Title: The Road Less Traveled (18/?)
Author: Esquirella
Rating: R (for violence in some chapters.)
Disclaimer: I own the Rio character and have written other stories with her. I own all non WWE characters. But I do not own the wrestlers. (Unfortunately. They are so cute!)
Synopsis: In this chapter: Matt has it out with Rio on the phone using Jeff as a lawn. Shannon tries to smooth things over as best as he can.
Distribution: Just in case anyone's interested in it, please ask me first. More than likely, I will agree.
--------------------------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have heard the requests! As soon as I clean up the original Rio stories (I think my writing has evolved some over the past year) I will post them in the Original Fiction section and will let you all know that they are there.
--------------------------------------
Rio woke up screaming in the middle of the night. The dreams were so vivid now she felt as if she were reliving them. In her mind's eye she saw Ben's face as he lay bleeding in her arms. She again felt the helplessness she experienced when he was on the life-support machines. She felt the acute pain of losing him and the ever-present loneliness that she could never truly escape even now. Her heart pounded fiercely and her skin was coated with a layer of sweat.
She got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. The sudden bright light startled her as she peered into the mirror and there she caught a glimpse of her, the woman she'd been trying to bury all of these months. Tara. That was her name once upon a time. Then in a flash Tara was gone and Rio reemerged. She splashed some water on her face and wiped it with a towel.
She went back to the bed and flipped on the light, knowing there would be no more sleep tonight. Her eyes fell upon her cell phone on the night table. It had been two days since she'd taken care of Grendel and Sinbad, and she knew Matt was expecting her to dodge her promise to call him. She would not break her word. She checked the time and saw that it was probably a little after midnight in the town where he was currently staying. Best to get this over with, she decided, reaching for the phone.
--------------------------------------
Matt and Shannon had just checked into their room and dropped their bags on the floor. They were sharing because Shannon wanted to keep expenses down and Matt was used to rooming with Jeff. Shannon and Matt were good friends as well, so Matt viewed Shannon as a Jeff-substitute now that he was traveling without his brother. Jeff didn't seem offended as he was rooming with Shane for the same reason.
"Which bed ya want?" Shannon asked him.
"Th' one closest t' th' bathroom."
Shannon nodded and dropped himself heavily on the bed nearest the door, lying on his back with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. Matt looked over at him and smiled as he sat on the end of his bed. It was hard to believe he'd once told the younger man he was too small to get into the ring. Shannon had proven him and every other doubter wrong.
Frowning to himself, he wondered how Jeff was doing. He hadn't heard from his younger brother since the Indy show and it gnawed at his insides to know that Jeff was upset with him. This was all the little silver woman's fault, he thought glumly to himself. If she'd just kept to her own business, none of this would be happening. Well, okay, Shannon might not have escaped completely unscathed, but he was sure he, Shannon, Drew and Jeff could have fended off the masked men on their own if they had to. And at least then Jeff wouldn't be pissed.
His bad mood was interrupted by his cell phone, which jingled softly from his jacket pocket. He grabbed it and pushed the answer key before it could disturb the snoozing Shannon, heading for the balcony.
"Yeah?" he said quietly, shutting the glass door behind him, leaving it cracked just a bit so as not to get locked out.
"It is Rio," a quiet female voice returned in a Russian accent. And that was all she said. There was a long stretch of silence on the line and it felt to Matt as if she expected him to do all of the talking. He had no problem with the concept.
"So ya do have a spine," he said finally.
Rio sighed but didn't answer him. He wondered why she would call just to hear him yell at her, but decided he wouldn't waste time asking her that.
"I jus' wanna tell ya t' leave m' brotha outta yo' life! Ya hear me?"
"Yes."
"Y'agree then? Jus' like that?"
"What would you have me say?"
"I wanna kno' why ya contacted 'im t' begin with!"
"I have answered that question already."
"Yeah," Matt ground out. "Ya'll have t' 'xcuse me if I don' quite believe ya."
Rio said nothing, which pissed Matt off even more. What did it take to get to her, anyway? He decided on taking an even more aggressive approach to the conversation.
"Ya really are a cold-blooded bitch, aren' ya?"
His only answer was a slight rustling noise as Rio apparently shifted the phone.
