd been next to Stephanie. No, that was ridiculous, just coincidence. Unless maybe his unconscious had sensed Stephanie was safe, because he had known she was right there. If that was the case, he was certain he'd be having more dreams, because it was not like there was any way last night was going to be a repeat performance. Hunter sat up straight, and spoke into the microphone. "Chad, change of plans. We're not going over to the gym; we're going somewhere else." He proceeded to give him the directions. Finally. Something productive he could do, something he could do to help this situation.
Stephanie sleepily walked out from the bedroom, looking for Hunter. Her mother had awaken when she had and had gone to take a quick shower. Stephanie tried out a light gingerly, and it flipped on. The power was restored. She looked down the staircase hesitantly, decided she was being utterly ridiculous and grabbed the railing tightly as she made her way down the stairs, albeit at a snail's pace. She greeted her father at the breakfast table hesitantly, still angry about everything that had happened yesterday.
"Dad, have you seen Hunter this morning? He stayed here last night and-"
"Oh, I'm very well aware of the fact that he stayed here last night, Steph. Would you mind telling me why?"
Stephanie responded to the anger in his voice with anger of her own. "Don't you dare get mad at us or Hunter, Dad. He did us a huge favor by staying here last night, and you ought to be grateful." She proceeded to tell him of the evening before's events.
"Do you think it was the stalker?" Vince asked, his anger having dissipated in the middle of his daughter's speech.
"I have no idea. There's the roses, I'm checking them out." Stephanie was careful not to touch the stems, her mother had said something about pricking herself. Which was unusual, because didn't floral stores usually de-thorn roses? She picked up the card, examining it. It said:
Hi Mom! I just wanted to thank you for letting me come stay with you and Dad. I can't wait to talk to you again. All my love, always, Stephanie
Stephanie fingered the card in disbelief. Her mother had been right. The card certainly looked like it had come from her. Wait. Wait one second- there was a second note-somehow it was folded into the card. Stephanie carefully peeled back the edges of the card. It was a slip of paper. Stephanie screamed "Oh, My God-Mom!?"
Vince hurried over, took the paper and read it. His tan face paled, his hand shook. "Where's you Mother?" he asked abruptly.
"In-in the shower. Go, Dad, check on her!" Vince raced up the steps, taking them by threes.
For the paper read ominously: "One down, Vince..two to go. Or have I been remiss? Three, now. My Congratulations, Stephanie."
No, this lunatic was NOT threatening her baby. Stephanie's hand massaged her stomach. Screw this. Stephanie started paging through a phone book. Guards, security guards.pick a number, any number. She wanted to pick one that was well-established, ones that costed a fortune, ones that probably couldn't be bought. She thumbed through the pages. Jeez, there were a lot of security companies in New York.who'd have figured that, she thought wryly.
"Dad?" She called up, even as she dialed. "Dad, is Mom allright? Dad?" When there was no answer, she started climbing the stairs. A man had answered the phone and she told him curtly "Hang on a minute, okay?" She opened the bathroom and saw her father leaning over her mother's unconscious body. Her mother hadn't even made it into the shower, she was still dressed. "I'm going to have to call you back." Stephanie choked out, and dialed 911.
The ambulance arrived within minutes, but it wasn't soon enough for Vince McMahon. As soon as they all got in the ambulance he began screaming. "You idiots! You sure took your sweet time getting here, didn't you? Well, let me tell you something. My wife, if she dies, I am suing all of you! You got that? Every single last one of you pathetic morons! You had better pray that your incompetence hasn't cost my wife her life, or I promise you, you'll be sorry.you'll be so sorry."
Stephanie looked at her father in shock, his voice was actually choked up. She hadn't thought he had it in him. Huh. All these years, she'd never seen her father this broken up. Stephanie reached over to her mother, took her hand. It was so cold. Stephanie held it up to her cheek, rubbing it softly, trying to make her mother feel warmer. "I'm here, Mom." She whispered. "I'm here, Daddy's here.you're going to be fine, Mom. You fight this, okay? You're a fighter, a McMahon, we're all fighters, you know that Mom. We'll be here, I promise." She repeated it over and over again, rubbing her mother's hand all the way to the hospital. She slowly walked behind the EMTs who were wheeling her mother into ICU, and her father who was running along with them. "Please, let my mother be okay." Stephanie prayed.
WWF Gym in New York City
"Ugh! You sorry piece of--Oomph!" Undertaker yelled as Hunter slammed him again with his trusty sledgehammer.
"You know, I really like this thing. I've been thinking of giving it a name. You know, men name their hunting rifles, bowling balls.other kinds of balls.so why shouldn't I name my sledgehammer? This bad boy, he's seen me through some rough times." Hunter said to 'Taker, in a perfectly conversational tone of voice, as thought he hadn't just finished giving 'Taker the beating of the century. 'Taker was bleeding profusely from his arm and forehead.
"Son, I'm going to give you one last chance to save your miserable life. Get out of my sight, and maybe I'll forget this ever happened." 'Taker said in his deep baritone.
