Author's Note: I'm sorry it took a while to update! I've been busy with a few new stories… Speaking of which will you guys check out "Tears of Tomorrow" and "Waterfall" for me? "Waterfall" is probably going to be on chapter 2 or close to it by the time I post this… Anyway, please review!
Disclaimer: 1st chapter.
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Dangerous Business
Chapter XIV
Liz sleepily shuffled into the kitchen, the lavender fuzzy slippers making odd noises on the clean tile floor. She sighed, looking outside quietly. The winter had finally come to an end, it was May now, and just about every bird was celebrating, and on the Smith's bird feeder, it appeared. Liz smirked, grabbing a bowl, milk, spoon, and Cheerios from various cabinets and sitting at the kitchen table, sniffling slightly at the cold she had gotten a few days ago. The brunette tugged off her hair tie, and then started to laboriously chomp on her cereal. Jinx was present, begging at her feet, but her partner-in-crime was nowhere to be seen. Liz smiled at the Doberman, slipping her a handful of the cereal from the box.
"That could be really unhealthy for a dog," said a stern voice. Liz froze, the smile smacked off her face. She slowly turned around, to face her stepfather. Living up to his standards, even in the morning, he was wearing a clean-cut suit, briefcase in hand. "Hello, honey," he added. Liz couldn't help but let her upper lip curl in disgust.
"I'm not your honey, I'm not your daughter and don't you dare call me 'honey' again," she snapped coldly, closing the box of Cheerios and standing up. She grabbed the box and stuffed it into a cabinet. "And as for the dogs, they're mine and Mom's, not yours, and they're our responsibilities," she turned, "Unlike you, we care for people and animals, too." Mark caught the intended insult.
"You think I don't love your mother?" he howled, "I love her to pieces, and I'll love these damn mutts too if that makes her happy!" Liz dropped her head, the hardness coming to her eyes; her hands wide open at her sides, her stance parallel to his.
"How about Dominique?" her voice was as angry and cold as his was loud, yet her voice came quietly as she tilted her head, "Do you love her too?"
"I love everyone in this family! I've tried to love you too but you seem to hate me!" Mark growled in reply, hoping that his wife wouldn't come prancing in on this argument.
"You love her so much you just decided to beat her out of this house?" Liz said, her form rigid, "I tried to be civil to you," her voice slowly rose higher, "You tried to take over the role of my father. Understand this, bastard, you'll never, EVER, be my father!! My father would never, ever, hit Dominique! He would never – "
"Shut the FUCK up!" his face turned beet red in anger as he advanced on her, grabbing the shirt of her pajamas and pinning her to the wall. "You tell your mother and I'll beat you until you're groveling at my knees."
"Hey Mark," she choked out, her hands gripping firmly around his wrist, "Looks like you're never going to have children again."
"Huh?" he looked confused, until her leg shot out quickly, catching him in the groin. She spun around, her body twisting into a roundhouse kick to his chest. He fell like a sack of potatoes, slamming to the floor. His neck snapped to the ground as he hit it. Liz glared at his balled up body, and sneered. She walked up the stairs, but saved one last parting comment for him.
"Can't talk to you now, Gramps," she said as she traveled upstairs. "I'm going to talk to my Daddy." As Liz quickly got ready, Mark crawled to his feet. When she bounded down the stairs and passed him, he angrily yelled at her.
"You're not going," he cried hoarsely, placing his massive hand onto her shoulder firmly. Liz rolled her eyes and sighed quietly, irritated that he was making her late to her meeting with Austin.
"Oh puh-lease," she muttered, twisting his arm and slamming the heel of her hand into his nose. He let out a cry, blood flowing out of his nose. Liz shook her head vaguely for a moment before leaving, slamming the door in its frame. She shook her head as a barbaric yell sounded from inside the house, and slipped into her car – a silver Camaro.
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Steve Austin looked around the café, resigned. This was definitely not a place he wanted to be caught in, dead or alive. Alas, he was here… Studying the café, he decided that it wasn't that bad, if only that would've been his style. The café was alive with color, mostly an olive green and an off red color. There were several tables and fewer booths, and Austin was currently seated at one of the booths. Lights hung from cables on the ceiling, a cone at the end, in the same off-red color of the cushions of the booth. The placemats were white, with the green, yellow, red, and blue colors on them in stripes. Austin shook his head, tipping his baseball cap further onto his head. He had chosen a spot where he could watch the red doors, to see if his daughter would keep her word. He knew she would, but couldn't help feeling nervous. Finally, she walked in, keys in hand, looking over the café customers. She finally spotted him and slid in the booth. As she walked over, Austin studied her. She was wearing low rider blue jeans, and a shirt that had 'And your point is?' written across in glittering letters. She offered him a weak smile.