"Look," he said menacingly, "I been dyin' t' tell ya what I think o' ya fo' a while now. Ya gonna actually listen, o' am I gonna git a dial tone fo' m' efforts?"
"I will listen to whatever you have to say to me, Matt," she said. "I guess that I owe you that much."
"Yeah, ya DO."
Matt took a second to collect his thoughts before he began his tirade. He wanted this to be as brutally uncomfortable for her as possible so she would get the message and stay away from Jeff.
"Jeff is th' closest person I 'ave in my life," Matt started. "We lost our motha when he was vera young an' I been lookin' out fo' 'im eva since. I do NOT like ta see 'im used by people like yoself."
Matt paused for any comment she might have but Rio remained silent, letting him have his say. He pressed on when he was certain she wouldn't interrupt him.
"I want ya ta stop playin' wit' 'im," Matt said forcefully. "Yaw presence is an infection an' ya need t' go. What does yaw family think o' yaw occupation, anyway?"
He heard Rio shift uncomfortably on the other end of the line. "My family passed on a long time ago," she said sadly.
Matt felt a brief pang of guilt, but hardened himself to it, knowing he had to think of Jeff.
"Maybe they died t' git away from ya," he said in a low growl.
Losing her cool control, Rio gasped audibly, and that's when he knew he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do. He'd seen her reaction the other day to his accusations and knew he'd drawn emotional blood. He had planned to use the phone call to twist the knife further into her to convince her to sever all ties to his brother.
"I have already promised to leave your brother alone," Rio said tightly. "I do not think you need anything else from me tonight, Matt."
"So yaw hangin' up on me aftaall?" he taunted.
"I believe you have made your point and that there is no more to say on the subject."
"Fair 'nough. Good bye, then."
Rio did not answer him. She just clicked off the line. Matt listened for the dial tone before pressing the 'off' key and letting himself back into his room. Shannon was sitting up at the end of his bed staring at the glass door and now narrowed his eyes at Matt accusingly.
"That was non o' yo' business," Matt said. "I'm takin' a shower." He stalked into the bathroom and closed the door loudly behind him.
--------------------------------------
Shannon could not believe what he'd heard Matt say to Rio on the phone. He knew it would probably be bad, but that comment he'd made was inexcusable, even for Matt. He was jarred out of his musings by his own cell phone's ring. Who was calling him at this hour?
"'Lo?"
"Shannon?" Rio greeted him sadly.
"Rio?" he asked uncertainly. "Ya callin' me?"
"I am sorry to bother you," she said in a small voice. "I know you must hate me, too."
"No I don'," he assured her. "I wan'ed t' apologize fo' th' otha day. An' t' thank ya fo' bein' there."
"That was no problem," she said absently. Shannon had a hard time believing her. "I need to ask you for a favor."
"Wha' can I do fo' ya?"
"I have promised Matt I will not call Jeff anymore," her voice cracked a bit so Shannon knew how much it was hurting her to comply with Matt's demand.
"Why?"
"Because he is right about what I am," she answered simply.
"I don' think so," Shannon argued.
"Unfortunately, it does not matter," Rio countered. "I have promised him and I will keep my word."
He hated this whole situation and how it was playing out, knowing Jeff was going to be hurt most of all. Well, at least as much as Rio.
"Wha' d'ya need me ta do?"
"I cannot call Jeff, even to say good bye, as that would break my word to Matt," she said. "I am asking that you please tell him that you have spoken with me and I am sorry that I cannot talk with him anymore."
He heard the loneliness in her quiet tone. He knew this was going to be a huge sacrifice for her and wished he could do something more for her. Maybe . . .
"Ya kno', ya can still talk to me, o' Drew," he said, hoping that adding Andrew's name would make her feel a little better.
"No," she answered. "Matt is right that I am no better than the others from my world. I do not wish to further expose any of you to that filth."
Shannon was alarmed at the sudden self-deprecating slant her mood was taking. "Rio, yaw NOT filthy," he said with conviction. "I do not wanna hear ya say that again!"
"You will not have to worry about that now, will you?" she laughed bitterly.
"Please call me 'ccasionally," he half-begged. "Please."
"I cannot do that."
"Ya made Matt a promise, now make me one," he pleaded.