"Well, now, I'm just all afraid of what you're going to do to me. 'Cause you look real intimidating crawling around on the floor right now." Hunter barked out. "So, what do you think I should name him?" he asked, slamming the sledgehammer right above the Undertaker's forehead. "Should I name him the American BadAss The Second? Because the First one, he's on his way to an early demise, isn't he now?" Hunter hit the wall again, sending paint flying.
"You are going to be sorry for this, Son, that much I can guarantee-" 'Taker was cut off by the sledgehammer connecting with his leg.
"Next time you open your mouth other than answering my question, I'm gonna break your kneecap. Do you understand?" Hunter asked, his voice so low that Undertaker could barely hear him. His breathing was incredibly loud, so he simply nodded.
"Now, then, I think we understand each other. So I'm going to ask you the same question I asked you ten minutes ago. And this time, you're going to do the smart thing, and you're going to answer me. And you're going to tell me the truth, or I swear, by the time I am finished with you, I'm going to make what I did to Austin in that truck years ago look like child's play. Got that?" When 'Taker nodded, Hunter knelt down in front of him. "Good. Now. Are you the one who's stalking the McMahons? Are you the one who is threatening my wife?"
"Last I heard, she ain't your wife-"
"Wrong answer!" Hunter yelled, aiming the sledgehammer for another blow but 'Taker held up his hand, so he paused mid-swing.
"I ain't the one who's doing it, whatever you're talking about. All I want from this damn company anymore is your title..and I plan to get that by getting you face to face. I'm not one for these stupid little mind games."
"No, I didn't really have you pegged as a subtle man there, 'Taker." Hunter said thoughtfully.
"Then why in hell are you attacking me!?"
"Because you did kidnap Stephanie once before. And you do hate Vince.oh, you've been doing a good job pretending you don't as of late, but we all know sooner or later, you're going to be right back on his ass. You hate his guts, you're his enemy.
"You know that ain't saying much there. Is there a person on God's earth who doesn't hate Vince? If that's how you're planning on finding this guy, well, kind of like picking a needle out of a really big ol' haystack, now ain't it?" 'Taker drawled.
"I see you understand my quandary, here. So many enemies, so little time to carefully look at them all!" Hunter sighed. "But guess what?"
'Taker frowned at the sudden cheerfulness in Hunter's tone. "What?" he asked listlessly.
"It's your lucky day, 'Taker! I believe you! So, guess what? I'm gonna quit beating you, and I'm gonna go. How's that sound?"
"Well, I'd say that after this, you're stupid to leave me here still breathing. You know I'm going to come after you for this some day."
"I know." Hunter replied, throwing the sledgehammer over his shoulder.
"You know what else, Son?" 'Taker called. "I understand." Hunter turned, curious. "My own wife, Sara.that freak DDP came after her, I wanted to kill everything that could possibly hurt her. So I do understand your predicament, Son, but it still doesn't mean I'm not going to put you in a world of pain after you've figured out who the s.o.b. is doing this to your woman." Hunter nodded, seeing 'Taker in an entirely new light.
"Well, when you can walk again, you be sure to give me a call." He said, but there was a wealth of respect in his words. 'Taker watched as Hunter left, rubbing his leg, trying to get some feeling back. He almost felt sorry for Stephanie's stalker.but not really. He'd been in Hunter's place once, and it wasn't something he'd wish on his worst enemy. But he knew Hunter, knew what that man was capable of, had known it even before this little encounter of theirs, and that dumbass stalker had something real bad coming his way.
Hunter, meanwhile whistled to himself softly as his footsteps echoed down the hallway. He went back over to the bench press on which sat a single piece of paper he'd written in the limo. It was a list of names: Undertaker, Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Andrew Martin, Paul Heyman...and a dozen others, including Trish Stratus and The Rock but Hunter thought they were long shots. This kind of thing wasn't Rock's style, and while Hunter thought Trish had the brains and meanness of spirit to do this, he didn't think she really cared that much. But he'd find out for certain. He wasn't prepared to discount anyone at this point.
"Hey! Austin? Can you come out, man? I want to talk to you!" Hunter called into the gym's shower room.
Ah, the good old-fashioned process of elimination.
"Yo, Austin! I haven't got all day to wait for you here!" he yelled again. "Kind of on a bit of a time table here." He muttered to himself.
"What the hell do you want?" Austin asked, dressed only in a towel, as he had just emerged from the shower.
"Just a few answers to some questions. Now, it's clichéd, I know, I really do, but we can either do this the easy way--Hunter hefted the sledgehammer-- or the hard way. I'm easy, I can go either way."
