For disclaimers, warnings, list of characters, etc., see chapter one.

Chapter IX: Gut Instincts

At her persistence, Rob allowed Samia to accompany him to the arena but refused to let her out of his sight except for his match. He made her promise that she would stay in the dressing room with the door locked and would answer for no one. She refused to be confined so at first but the little earlobe nibble made her succumb. She watched his non-title match on the room's monitor, absolutely dying to be out there. Her face had turned beautiful shades of purple and green with a little bit of yellow thrown in and she now only had to wear two band-aids for her cuts. Still, she showed up in jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt that she pulled over her head when they came in the arena, hoping the cameras wouldn't catch the "results" of Hurricane Terri.

In the middle of Rob's match, there was a knock at the door and Samia put her ear up against the door. "May I help you?"

"It's me, Angel," Shawn Michaels called from the other side. "Can I come in?"

She pondered the thought but remembered he was the reason she was 'locked up.' "What do you need?"

"Can I come in first?" he pleaded, slightly jiggling the door handle to get his point across.

"Better not," she bluntly replied, grasping the knob to keep it from rattling.

"Look, I only want to check on you," Shawn replied and she could tell he had let go of the handle.

"I'm fine, just peachy. If you have to, stop back by when Rob's back." Samia attempted to be diplomatic but bringing up Rob's name would guarantee that he wouldn't be back.

"Yeah, right, and end up a spot on the wall. No thanks," he muttered and flopped up against the door, contemplating his next move since he couldn't get in the door and sweep her off her feet.

"Sorry."

"Fine," he said, pulling himself up right. "Tell Rob 'congratulations' and that I said he's the better man in your heart…but not in wrestling."

"Is that a warning?" she asked much louder.

"Maybe," he casually answered.

"Don't warn me."

"I'm not warning you, I'm warning him. I wouldn't hurt you in any way," Shawn replied, as if he was discussing the weather.

"Hurting him is hurting me," Samia retorted, glad that she wasn't having this conversation face to face.

"In this business, that's the way the ball bounces," Shawn responded and she could hear the carefree attitude in his voice.

"Only at the insistence of people like you," she snapped and banged her fist on the door.

"Come on now, Angel. Don't be so mean."

"Shawn, I am not the one being mean."

"Samia," he cut her off, not wanting to make this any worse than it already was. "Take care of yourself and, above all, be happy."

"Shawn," she called, wondering what in the hell that was supposed to mean. He didn't answer. "Shawn!" Still no answer. Samia put her hand of the handle to pull it open but, with the way he worked, he was probably standing on the other side just waiting for her to do it. She took the chance but the hall was empty. It seemed as if Shawn Michaels had just walked out of her life, but she didn't quite have that feeling despite his words. She settled on the couch to wait for Rob's return and to rest, the 'activities' earlier in the day having worn her out.

"I want you to stay here tonight. I have a bad feeling about you going," Rob said, gently massaging her back as she lay against him on her side. Her head was cradled in the crook of his neck and she mindlessly fiddled with his hair that spilled over his chest and tickled her nose.

"There was no problem last week and I'm feeling much better. Look, down to only one band-aid and two ugly bruises," she said with a laugh, gesturing at her face. "Besides that, I feel absolutely fine, not counting all our lessons in self-defense."

"I know, but I just have this feeling, some gut instinct I guess," he replied with a shrug.

Samia hooked her leg over his and rose up to look him in the eyes. "I'm not staying here no matter what you say. This is coming from your lover and not your valet. It would kill me not to be there with you. I love you, Rob, and I want to be there. Besides," she lay back down, "Shawn said something the other week that makes me believe that the nWo is gonna leave me alone."

"Really? When did you talk to Shawn?" This time he rose up to look at her.

"Well, um," she stuttered, knowing she had let the cat out of the bag. "You see…" she began to explain Shawn's visit.

"He's right about one thing—I am the better man. I have you," Rob replied and hugged her to him. She had expected him to be angry with her or, at least, angry at the situation. He rolled over on his side to face her, gave her a kiss, and whispered, "I love you." He started tracing little circles all over her chest and stomach, raising goose bumps all over her body.

"I love you too, babe, but we have to get out of bed. You have a show, you know." She giggled when he traced fingers down her side as she started to climb over him to begin getting ready. He then wrapped his arms around her and flipped her over, straddling her.