Rio was silent for another long while. Shannon knew she wanted to give in to him, but Matt had her thinking all kinds of horrible things about herself now. He wanted to smack him upside the head for it, too. Shannon knew Matt read Rio's reactions the other day and used them against her tonight. The Cerebral Assassin had nothing on Matt Hardy, that was for sure.
"Please, li'l girl?" he asked again. He could almost feel her edge closer to what he wanted her to do and he intended to push her further. "I need ta keep talkin' t' ya."
"Why?" she asked, surprised.
"I feel a connection t'ya."
"I am sure this is not a good idea, Shannon."
"I thought we agreed t' lemme make m' own decisions, Rio," he replied, knowing that would do it. There was a tense moment of silence before she answered him.
"All right," she relented. "But I will not promise any sort of frequency."
Oh no you don't, Shannon thought to himself. You're not going to get out of this that easily. "Rio," he said a bit sternly, "I wanna hear from ya no less than twice a week."
There was a slightly awkward pause before she spoke. "Why are you so demanding, Shannon?"
"It seems ta be th' only way t' getcha ta do wha' I wan'," he chuckled.
"I will promise to call you at least once a week," she sighed.
"Eva th' negotiator," he laughed. "Deal."
"I should go now," she said.
"Hey, don' dwell on wha' Matt said," he told her firmly. "Yaw th' only one who coulda saved me on Saturday."
"Mmm," she said noncommittally. "I will talk to you again, Shannon Moore. Good bye."
"Fo' now," he answered, then listened to her hang up.
A few minutes later Shannon heard the shower turn off and Matt soon came out of the bathroom in his shorts. He contemplated Shannon moodily before getting into bed and turning out the light, leaving the television glowing eerily.
"I'm gonna git somethin' from th' machines," Shannon announced, getting up from his bed and slipping his phone and room key into his pants pocket. "Ya wan' anythin'?"
Matt looked over at him, seemingly surprised at his roommate's change in demeanor. "Naw, bu' thanks."
Shannon shrugged and let himself out of the room, knowing Matt would be asleep be fore long. He walked down the hallway to the machine area, pulled out his phone and dialed quickly.
"Jeff?" he said to the very sleepy person who answered. "We need t' talk . . ."
Author: Esquirella
Rating: R (for violence in some chapters.)
Disclaimer: I own the Rio character and have written other stories with her. I own all non WWE characters. But I do not own the wrestlers. (Unfortunately. They are so cute!)
Synopsis: In this chapter: Matt has it out with Rio on the phone using Jeff as a lawn. Shannon tries to smooth things over as best as he can.
Distribution: Just in case anyone's interested in it, please ask me first. More than likely, I will agree.
--------------------------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I have heard the requests! As soon as I clean up the original Rio stories (I think my writing has evolved some over the past year) I will post them in the Original Fiction section and will let you all know that they are there.
--------------------------------------
Rio woke up screaming in the middle of the night. The dreams were so vivid now she felt as if she were reliving them. In her mind's eye she saw Ben's face as he lay bleeding in her arms. She again felt the helplessness she experienced when he was on the life-support machines. She felt the acute pain of losing him and the ever-present loneliness that she could never truly escape even now. Her heart pounded fiercely and her skin was coated with a layer of sweat.
She got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom. The sudden bright light startled her as she peered into the mirror and there she caught a glimpse of her, the woman she'd been trying to bury all of these months. Tara. That was her name once upon a time. Then in a flash Tara was gone and Rio reemerged. She splashed some water on her face and wiped it with a towel.
She went back to the bed and flipped on the light, knowing there would be no more sleep tonight. Her eyes fell upon her cell phone on the night table. It had been two days since she'd taken care of Grendel and Sinbad, and she knew Matt was expecting her to dodge her promise to call him. She would not break her word. She checked the time and saw that it was probably a little after midnight in the town where he was currently staying. Best to get this over with, she decided, reaching for the phone.
--------------------------------------
Matt and Shannon had just checked into their room and dropped their bags on the floor. They were sharing because Shannon wanted to keep expenses down and Matt was used to rooming with Jeff. Shannon and Matt were good friends as well, so Matt viewed Shannon as a Jeff-substitute now that he was traveling without his brother. Jeff didn't seem offended as he was rooming with Shane for the same reason.
"Which bed ya want?" Shannon asked him.
"Th' one closest t' th' bathroom."
