Author's note: Just to let you know this fic is taking a vacation from June 24-July 5. Unless Jules feels really inspired and writes something. Also thank you so much to Rachel who told us about jury selection and large trials.
When we got back to the hotel room after the trial we discovered Danny, Eddy, and Eric still weren't back yet. No one seemed concerned so I tried not to be. At least the bright side was it didn't look like the trial was going to start any time soon. The DA had told us jury selection for a trial for this magnitude wasn't rushed. He mentioned the OJ Simpson trial but that was before I was born.
Dad and Chris seemed to be waiting for us when we got back. They all seemed to be worried about something. "There's something or rather someone you don't know about and it's why Eddy, Eric, and Danny are in Texas." Dad said. "You all might want to sit. It's a long story."
Mom, Oje and I sat on the bed dad sat on. Uncle Bret, Ric, Shane and Chavo sat on the floor, chairs or the other bed.
Why didn't it surprise me that there was something or someone else they hadn't told us about? They always seemed to be hiding someone.
"Who's left?" Ric asked. "Steve Austin?"
Dad, Shane, Chris, and Erichson all exchanged looks. Dad nodded. "Yeah it's Austin."
"He's alive?" Ric asked. Dad and Chris nodded. "Why are we just hearing about it now?" He demanded.
"We didn't really think it was something you needed to know." Erichson said. "He's been in a coma for fifteen years."
There was quite a bit of yelling after that so I tried to say above them, "Wait a second. Who's Steve Austin?" I had to ask that because everyone but Oje seemed to know who this Steve Austin is. And they all seemed so angry. As if the yelling wasn't obvious enough.
"He's a man who wrestled in WCW, Texas, ECW and the WWF." Dad said. "He did a lot for the WWF. Until the early part of this century he and Vince had no problems. Then he walked out in 2002. He came back but walked out again. No one is quite sure why he left but we have our ideas."
Chris spoke up then. "I was in the WWF and I could see the strain between the two. Vince probably couldn't forgive Steve for walking out twice. I'm not sure why he came back or what he did while he was gone. Things seemed to get only worse at Survivor Series 2003. They had made a match between Steve, who was the WWF champion and Jeff Jarrett who was the NWA-TNA champion. I think everyone in the locker rooms, WWF and NWA-TNA, thought it was strange. Even more so since it was a scaffold match. No one in their right mind was happy to wrestle in those types of matches. But Jeff didn't seem to mind too much. I had a match with Sting the match before that and was icing my elbow during that match. It had been my first match back since I had re-broken my elbow. I had no idea what was going to happen during the scaffold match."
Erichson spoke again. "Eric told the FBI the night before Survivor Series that the scaffold was going to be rigged so that Steve fell to the concrete. I had been informed that wrestlers, when they come off of the scaffold, always fall into the ring because the cement was far too dangerous. There was no time to interfere to keep Steve from falling so we had to hope for the best. Chase had gone to the ring hoping that Steve hadn't died, which luckily he hadn't. It was a stressful twenty-four hours waiting for updates. I don't think either Owen or I slept that night. But we did get Steve back to his home."
"Wait a second." Chavo spoke up then. "Steve's been at his home all this time? How did you keep anyone from finding him? Especially Debra."
"We were lucky that she never came back to the house. I'm not quite sure what we would have done to keep her from entering it. Luckily that never became an issue. Not for a few years anyway. Then someone did stumble on it."
Chris nodded. "RAW was really tense the next night in Toledo Ohio. When I walked into the building, the first thing I heard was that Mark Calloway and Jim Ross had both asked for their resignations." He turned to face me. "Mark wrestled as the Undertaker and Jim Ross had done commentary and was the Vice President of Talent Relations. I think Johnny Ace took that over. Vince didn't stop them from what I heard."
"Dad didn't care." Shane answered. "He told me that night that we should just let them leave. He said Mark was getting too old and the fans were tired of Jim Ross. As strange as it sounded it kind of sounded logical but that was my dad for you."
'Like I said as far as we knew no one had a clue for years that Steve Austin was lying in a coma in his own home. Then someone did. You guys should know about Mark Calloway and Shane Douglas' involvement in this."
