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As Shane gaped and tried to speak, Steph slapped Hunter hard across the face and stood glaring at him, arms crossed. It was Hunter's turn to look stunned now as he held his sore cheek. Edge meanwhile, tried hard not to laugh, settling instead to turn in his seat to check on Kurt who still lay out-cold on the backseat.
"You bitch!" Hunter growled recovered from his shock "I don't have to waste my time on you, Austin's gonna tear you both limb from limb without me having to lift a finger"
"We'll see Mr my-car's-wrecked-with-nowhere-to-go" sneered Stephanie
Shane put away his cheque book with a smug smile. He bent down so that Hunter could see directly into his cold grey eyes, deciding to enjoy this
"You can try all you want to upend us" Shane said quietly "but me and Steph have won and you know it, you just can't handle the truth that we're your bosses now"
Shane quickly took some steps back when he saw the rage boil up in Hunter's eyes. Edge quickly grabbed Hunter's arm, frantically getting his attention
"Its what he wants Hunter, he wants you to get mad and start attacking him so that he can get you arrested for assault or something" Edge warned
"I know that" grumbled Hunter, shaking off Edge's hand "I just wanna beat his ass all the way back to the arena"
"We all want to do that"
Shane had turned his attention to the police officers now who were clearly waiting for an explanation. He sighed and offered a silent prayer before beginning to speak, hoping it would work. He knew he looked the part in a steel grey shirt and black suit.
"Officer, what details will you need exactly?"
"Details son?" asked the officer
"Yes you know, insurance company and all that so we can fix this since he won't be suing"
"And why are you so sure of that?"
"Because I'm his boss" replied Shane with a smile "he works for me, as do the two men who drove into him, this is a company matter"
The officer looked amazed and quickly walked over to the car window where Hunter was steaming quietly inside.
"Is this true Mr Helmsley? Do you work for this man?"
"It says so on paper" muttered Hunter
"I'm afraid you people will have to sort this out between yourselves before any legal action can be taken" the officer said firmly
The officer walked back to Shane
"I'll call the break-down crew to come tow these two vehicles away, where would you like them delivered?" he asked
"Back to the Arena in town" replied Shane with a wave of his hand
The officer nodded and walked to his group of officers to start giving instructions. Shane smiled; glad he'd inherited his dad's gift of persuasion. He looked for Steph and rolled his eyes when he saw where she was; storming over to where John and Randy were sat. She was going to chew them out big time.
"I'd better go make sure she doesn't maim anyone" Shane muttered, following her slowly
Steph stood in front of the two wrestlers, arms crossed and foot tapping. She knew she looked formidable all in black with perfect emphasising make- up. She raised an eyebrow expectantly
"I'm waiting" her voice was ice-cold unimpressed
"Ummm, we made a little mistake?" tried John weakly
"Damn right you did" she replied
"We can pay...." began Randy
"For the repairs to Austin's truck?!" cut in Steph venomously "you couldn't if you tried, he puts a lot of money into making that truck look perfect and you two go crash it?? Its gonna take both me and Shane to persuade Austin not to lynch you two"
Both John and Randy gulped at her words, the prospect of a furious Austin on their tails not an attractive one. Steph nodded satisfied, pulling away at the scared looks on their faces. She turned and almost bumped into Shane who was stood with a hard look on his face directed at John and Randy.
"I'm impressed Steph" he said slowly "you didn't lose your cool with them and they're still terrified"
"I've been practicing"
"On which pathetic soul?"
"You naturally"
"You wish Steph, I spend most of my days trying to stop you from killing someone"
Steph rolled her eyes and indicated the car which still contained Hunter and Edge, both staring holes into the Mcmahons
"What are we doing with Dumb and Dumber?" she asked
"Leaving them for the breakdown crew to pick up" answered Shane "we can head back to the hotel and sort this whole mess out tomorrow, we can get some advice from the lawyers and maybe Taker as well, I don't want any arguments about that either Steph"
"Sure sir, whatever you say"
"Cute, anyway Raw's nearly done now so we can go get some sleep; we have got a lot thinking to do in the morning before Austin discovers who wrecked his truck"
Steph couldn't help an involuntary shiver course through her at her brother's words. She remembered Austin's legendary rage causing outbreaks of chair attacks, beating on innocent people like Michael Cole and cold hard anger. She did not want to be on the end of that. Shane opened the car using his key-ring sensor and motioned for her to get in. She nodded and beckoned to John and Randy to get into the backseat. They complied eagerly and silently. Everyone wanted to get some sleep before facing Austin.