Shannon nodded and dropped himself heavily on the bed nearest the door, lying on his back with his eyes closed and his hands behind his head. Matt looked over at him and smiled as he sat on the end of his bed. It was hard to believe he'd once told the younger man he was too small to get into the ring. Shannon had proven him and every other doubter wrong.
Frowning to himself, he wondered how Jeff was doing. He hadn't heard from his younger brother since the Indy show and it gnawed at his insides to know that Jeff was upset with him. This was all the little silver woman's fault, he thought glumly to himself. If she'd just kept to her own business, none of this would be happening. Well, okay, Shannon might not have escaped completely unscathed, but he was sure he, Shannon, Drew and Jeff could have fended off the masked men on their own if they had to. And at least then Jeff wouldn't be pissed.
His bad mood was interrupted by his cell phone, which jingled softly from his jacket pocket. He grabbed it and pushed the answer key before it could disturb the snoozing Shannon, heading for the balcony.
"Yeah?" he said quietly, shutting the glass door behind him, leaving it cracked just a bit so as not to get locked out.
"It is Rio," a quiet female voice returned in a Russian accent. And that was all she said. There was a long stretch of silence on the line and it felt to Matt as if she expected him to do all of the talking. He had no problem with the concept.
"So ya do have a spine," he said finally.
Rio sighed but didn't answer him. He wondered why she would call just to hear him yell at her, but decided he wouldn't waste time asking her that.
"I jus' wanna tell ya t' leave m' brotha outta yo' life! Ya hear me?"
"Yes."
"Y'agree then? Jus' like that?"
"What would you have me say?"
"I wanna kno' why ya contacted 'im t' begin with!"
"I have answered that question already."
"Yeah," Matt ground out. "Ya'll have t' 'xcuse me if I don' quite believe ya."
Rio said nothing, which pissed Matt off even more. What did it take to get to her, anyway? He decided on taking an even more aggressive approach to the conversation.
"Ya really are a cold-blooded bitch, aren' ya?"
His only answer was a slight rustling noise as Rio apparently shifted the phone.
"Look," he said menacingly, "I been dyin' t' tell ya what I think o' ya fo' a while now. Ya gonna actually listen, o' am I gonna git a dial tone fo' m' efforts?"
"I will listen to whatever you have to say to me, Matt," she said. "I guess that I owe you that much."
"Yeah, ya DO."
Matt took a second to collect his thoughts before he began his tirade. He wanted this to be as brutally uncomfortable for her as possible so she would get the message and stay away from Jeff.
"Jeff is th' closest person I 'ave in my life," Matt started. "We lost our motha when he was vera young an' I been lookin' out fo' 'im eva since. I do NOT like ta see 'im used by people like yoself."
Matt paused for any comment she might have but Rio remained silent, letting him have his say. He pressed on when he was certain she wouldn't interrupt him.
"I want ya ta stop playin' wit' 'im," Matt said forcefully. "Yaw presence is an infection an' ya need t' go. What does yaw family think o' yaw occupation, anyway?"
He heard Rio shift uncomfortably on the other end of the line. "My family passed on a long time ago," she said sadly.
Matt felt a brief pang of guilt, but hardened himself to it, knowing he had to think of Jeff.
"Maybe they died t' git away from ya," he said in a low growl.
Losing her cool control, Rio gasped audibly, and that's when he knew he'd accomplished what he'd set out to do. He'd seen her reaction the other day to his accusations and knew he'd drawn emotional blood. He had planned to use the phone call to twist the knife further into her to convince her to sever all ties to his brother.
"I have already promised to leave your brother alone," Rio said tightly. "I do not think you need anything else from me tonight, Matt."
"So yaw hangin' up on me aftaall?" he taunted.
"I believe you have made your point and that there is no more to say on the subject."
"Fair 'nough. Good bye, then."
Rio did not answer him. She just clicked off the line. Matt listened for the dial tone before pressing the 'off' key and letting himself back into his room. Shannon was sitting up at the end of his bed staring at the glass door and now narrowed his eyes at Matt accusingly.
"That was non o' yo' business," Matt said. "I'm takin' a shower." He stalked into the bathroom and closed the door loudly behind him.