"Wait Shane's involved in this?" Ric demanded. "He hates Eddy."
"It was all a smokescreen." Chris explained. Ric looked like he was going to comment on it but Chris held a hand up. "I didn't know about that until I got here. According to them, Shane had never signed his release. When Eddy found out what had been planned for Owen he had called Shane for help. He's been helping Chase with watching to make sure no one came into the house."
Michael shook his head again. "Yeah that was as fool proof as the cabin in Kentucky. Just like when Chavo, D-Lo, Danny and Athena showed up at the cabin Mark showed up at Austin's house. Course unlike you four," he said turning to look at Chavo and me, "He had no idea that any of them were alive."
Dad chuckled looking at Uncle Bret, mom and Oje. "I had called there and he answered. Mark told me later that he fainted twice. Once seeing that Steve was alive and the second time was hearing my voice." He looked at Chris. "Course Chris fainted when he heard Steve's voice."
"I didn't expect a man that had spent fifteen years in a coma to answer the phone." Chris said but he was laughing.
"A lot of fainting happens around here." I said looking at everyone.
"I still can't believe you didn't tell us this." Uncle Bret said. "We found out about Owen and Chris why not tell us about Steve."
"Like I said Bret, it was just something you guys didn't need to know. From what we've been told, Danny had overheard Eddy on the phone with Mark when Mark called to tell them about Steve starting to wake up. They went down to get him."
"Eddy called from the airfield." Chris said. "Debra Austin and Jim Ross are coming too. They had seen Eddy and Eric and followed them." Chris wiped his face. "I'm glad this trial is about to start. Too many people are finding out."
I felt sort of out of place during all of this. I didn't know who they were talking about and I wasn't as angry as the others. I also could use some from fresh air so I said, "I saw a Starbucks a few blocks from here. I think I'm going to go. Anyone want anything?"
Pretty soon I was overwhelmed by orders. I wrote as fast as I could wondering how I was going to carry all of this coffee.
"I'll go wish you." Oje volunteered. So we set out to get coffee. It was kind of nice to get out of the war zone for a few minutes.
When we got back to the hotel room after the trial we discovered Danny, Eddy, and Eric still weren't back yet. No one seemed concerned so I tried not to be. At least the bright side was it didn't look like the trial was going to start any time soon. The DA had told us jury selection for a trial for this magnitude wasn't rushed. He mentioned the OJ Simpson trial but that was before I was born.
Dad and Chris seemed to be waiting for us when we got back. They all seemed to be worried about something. "There's something or rather someone you don't know about and it's why Eddy, Eric, and Danny are in Texas." Dad said. "You all might want to sit. It's a long story."
Mom, Oje and I sat on the bed dad sat on. Uncle Bret, Ric, Shane and Chavo sat on the floor, chairs or the other bed.
Why didn't it surprise me that there was something or someone else they hadn't told us about? They always seemed to be hiding someone.
"Who's left?" Ric asked. "Steve Austin?"
Dad, Shane, Chris, and Erichson all exchanged looks. Dad nodded. "Yeah it's Austin."
"He's alive?" Ric asked. Dad and Chris nodded. "Why are we just hearing about it now?" He demanded.
"We didn't really think it was something you needed to know." Erichson said. "He's been in a coma for fifteen years."
There was quite a bit of yelling after that so I tried to say above them, "Wait a second. Who's Steve Austin?" I had to ask that because everyone but Oje seemed to know who this Steve Austin is. And they all seemed so angry. As if the yelling wasn't obvious enough.
"He's a man who wrestled in WCW, Texas, ECW and the WWF." Dad said. "He did a lot for the WWF. Until the early part of this century he and Vince had no problems. Then he walked out in 2002. He came back but walked out again. No one is quite sure why he left but we have our ideas."