"Hmm…" he said, pondering, "Greeting me with a smile… What exactly did you do to your head in the past 12 hours?" he questioned lightly. Liz smirked.
"Right now you're the best of two evils," she retorted, and Austin knew she was talking about her step dad. He cocked an eyebrow.
"That bad, huh?"
"Yeah," she mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she sat down. "So what do you want?" Austin sighed, setting down the small jelly packet he'd been playing with.
"I want to apologize," he said after pausing for a minute, "For all the stuff I did to you…"
Liz narrowed her eyes, "For all the stuff you did to the people closest to me," she replied icily. Austin looked back down at the table. Liz made the simplest thing so much harder… But as he was about to speak, Liz interrupted, "Why did you do it?" she asked, tilting her head.
"When your mom kicked me out – " he started, but Liz dropped her arms to her sides suddenly, shaking her head with disgust.
"You think you can lie your way to me? YOU are the one who abandoned us. YOU are the one who got a divorce!" she hissed, her hands slapping the table. She tried not to notice the confused look on his face, but already doubt was ebbing at her. What if her mom had actually lied to her about Austin? Liz bit her lip, trying not to show her hesitation.
"What do you mean?" stuttered Austin, flabbergasted. "I didn't – I wouldn't… I wouldn't try to divorce your mother for the world," he said quieter, the sinking feeling in his gut growing. Liz stared down at her hands, swallowing the blood filling up her mouth.
"What happened?" she said in a monotone. Austin sighed heavily, gathering his memories quietly before heeding to her command.
"When you were really young…about five or so, I was still in the wrestling business," he started, Liz nodded slightly, "You're mother complained sometimes… We had those fights when I got home, and then I wasn't home… I guess she was just fed up. One day she just out and told me, it was the job or my family. You have to understand, Liz. I can't just sit at a desk and work… I'd go insane! And the job alone wouldn't cover what it costs to live our lives and support your grandparents too," he said pleadingly.
"They're dead," she said icily, "So why didn't you come back when they…" she trailed off, blinking furiously. Next to her mother, her grandparents were one of the closest things she'd had.
"Your mother had filed a divorce by then…" Austin replied slowly. "I… I didn't want to come back," he confessed quietly.
"Why not?"
"You," he said timidly. "You were always behind me with a lawyer when you were older, emptying my pockets and hating me for all you could," he winced slightly, "That hurt me a lot, Elizabeth, it really did." Liz stared at him, a guilty feeling rising in her stomach.
"Is that why you…you attacked all of my friends?" she questioned quietly.
Austin nodded, "It was stupid, but… I wanted you to hurt like you hurt me… I went way too far… I shouldn't have done anything…" He sighed, "I'm really sorry about…your back, you know."
"When… When I first came to the WWE, I… I didn't recognize you. The first time I actually suspected it was when you stunned me on that first night…" she smirked slightly, "I didn't recognize you without your hair." Austin smiled slightly. "And then when you attacked Lita before our tag-team match… God, I was so ticked off at you," she said, remembering wistfully, "I shouldn't have ever made that match, and I got what was coming to me," she said firmly. "And that's that. Nothing else…" She caught Austin's glance, "But… I still don't understand why they hit me… I only really insulted them a few times," she mused.
"I've asked myself that same question," muttered Austin, "Why did they attack you and not me?" he chuckled miserably, "I almost wish I couldn't feel the answer. Flair is a very, very smart person. He's learned to look beneath the skin." Liz stared at him, cocking her head again slightly. Austin took a deep breath and continued, "He saw it, damn it, and he saw it clear." Liz shook her head quickly as she leaned closer to him.
"I love you, Liz," Austin confessed, and then added sadly, "Too bad it took your career to make me realize that."
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Author's Note: Okay, this took a long time, only because I've been really busy with a few things. Now that it is summer, I can update more. I will be gone for a week at the beginning of July, so there will be no updates then. Until the next update!! REVIEW!!
--LK08--