--------------------------------------
Shannon could not believe what he'd heard Matt say to Rio on the phone. He knew it would probably be bad, but that comment he'd made was inexcusable, even for Matt. He was jarred out of his musings by his own cell phone's ring. Who was calling him at this hour?
"'Lo?"
"Shannon?" Rio greeted him sadly.
"Rio?" he asked uncertainly. "Ya callin' me?"
"I am sorry to bother you," she said in a small voice. "I know you must hate me, too."
"No I don'," he assured her. "I wan'ed t' apologize fo' th' otha day. An' t' thank ya fo' bein' there."
"That was no problem," she said absently. Shannon had a hard time believing her. "I need to ask you for a favor."
"Wha' can I do fo' ya?"
"I have promised Matt I will not call Jeff anymore," her voice cracked a bit so Shannon knew how much it was hurting her to comply with Matt's demand.
"Why?"
"Because he is right about what I am," she answered simply.
"I don' think so," Shannon argued.
"Unfortunately, it does not matter," Rio countered. "I have promised him and I will keep my word."
He hated this whole situation and how it was playing out, knowing Jeff was going to be hurt most of all. Well, at least as much as Rio.
"Wha' d'ya need me ta do?"
"I cannot call Jeff, even to say good bye, as that would break my word to Matt," she said. "I am asking that you please tell him that you have spoken with me and I am sorry that I cannot talk with him anymore."
He heard the loneliness in her quiet tone. He knew this was going to be a huge sacrifice for her and wished he could do something more for her. Maybe . . .
"Ya kno', ya can still talk to me, o' Drew," he said, hoping that adding Andrew's name would make her feel a little better.
"No," she answered. "Matt is right that I am no better than the others from my world. I do not wish to further expose any of you to that filth."
Shannon was alarmed at the sudden self-deprecating slant her mood was taking. "Rio, yaw NOT filthy," he said with conviction. "I do not wanna hear ya say that again!"
"You will not have to worry about that now, will you?" she laughed bitterly.
"Please call me 'ccasionally," he half-begged. "Please."
"I cannot do that."
"Ya made Matt a promise, now make me one," he pleaded.
Rio was silent for another long while. Shannon knew she wanted to give in to him, but Matt had her thinking all kinds of horrible things about herself now. He wanted to smack him upside the head for it, too. Shannon knew Matt read Rio's reactions the other day and used them against her tonight. The Cerebral Assassin had nothing on Matt Hardy, that was for sure.
"Please, li'l girl?" he asked again. He could almost feel her edge closer to what he wanted her to do and he intended to push her further. "I need ta keep talkin' t' ya."
"Why?" she asked, surprised.
"I feel a connection t'ya."
"I am sure this is not a good idea, Shannon."
"I thought we agreed t' lemme make m' own decisions, Rio," he replied, knowing that would do it. There was a tense moment of silence before she answered him.
"All right," she relented. "But I will not promise any sort of frequency."
Oh no you don't, Shannon thought to himself. You're not going to get out of this that easily. "Rio," he said a bit sternly, "I wanna hear from ya no less than twice a week."
There was a slightly awkward pause before she spoke. "Why are you so demanding, Shannon?"
"It seems ta be th' only way t' getcha ta do wha' I wan'," he chuckled.
"I will promise to call you at least once a week," she sighed.
"Eva th' negotiator," he laughed. "Deal."
"I should go now," she said.
"Hey, don' dwell on wha' Matt said," he told her firmly. "Yaw th' only one who coulda saved me on Saturday."
"Mmm," she said noncommittally. "I will talk to you again, Shannon Moore. Good bye."
"Fo' now," he answered, then listened to her hang up.
A few minutes later Shannon heard the shower turn off and Matt soon came out of the bathroom in his shorts. He contemplated Shannon moodily before getting into bed and turning out the light, leaving the television glowing eerily.
"I'm gonna git somethin' from th' machines," Shannon announced, getting up from his bed and slipping his phone and room key into his pants pocket. "Ya wan' anythin'?"
Matt looked over at him, seemingly surprised at his roommate's change in demeanor. "Naw, bu' thanks."
Shannon shrugged and let himself out of the room, knowing Matt would be asleep be fore long. He walked down the hallway to the machine area, pulled out his phone and dialed quickly.
"Jeff?" he said to the very sleepy person who answered. "We need t' talk . . ."