*
Stephanie stood outside the door to her brother's hotel room and knocked on it impatiently for the third time, waiting for some response. After a few minutes she was about to knock again when their two rookies walked down the hall and headed to the elevators. She took in their shook up and tired appearances and left her position at Shane's door and walked over to them.
"How are you guys doing?" She asked gently as they turned around slowly. "Did you guys get any sleep at all last night?"
Randy shook his head and shoved his hands into the pocket of his sweatshirt. "Too worried about facing Austin to tell you the truth."
"You guys know we won't let Austin do anything to you, right?" Steph asked, curious to hear their answers and was surprised when John shrugged. She shook her head and smiled. "We wouldn't let you guys face him alone. Shane and I were going to our lawyer this morning to see what we should do; you guys are more then welcome to come along."
"It's alright." John answered for the both of them. "We were going to go get some training done and we would probably just get in the way."
"Yeah." Randy agreed. "We'll see you guys later though and good luck with the lawyers."
Stephanie spun around and saw her brother standing behind her with a relaxed smile on his face.
"What do you look so confident about?" She asked, pulling her bag over her shoulder as they began walking.
"I'm really not confident about anything." He said honestly. "I was just wondering about how you just treated John and Randy."
She immediately got an indignant look on her face. "What are you talking about?" She demanded, stopping in her tracks. "I was nice to them, I was worrying about them, I was-"
"That's exactly what I'm talking about." Shane replied, walking away from her and he grinned when he heard her running to catch up to him.
"You're so mature." Stephanie responded, rolling her eyes as she got into the waiting limo first. She tossed her bags on the seat opposite of her and propped her legs up, watching as Shane climbed in. "We need to go to the main headquarters." She told the driver quickly before turning her attention back to her brother. "Okay, so what's going to go on at the lawyer's office now, did you get all the files we'd need?"
Shane held up a briefcase and nodded, silently reveling in the fact that it was Stephanie who was nervous for the first time, and not him. He was about to offer her a comforting word or two when his cell phone rang and she jumped at the unexpected sound.
"Hello?" Shane answered; trying to suppress a laugh as his sister tried to regain her composure. He listened for a few minutes and then put his hand over the receiver. "It's Taker." He mouthed silently and Stephanie narrowed her eyes.
"What does he want?" She said under her breath, trying her hardest to sound professional, lest she be heard by the Deadman.
Shane held up one finger and listened intently to the other person, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I guess that would be okay. Do you want to talk to-no? Alright, we'll see you back at the arena by 3:30. Bye." He snapped the phone shut and turned to Stephanie. "I got some bad news."
"What happened?" She demanded.
"Hunter got to Austin first; he told him everything before we had a chance to even explain anything."
Stephanie put one hand to her forehead and allowed her eyes to blink slowly while the information sunk in. "Do you know if he's mad or anything?" She asked.
"No, he's perfectly dandy with the fact we stole his baby and then ruined it beyond recognition." Shane said sarcastically.
"It was not ruined beyond recognition." Stephanie replied heatedly, glaring at him. "There were a few scratches and dents, it's nothing a good garage can't fix and don't you dare get an attitude with me now because I am so not in the mood to deal with you."
"Do you think I want to sit here listening to you're pathetic whining and bitching about how nothing is going your way?" Shane snapped. "I don't. And while we're on the subject Steph, news flash, the world does not revolve around you. You are not in control of everything, regardless to what you think; we're in this fifty-fifty. That means half of all of this" He waved his arms around emphatically. "Belongs to me."
Stephanie stared at him silently and was deciding the best way to respond to his outburst when the limo jerked to a stop. She stepped out and slammed the door shut behind her and walked purposefully to the front entrance, not caring that she was leaving Shane behind.