"We don't have to be there for another hour. No problem. We can be late." Before she could reply, he captured her lips with his.

"Rob, do you know how much trouble we'll be in if we're late," she murmured against him.

"We get a warning first," he replied, shifting to rummage over the side of the bed with one hand while still straddling her and the other hand roaming across her body.

"What are you doing? We have to go," she said, feebly pushing at his hand to give him the hint. He righted himself back up but held something behind his back. "Rob, come one. What're you doing?" she asked, trying to wiggle out from under him.

"Give me a kiss," he huskily demanded, leaning down towards her. He ran his hands from her shoulders and down her arms. He twined her fingers in his and raised her hands above her head. She pulled away from the kiss to give him a questioning look which turned into one of shock as he deftly wrapped one of her scarves around her wrists and then over the headboard.

"Rob!" she exclaimed but that was all she could say as she sucked in her breath as his mouth moved down below her bellybutton. Being late for RAW became the last thing on her mind.

When he lay down beside her spent and his eyes fluttered closed, she started pulling at the scarf. "No naps now, Rob. We've gotta go! Untie me."

"After that, I thought you would like being tied up."

"Any other time than when we only have," she began and glanced over at the clock, "two seconds to be at the arena and it takes fifteen minutes to get there on a good day. Move it!"

"Alright," he sighed like a sullen child and began undoing the knot of the scarf. Samia slid out from under him and threw her black hooded sweatshirt over her head. She didn't have time to get a suit ready, fix her hair, and put on make-up. She'd hide out one more night. Rob was turning circles in the room like he was looking for something. She was about to ask him what he needed when the phone rang.

She made a wild dash for it. "Hello…Yeah, he's here…No…We're on our way…No way…We're coming…Stall if you can." She hung up the phone. "Rob, you're on the card first!"

After being pulled over by the police and barely talking their way out of a ticket, they dashed into the building and were met by a very angry Vince McMahon. Rob just ran by him, yelling, "Five minutes and I'll be ready."

Samia stopped to speak with the Chairman. "We got stuck in traffic and then in a routine police check," she lied, hoping her hair didn't have that freshly bedded look.

"Sure, Carlsen, sure," he said, rolling his upper lip. "Jeff and Spike agreed to go before him. He's got until the end of their match."

"Look, we're really sorry. Are you sure you can't put him back one more?" McMahon just rolled his eyes with a snort and stalked away. Frustrated, Samia hurried off to find Rob quickly suiting up. "When this match is over, you're up," she tiredly said and sank down on the couch.

"Against who?" Rob asked, pulling on his boots.

"You know, I haven't a clue."

"Doesn't matter now. It's all good. I just hope it's not a championship match," he replied, jerking his belt up and heading for the door. "Please stay here. Door locked. I'll be back soon." He stole a quick kiss and disappeared from her sight. She turned up the volume on the monitor and settled back on the couch, praying this would all turn out fine. However, she about passed out when she heard Eddie Guerrero's music and Lilian announce that the belt was on the line. RVD didn't seem to show any of her concern as he made his entrance, looking cool as a cucumber as always.

Just as the bell rang to start the match, she heard a knock at the door. "Who is it?"

"It's just Adrienne."

"Gimme a minute," she called back, rising from the couch. It was safe; it was only Adrienne, probably delivering a warning from McMahon. The blonde unlocked the door and opened it to find Adrienne with Chris Benoit.

Van Dam was feeling the strain of not having enough time to get ready for the match. He was barely keeping up with Guerrero. The minute he had control of the match, he lost it and then fought to get it back. This is the last time I suggest we can do anything in an hour, he thought, having to quickly push a naked Samia writhing under him out of his mind. The thought was cut short by a blow to his stomach from Eddie. He was about to try a counter when he heard his name over the speakers and looked up to see Chris Benoit on the large screen. He didn't know what hit him when Guerrero came from behind and had him pinned for the three count. He couldn't believe he was stupid enough to have the lost his concentration and, as a result, lost the belt.