Hunter smiled, a not-very-nice smile as he saw a bit of fear enter Austin's eyes. Hunter wearily crossed out the next three names on his list. He felt certain that none of them were responsible for what was happening to Stephanie. Austin had gone down after the first hammer blow and it had taken fifteen minutes for Hunter to get him back awake and cognizant enough to talk. He'd thrown cold water at Austin, slapped him, kicked him, but it had taken Hunter's waving of some peachy kind of perfume in Austin's face to finally rouse him, sputtering. Austin had denied everything, and from his days back when they'd been partners in crime, Hunter had gotten a good feel for the man and believed he was telling the truth. Kurt had started running when he'd seen Hunter rounding the corner, that was cute. Kind of made his day even more fun. But he'd caught up with Kurt of course, and had finally reached the conclusion Kurt wasn't the stalker but he was hiding something, something big, which Hunter would just have to pursue at a later time. Jericho had actually gotten some good shots in before he'd admitted that he hadn't had a freaking clue what Hunter had been talking about. Next up, Andy boy. He hadn't seen Andrew that morning around WWF training facilities, so he decided to just go track him down at the hotel. His cell phone vibrated in his side pocket. He closed his eyes, for some reason, the he always liked the sensation of the vibrating phone. Still smiling, he looked at the Caller ID-Stephanie's cell phone. He answered brightly: "Hello, Princess. What's up?"
"Can you come over to the hospital? I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call. There really wasn't anyone else I wanted to call, to tell you the truth." Stephanie said dully.
"What's wrong?" He asked immediately. But he was already moving out of the building.
"I-It's my mother. She's here-and the doctors-they don't think---they don't think she's going to make it."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming. You want me to keep talking to you until I get there?"
"No.that's okay, really. Just get here when you can, okay?"
"Yeah, I'm on my way. What hospital?" Stephanie gave him directions and they hung up. He got to the hospital within ten minutes, telling Chad to break all speeding laws.
He saw Steph immediately, she was sitting in a chair. She didn't stand up when he got there so he just sat next to her. "You know what's funny?" she asked. He shook his head. "I didn't even think before I called you. Whenever I have a problem, I always call you. I never realized that. I never realized a lot of things, apparently." She choked out. "But you know what? I can't do that anymore, can I? It's all different between us. I can't keep running to you whenever I need you, I-"
"Just shut up, okay? It's fine. It's normal you called me.for a while, all we've had in the world is each other and it will take some time to adjust to not having that anymore. But we'll get there, and for now, I'm glad that you called me."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah.now tell me what happened to your mom. Are you okay?"
"I'm not the one who's been hurt this time.my mother.she and I, we've never been really close, you know that."
"I know.but I know how much you love each other, Stephanie."
"How? How exactly do you know that? You've seen us together, you've seen the way we argue, fight.we've never had a normal mother and daughter relationship. Hunter, it's all a joke!"
"I don't understand."
"Life! It's a joke, don't you get it?" Stephanie seethed hysterically. "Every time it seems like things are finally going to go right, things are coming together and everything is finally starting to make a perfect, beautiful kind of sense.like all of the events of your life have just been meant to lead you to be at a certain place, a certain time, when everything you've ever wanted is within your reach, and then, wham! Something like this comes along to show how much of a joke it all really is!"
He couldn't let her start thinking this way. It was self-destructive. "Stephanie.that's not right at all! No, nothing in this family is normal. Do you know why? It's because normal doesn't exist. It's a fallacy, Steph. How do you define normal? And even if you could define it, why would you ever want to be normal, Princess? Normal is for freaking morons, not for people like us. People like the two of us, we're different. We're better than just ordinary, mundane everyday people off the street because we know life isn't for living. It's for taking, molding it into whatever it is that we want it to be. And the only joke about life is on the people who are stupid enough to get in our way."
"If my mother dies."
"Why are you even talking like that? She's not gonna die."
"Are you suddenly God now? I don't think so! You weren't there, you didn't see her, you don't know! She was so cold, I tried to make her warmer, but she still felt like ice. What if she dies without my ever saying.there are so many things I need to say to her!"
"I get it." Hunter said oddly. "What you said, I get it now. Once again, Steph, it's all about you!"
"What?" Stephanie gasped.
"You said all you ever did was argue and fight.and now you're afraid she's going to die because that would make it all about you, just like everything always is. All you're thinking about is yourself..do you even give a damn whether your own mother even dies?"
Stephanie blinked in shock, then her eyes widened. She flew at him, unthinkingly, striking his face so hard it left a white imprint on his cheek and his head jerked back to the side. He swallowed hard and looked down at her, saying nothing.
"For you to even say that to me.you.do you really think that badly of me? She whispered.
"No, I don't. How do you feel about me right now?"
"What?"
"I asked, How do you-"
"I heard what you asked. What do you mean?"
"I meant that what I just said to you is on the same level as some of the things you've said to your mother. Did it change the way you feel about me? Did you suddenly hate me and want nothing to do with me ever again?"
"No, of course not, it was just so cruel.."
"Well, that's all you really need to know. Yeah, you've said some horrendous things to your mother, but that wouldn't change the fact that you're her daughter, she loves you."
"So what, this is all some kind of demonstration?"
"Basically, yeah. Do you get it?"
Before Stephanie could respond, a haggard looking nurse came over.
"Would you like to sit down? I'm afraid I have some bad news."
"What.?" Stephanie asked, afraid at the nurse's pitying expression. 'No, I don't want to sit down.just come out with it already!"
"I'm very sorry, but she didn't make it. Your mother died." The Nurse said sympathetically.
Hunter caught Stephanie before she fell to the floor. "Princess, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." he murmured into her hair as Stephanie started crying on the floor. Neither of them noted the young man coming up behind them, waving frantically.