"Good day Miss McMahon." The doorman said pleasantly, holding open the door for her.
She pursed her lips and nodded curtly in his direction before walking by. "Hurry up." She called over her shoulder towards Shane. There was faint muttering heard behind her and she rolled her eyes.
"You two are late."
Stephanie jumped and turned around slowly at the sound of the Texas-tinged voice. She faced Austin and gave him a fakely sweet smile and reached behind her to make sure that Shane was there. "We're not late Steve. It's 9 o' clock, just like we agreed on."
Austin held up his watch and examined it. "My watch says 9:02. You're late."
"It's just two minutes." Shane tried.
"You're right." Austin replied and then turned away from them and started walking down the hall.
Shane stood there open-mouthed, ready to respond back to whatever Austin was going to shoot back at them, and was surprised when he merely agreed.
"Don't just stand there." Stephanie muttered, nudging him along with the corner of her purse. They walked down the hall and turned into the room they saw Austin enter and she quickly took the seat next to their team of lawyers, who sat across from Austin and his one.
"So I've been told you two can't seem to leave my client alone, is that correct?"
"We can't leave him alone?" Stephanie asked incredulously, and then followed that with a seemingly forced laugh. "He's the one that's obsessed with interfering in our plans."
"And those would be what?" His lawyer pressed on curiously.
"Those would be none of your business." Their head lawyer answered quickly. "And it is also not the point of this meeting. So if we could kindly get along with what the point is." He trailed off pointedly.
"Your clients, Vince and Linda's only children, saw it fitting to break into Mr. Austin's car, drive a kidnapped individual to a specific point and then try to bring it back, only to find themselves in quite the predicament when they found themselves in the middle of a five car pile-up. We only have a few demands that they are to agree to."
Stephanie narrowed her eyes at the last statement but chose to remain silent when she saw the look Shane was giving her.
"What demands?" Their lawyer asked for them both.
"I want my car paid for." Austin started. "And I feel it appropriate they reimburse Kurt Angle for his brief hospital visit because of the pain they inflicted on him."
"Sounds like he just found out what the dictionary was." Shane muttered under his breath, referring to his sudden usage of the very un-Austin like words.
"Or else his lawyer prepared it." Stephanie added quietly, clenching her fingers around the table when she heard him suggest they pay for the damage to the other cars involved. "That's ridiculous." She protested and was immediately silenced by her lawyer.
"And there's one last thing." Austin continued on as if he didn't hear Stephanie's outburst. "I want a general manager position on the show of my choosing with the power to appoint the GM for the other show."
Shane jumped out of his chair, slamming his hands against the hardwood table. "Absolutely not!"
"Then we can take this to an actual court and let's just say that wouldn't be good publicity for the two of you Mr. McMahon, considering the fact it was the two of you who decided to steal the car in the first place." Austin's lawyer said evenly as he started slipping pieces of paper back into the manila folders from which they came.
"We don't have any other choice." Their own lawyer said to them quietly. "Unless you want to take this to the public. And if we do that, he's right; it wouldn't look good for you two or the company."
Stephanie sat back and an idea was already forming in the back of her mind. "If we were to assign him the title of General Manager, couldn't it be just that, a title that means they have no more power then the title of Undisputed Champion? And then it would mean they'd have to follow the script like everyone else, right?"
"I suppose that could work."
Shane grinned and nodded at his sister's ingenious thinking. "Way to go." He mouthed at her as they turned back to face an expectant looking Austin and his lawyer. Stephanie merely smiled.
"My clients, Shane and Stephanie McMahon, have decided to your terms Mr. Austin."
They all signed the appropriate sheets of paper and were out of there ten minutes later.
Stephanie pushed past the heavy glass doors and had to refrain from dancing or start laughing uncontrollably at how easy that all had been.
"I have to tell you, I was a little worried when Austin gave us that last stipulation." Shane confessed after dragging Stephanie back into the car. "Thankfully you have that quick thinking head on your shoulders and Austin never reads the fine print for anything."
"You're absolutely right my dear brother." She replied breezily, and then tapped on the dividing window with one perfectly manicured fingernail. "Take us back to the arena please. We have a Smackdown taping to run."