Chris spoke up then. "I was in the WWF and I could see the strain between the two. Vince probably couldn't forgive Steve for walking out twice. I'm not sure why he came back or what he did while he was gone. Things seemed to get only worse at Survivor Series 2003. They had made a match between Steve, who was the WWF champion and Jeff Jarrett who was the NWA-TNA champion. I think everyone in the locker rooms, WWF and NWA-TNA, thought it was strange. Even more so since it was a scaffold match. No one in their right mind was happy to wrestle in those types of matches. But Jeff didn't seem to mind too much. I had a match with Sting the match before that and was icing my elbow during that match. It had been my first match back since I had re-broken my elbow. I had no idea what was going to happen during the scaffold match."
Erichson spoke again. "Eric told the FBI the night before Survivor Series that the scaffold was going to be rigged so that Steve fell to the concrete. I had been informed that wrestlers, when they come off of the scaffold, always fall into the ring because the cement was far too dangerous. There was no time to interfere to keep Steve from falling so we had to hope for the best. Chase had gone to the ring hoping that Steve hadn't died, which luckily he hadn't. It was a stressful twenty-four hours waiting for updates. I don't think either Owen or I slept that night. But we did get Steve back to his home."
"Wait a second." Chavo spoke up then. "Steve's been at his home all this time? How did you keep anyone from finding him? Especially Debra."
"We were lucky that she never came back to the house. I'm not quite sure what we would have done to keep her from entering it. Luckily that never became an issue. Not for a few years anyway. Then someone did stumble on it."
Chris nodded. "RAW was really tense the next night in Toledo Ohio. When I walked into the building, the first thing I heard was that Mark Calloway and Jim Ross had both asked for their resignations." He turned to face me. "Mark wrestled as the Undertaker and Jim Ross had done commentary and was the Vice President of Talent Relations. I think Johnny Ace took that over. Vince didn't stop them from what I heard."
"Dad didn't care." Shane answered. "He told me that night that we should just let them leave. He said Mark was getting too old and the fans were tired of Jim Ross. As strange as it sounded it kind of sounded logical but that was my dad for you."
'Like I said as far as we knew no one had a clue for years that Steve Austin was lying in a coma in his own home. Then someone did. You guys should know about Mark Calloway and Shane Douglas' involvement in this."
"Wait Shane's involved in this?" Ric demanded. "He hates Eddy."
"It was all a smokescreen." Chris explained. Ric looked like he was going to comment on it but Chris held a hand up. "I didn't know about that until I got here. According to them, Shane had never signed his release. When Eddy found out what had been planned for Owen he had called Shane for help. He's been helping Chase with watching to make sure no one came into the house."
Michael shook his head again. "Yeah that was as fool proof as the cabin in Kentucky. Just like when Chavo, D-Lo, Danny and Athena showed up at the cabin Mark showed up at Austin's house. Course unlike you four," he said turning to look at Chavo and me, "He had no idea that any of them were alive."
Dad chuckled looking at Uncle Bret, mom and Oje. "I had called there and he answered. Mark told me later that he fainted twice. Once seeing that Steve was alive and the second time was hearing my voice." He looked at Chris. "Course Chris fainted when he heard Steve's voice."
"I didn't expect a man that had spent fifteen years in a coma to answer the phone." Chris said but he was laughing.
"A lot of fainting happens around here." I said looking at everyone.
"I still can't believe you didn't tell us this." Uncle Bret said. "We found out about Owen and Chris why not tell us about Steve."
"Like I said Bret, it was just something you guys didn't need to know. From what we've been told, Danny had overheard Eddy on the phone with Mark when Mark called to tell them about Steve starting to wake up. They went down to get him."
"Eddy called from the airfield." Chris said. "Debra Austin and Jim Ross are coming too. They had seen Eddy and Eric and followed them." Chris wiped his face. "I'm glad this trial is about to start. Too many people are finding out."
I felt sort of out of place during all of this. I didn't know who they were talking about and I wasn't as angry as the others. I also could use some from fresh air so I said, "I saw a Starbucks a few blocks from here. I think I'm going to go. Anyone want anything?"
Pretty soon I was overwhelmed by orders. I wrote as fast as I could wondering how I was going to carry all of this coffee.
"I'll go wish you." Oje volunteered. So we set out to get coffee. It was kind of nice to get out of the war zone for a few minutes.