Rob lay there for a moment, trying to get his bearings as Eddie walked off, but Benoit called his name again. "RVD, I think there's something you need to see." He pulled himself up from the mat and leaned against one of the ropes to watch the screen. Benoit motioned for the cameraman to follow him into RVD's dressing room. Rob wasn't sure if he should race off to find them or to wait to see what Benoit was doing. The other wrestler opened the door to a room that looked like a disaster area. It had been absolutely trashed. On the wall in black spray paint was written "nWo 4-Life." Across the couch was one of RVD's "Whole Dam Show" shirt with "nWo" written across it. The camera panned back around to the door and a feminine figure stood there with a black hooded sweatshirt on and blonde hair peeking out from the hood. She raised her right hand that held a can of spray paint and proceeded to cover the lens of the camera in black paint. On the woman's hand was a ring just like the one Rob had given Samia on her birthday.

RVD staggered under the mental blow. He edged back to lean up against the turnbuckle to catch his breath. He couldn't believe she had betrayed him like that. It all began to make sense to him—all the times he caught her with the nWo just to hear her stumble over excuses. He was in an absolute rage. He took off out of the ring and down the halls to his room. No one was there but he knew exactly where to look—they would be harboring her from him and he wasn't going to leave until she heard what he had to say. He didn't even consider the repercussions of barging into the pit of snakes.

RVD jerked the door open to find four members of the nWo gathered around a monitor. Samia lay on the couch on her stomach with her head in the lap of Shawn Michaels, which set Van Dam off even more. They knew he was coming and no one intentionally moved. Shawn then slipped out from under Samia, leaving her unmoving on the black leather couch. He dropped something down beside her and strode over to stand nose to nose with the irate wrestler. Nash flanked RVD on one side and Triple H on the other. Big Show came up to stand behind Shawn while X-Pac stuck his head in between Nash and Michaels.

"Say it and leave," HBK growled.

"You are sick, every one of you. I can't believe you would stoop this low. Was she in on this from the beginning or did you find another innocent person to destroy?"

"Harsh words, Van Dam. Look around you. You don't want to start anything here," Nash commented, cracking his knuckles. Either RVD was too stupid to realize what they were saying or too angry to move, but he stood his ground.

Through the hazy fog, Samia thought she heard Rob's words. He angrily yelled at the five men again and she then recognized his voice, struggling to rise up from the couch. The back of her head throbbed and hurt so much it made her vision swim. Her hand knocked something off the couch and she reached down to pick up a bag of ice wrapped in a towel. Then she heard Nash speak and she looked up to see Rob in the midst of the nWo. The woman had no clue how she got there or exactly what was going on. The last she remembered was opening the door to Adrienne and Benoit and turning her back on them for just a moment. For fear of what the faction was about to do to Rob, she drew in her breath against the pain and staggered across the room, pushing her way in between Helmsley and Michaels. "What exactly is going on here?"

"You tell me that," Rob spat at her.

"Excuse me?" Samia responded.

"Don't play stupid with me. You dragged me in deep just so you could make me lose the belt. You stole my heart just so you could break it for the entertainment of these idiots. I loved you, Samia. I loved you and what did you do to me? Why? Just tell me that."

"Rob, I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know how I got here…" she said, holding the back of her head and looking around the room.

"Just stop there," he snapped, holding up a hand. "I don't want to hear another one of your watered down excuses. I can't believe I didn't see it coming." He dropped his head into his hand and took in another deep breath. "Just tell me one thing. Were you sleeping with Michaels when you and I were…" His words trailed off, unable to finish the question.

"Rob, I don't know anything else except that I love you and you have been the only man in my life in several years. I love you. I don't know what all this confusion is about but I…"

He put up his hand again to stop her. "Whatever. Don't bother showing up for 'work' again. If you want to work here again, take that up with your friends because you aren't employed with me anymore."

"Rob…" Samia reached for him but he was so inflamed that he harshly pushed her hand away. Shawn drew back to punch him, but Nash grabbed his arm and just shook his head.

Van Dam turned to go before he was in more trouble than he could get out of. "Thanks for nothing…Angel," he sarcastically drawled over his shoulder as he disappeared out the door.

"This is not good, King. I just can't believe she's a conniving Jezebel. This is not good," J. R. said, shaking his head.

"What's not good about it? I love it! Samia in the nWo! Can't get any better!" Lawler cackled.

"I don't know. I'm not sure she's in with the nWo. From what she said, I think something else is up…" J. R.'s train of thought quickly ground to a halt. "Wait a minute. Just last week you were calling her names I won't repeat."

"I reserve every right to change my mind," the former wrestler snapped in response.

"Yeah, and it's not like you don't do it frequently…" J. R. muttered under his breath.

TBC…