As Shane gaped and tried to speak, Steph slapped Hunter hard across the face and stood glaring at him, arms crossed. It was Hunter's turn to look stunned now as he held his sore cheek. Edge meanwhile, tried hard not to laugh, settling instead to turn in his seat to check on Kurt who still lay out-cold on the backseat.
"You bitch!" Hunter growled recovered from his shock "I don't have to waste my time on you, Austin's gonna tear you both limb from limb without me having to lift a finger"
"We'll see Mr my-car's-wrecked-with-nowhere-to-go" sneered Stephanie
Shane put away his cheque book with a smug smile. He bent down so that Hunter could see directly into his cold grey eyes, deciding to enjoy this
"You can try all you want to upend us" Shane said quietly "but me and Steph have won and you know it, you just can't handle the truth that we're your bosses now"
Shane quickly took some steps back when he saw the rage boil up in Hunter's eyes. Edge quickly grabbed Hunter's arm, frantically getting his attention
"Its what he wants Hunter, he wants you to get mad and start attacking him so that he can get you arrested for assault or something" Edge warned
"I know that" grumbled Hunter, shaking off Edge's hand "I just wanna beat his ass all the way back to the arena"
"We all want to do that"
Shane had turned his attention to the police officers now who were clearly waiting for an explanation. He sighed and offered a silent prayer before beginning to speak, hoping it would work. He knew he looked the part in a steel grey shirt and black suit.
"Officer, what details will you need exactly?"
"Details son?" asked the officer
"Yes you know, insurance company and all that so we can fix this since he won't be suing"
"And why are you so sure of that?"
"Because I'm his boss" replied Shane with a smile "he works for me, as do the two men who drove into him, this is a company matter"
The officer looked amazed and quickly walked over to the car window where Hunter was steaming quietly inside.
"Is this true Mr Helmsley? Do you work for this man?"
"It says so on paper" muttered Hunter
"I'm afraid you people will have to sort this out between yourselves before any legal action can be taken" the officer said firmly
The officer walked back to Shane
"I'll call the break-down crew to come tow these two vehicles away, where would you like them delivered?" he asked
"Back to the Arena in town" replied Shane with a wave of his hand
The officer nodded and walked to his group of officers to start giving instructions. Shane smiled; glad he'd inherited his dad's gift of persuasion. He looked for Steph and rolled his eyes when he saw where she was; storming over to where John and Randy were sat. She was going to chew them out big time.
"I'd better go make sure she doesn't maim anyone" Shane muttered, following her slowly
Steph stood in front of the two wrestlers, arms crossed and foot tapping. She knew she looked formidable all in black with perfect emphasising make- up. She raised an eyebrow expectantly
"I'm waiting" her voice was ice-cold unimpressed
"Ummm, we made a little mistake?" tried John weakly
"Damn right you did" she replied
"We can pay...." began Randy
"For the repairs to Austin's truck?!" cut in Steph venomously "you couldn't if you tried, he puts a lot of money into making that truck look perfect and you two go crash it?? Its gonna take both me and Shane to persuade Austin not to lynch you two"
Both John and Randy gulped at her words, the prospect of a furious Austin on their tails not an attractive one. Steph nodded satisfied, pulling away at the scared looks on their faces. She turned and almost bumped into Shane who was stood with a hard look on his face directed at John and Randy.
"I'm impressed Steph" he said slowly "you didn't lose your cool with them and they're still terrified"
"I've been practicing"
"On which pathetic soul?"
"You naturally"
"You wish Steph, I spend most of my days trying to stop you from killing someone"
Steph rolled her eyes and indicated the car which still contained Hunter and Edge, both staring holes into the Mcmahons
"What are we doing with Dumb and Dumber?" she asked
"Leaving them for the breakdown crew to pick up" answered Shane "we can head back to the hotel and sort this whole mess out tomorrow, we can get some advice from the lawyers and maybe Taker as well, I don't want any arguments about that either Steph"
"Sure sir, whatever you say"
"Cute, anyway Raw's nearly done now so we can go get some sleep; we have got a lot thinking to do in the morning before Austin discovers who wrecked his truck"
Steph couldn't help an involuntary shiver course through her at her brother's words. She remembered Austin's legendary rage causing outbreaks of chair attacks, beating on innocent people like Michael Cole and cold hard anger. She did not want to be on the end of that. Shane opened the car using his key-ring sensor and motioned for her to get in. She nodded and beckoned to John and Randy to get into the backseat. They complied eagerly and silently. Everyone wanted to get some sleep before facing Austin.
*
Stephanie stood outside the door to her brother's hotel room and knocked on it impatiently for the third time, waiting for some response. After a few minutes she was about to knock again when their two rookies walked down the hall and headed to the elevators. She took in their shook up and tired appearances and left her position at Shane's door and walked over to them.
"How are you guys doing?" She asked gently as they turned around slowly. "Did you guys get any sleep at all last night?"
Randy shook his head and shoved his hands into the pocket of his sweatshirt. "Too worried about facing Austin to tell you the truth."
"You guys know we won't let Austin do anything to you, right?" Steph asked, curious to hear their answers and was surprised when John shrugged. She shook her head and smiled. "We wouldn't let you guys face him alone. Shane and I were going to our lawyer this morning to see what we should do; you guys are more then welcome to come along."
"It's alright." John answered for the both of them. "We were going to go get some training done and we would probably just get in the way."
"Yeah." Randy agreed. "We'll see you guys later though and good luck with the lawyers."
Stephanie spun around and saw her brother standing behind her with a relaxed smile on his face.
"What do you look so confident about?" She asked, pulling her bag over her shoulder as they began walking.
"I'm really not confident about anything." He said honestly. "I was just wondering about how you just treated John and Randy."
She immediately got an indignant look on her face. "What are you talking about?" She demanded, stopping in her tracks. "I was nice to them, I was worrying about them, I was-"
"That's exactly what I'm talking about." Shane replied, walking away from her and he grinned when he heard her running to catch up to him.
"You're so mature." Stephanie responded, rolling her eyes as she got into the waiting limo first. She tossed her bags on the seat opposite of her and propped her legs up, watching as Shane climbed in. "We need to go to the main headquarters." She told the driver quickly before turning her attention back to her brother. "Okay, so what's going to go on at the lawyer's office now, did you get all the files we'd need?"
Shane held up a briefcase and nodded, silently reveling in the fact that it was Stephanie who was nervous for the first time, and not him. He was about to offer her a comforting word or two when his cell phone rang and she jumped at the unexpected sound.
"Hello?" Shane answered; trying to suppress a laugh as his sister tried to regain her composure. He listened for a few minutes and then put his hand over the receiver. "It's Taker." He mouthed silently and Stephanie narrowed her eyes.
"What does he want?" She said under her breath, trying her hardest to sound professional, lest she be heard by the Deadman.
Shane held up one finger and listened intently to the other person, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I guess that would be okay. Do you want to talk to-no? Alright, we'll see you back at the arena by 3:30. Bye." He snapped the phone shut and turned to Stephanie. "I got some bad news."
"What happened?" She demanded.
"Hunter got to Austin first; he told him everything before we had a chance to even explain anything."
Stephanie put one hand to her forehead and allowed her eyes to blink slowly while the information sunk in. "Do you know if he's mad or anything?" She asked.
"No, he's perfectly dandy with the fact we stole his baby and then ruined it beyond recognition." Shane said sarcastically.
"It was not ruined beyond recognition." Stephanie replied heatedly, glaring at him. "There were a few scratches and dents, it's nothing a good garage can't fix and don't you dare get an attitude with me now because I am so not in the mood to deal with you."
"Do you think I want to sit here listening to you're pathetic whining and bitching about how nothing is going your way?" Shane snapped. "I don't. And while we're on the subject Steph, news flash, the world does not revolve around you. You are not in control of everything, regardless to what you think; we're in this fifty-fifty. That means half of all of this" He waved his arms around emphatically. "Belongs to me."
Stephanie stared at him silently and was deciding the best way to respond to his outburst when the limo jerked to a stop. She stepped out and slammed the door shut behind her and walked purposefully to the front entrance, not caring that she was leaving Shane behind.
"Good day Miss McMahon." The doorman said pleasantly, holding open the door for her.
She pursed her lips and nodded curtly in his direction before walking by. "Hurry up." She called over her shoulder towards Shane. There was faint muttering heard behind her and she rolled her eyes.
"You two are late."
Stephanie jumped and turned around slowly at the sound of the Texas-tinged voice. She faced Austin and gave him a fakely sweet smile and reached behind her to make sure that Shane was there. "We're not late Steve. It's 9 o' clock, just like we agreed on."
Austin held up his watch and examined it. "My watch says 9:02. You're late."
"It's just two minutes." Shane tried.
"You're right." Austin replied and then turned away from them and started walking down the hall.
Shane stood there open-mouthed, ready to respond back to whatever Austin was going to shoot back at them, and was surprised when he merely agreed.
"Don't just stand there." Stephanie muttered, nudging him along with the corner of her purse. They walked down the hall and turned into the room they saw Austin enter and she quickly took the seat next to their team of lawyers, who sat across from Austin and his one.
"So I've been told you two can't seem to leave my client alone, is that correct?"
"We can't leave him alone?" Stephanie asked incredulously, and then followed that with a seemingly forced laugh. "He's the one that's obsessed with interfering in our plans."
"And those would be what?" His lawyer pressed on curiously.
"Those would be none of your business." Their head lawyer answered quickly. "And it is also not the point of this meeting. So if we could kindly get along with what the point is." He trailed off pointedly.
"Your clients, Vince and Linda's only children, saw it fitting to break into Mr. Austin's car, drive a kidnapped individual to a specific point and then try to bring it back, only to find themselves in quite the predicament when they found themselves in the middle of a five car pile-up. We only have a few demands that they are to agree to."
Stephanie narrowed her eyes at the last statement but chose to remain silent when she saw the look Shane was giving her.
"What demands?" Their lawyer asked for them both.
"I want my car paid for." Austin started. "And I feel it appropriate they reimburse Kurt Angle for his brief hospital visit because of the pain they inflicted on him."
"Sounds like he just found out what the dictionary was." Shane muttered under his breath, referring to his sudden usage of the very un-Austin like words.
"Or else his lawyer prepared it." Stephanie added quietly, clenching her fingers around the table when she heard him suggest they pay for the damage to the other cars involved. "That's ridiculous." She protested and was immediately silenced by her lawyer.
"And there's one last thing." Austin continued on as if he didn't hear Stephanie's outburst. "I want a general manager position on the show of my choosing with the power to appoint the GM for the other show."
Shane jumped out of his chair, slamming his hands against the hardwood table. "Absolutely not!"
"Then we can take this to an actual court and let's just say that wouldn't be good publicity for the two of you Mr. McMahon, considering the fact it was the two of you who decided to steal the car in the first place." Austin's lawyer said evenly as he started slipping pieces of paper back into the manila folders from which they came.
"We don't have any other choice." Their own lawyer said to them quietly. "Unless you want to take this to the public. And if we do that, he's right; it wouldn't look good for you two or the company."
Stephanie sat back and an idea was already forming in the back of her mind. "If we were to assign him the title of General Manager, couldn't it be just that, a title that means they have no more power then the title of Undisputed Champion? And then it would mean they'd have to follow the script like everyone else, right?"
"I suppose that could work."
Shane grinned and nodded at his sister's ingenious thinking. "Way to go." He mouthed at her as they turned back to face an expectant looking Austin and his lawyer. Stephanie merely smiled.
"My clients, Shane and Stephanie McMahon, have decided to your terms Mr. Austin."
They all signed the appropriate sheets of paper and were out of there ten minutes later.
Stephanie pushed past the heavy glass doors and had to refrain from dancing or start laughing uncontrollably at how easy that all had been.
"I have to tell you, I was a little worried when Austin gave us that last stipulation." Shane confessed after dragging Stephanie back into the car. "Thankfully you have that quick thinking head on your shoulders and Austin never reads the fine print for anything."
"You're absolutely right my dear brother." She replied breezily, and then tapped on the dividing window with one perfectly manicured fingernail. "Take us back to the arena please. We have a Smackdown taping to run."