Chapter X: Plans Begin to Unfold

"I have to sit down," Samia bluntly stated and began swaying. Shawn and Hunter reached out a hand to steady her and then helped her to the sofa while Nash checked outside the door one more time to make sure RVD wasn't coming back with security, although Kevin doubted it.

Samia was beyond confused and her pounding head wasn't helping. She put her head in her hands and barely choked out, "Will somebody find me some aspirin or somethin', please?"

"Lay back down," Shawn pulled her down into his lap again. He found the ice bag and tenderly held it to her head.

"Okay, I give," she sighed, rubbing her eyes. "What just happened?"

"Funny thing—but totally true—Hunter was leaving, opened the door, and you just fell in the room…like a godsend," he said as if it was a miracle.

"I'm leaving," she groaned and tried to rise.

"Okay, really," Shawn said and pushed her back down. "Hunter found you outside our door. You were unconscious with a nasty bump on the back of your head," HBK said, toying with her hair.

Nash chimed in, "Apparently you were in two places at one time and didn't know it. While you were passed out on our couch, Benoit interrupted RVD's match, costing him the belt, and took the camera man into his dressing room. It was beyond trashed. Someone with your shirt on had apparently spray painted our logo on everything."

"Oh, god…did y'all do it?" Samia asked, looking up at Shawn and then at the other guys in the room.

"No," they all responded at the same time.

"Did you set Benoit up to do it?"

"No," they all responded again.

She started to fiddle with her ring, which had become a habit. It wasn't there. "It's gone! I can't believe it!" she exclaimed, sitting up bolt right. The room swam and she leaned on the back of the couch.

"What's gone, Angel?"

"The ring Rob gave me—it's gone. I lost it…or she took it!" Samia almost broke down crying from all that had transpired in just a few minutes. "It's just not true. This isn't happening," she stammered, pushing herself up from the sofa. Shawn reached out a steadying hand but she pushed him away and stumbled for the door. Grabbing the handle, she turned around and choked out, "Don't you understand you can't force someone into something they don't want?" She slammed the door behind her, but they could still hear her sobs as she attempted to race down the hall towards Rob's dressing room, holding onto the wall and willing herself to put one foot in front of the other.

Samia took a deep breath before pounding on the door, trying to calm her breathing and clear her head. "Rob!" She waited for him to answer the door since she could hear him inside. "Rob, please answer the door! Please!"

Van Dam finally appeared. "You are made for them. You just don't know when to quit. Leave me alone," he yelled and pushed past her. She lost her balance and fell against the frame, sliding down to the floor as she watched him stalk off. The floodgates opened again.

The room was silent as a devastated Samia staggered out the door. They all turned to look at each other but X-Pac broke the silence. "She's been too much trouble. I say we just let her go. There ain't much more we can do to RVD."

Nash ignored X-Pac's comment and nudged Michaels with his elbow. "Shawn, now's your chance. Go get her, man."

"I'm not using her when she's hurt." Four heads simultaneously turned to stare at HBK in shock. Shawn not use a girl?

"What?" Kevin exclaimed. "You want to 'prove' the truth to her? That we had nothing to do with it and it was all Benoit's doing? Put her and RVD back together? Break down everything that we've worked for to get her in?"

"What do we need her for now anyway?" X-Pac interjected, mad that no one was paying attention to what he had to say. "Benoit and Guerrero did our dirty work. Whether she comes with us or not, it's just as good as a turn."

"Au contraire, my friend, she's easy pickin's, a nobody. It's like My Fair Lady, except we never fall for her and we reap all the benefits…You know, My Fair Lady, 'enry 'iggins, the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain?" Nash waved at the blank stares. "Never mind," he muttered. Despite all that had been said, Shawn didn't respond. "Fine. Go put them back together for all I care."

Shawn quietly stood from the sofa and headed out the door. He found Samia still in the floor sobbing and squatted down beside her. "Angel," he softly spoke and she just glared at him. "Samia, will you hear me out?" The woman then looked back up at him, tears still streaming, and nodded.

He held a hand out to her and pulled her to her feet. The dressing room was too much of a reminder, so he searched out a secluded spot to talk. "Mia…can I call you 'Mia'?" he asked as they settled on some crates in a deserted hallway.

"It's better than 'Sammy,'" she sniffed.

"That's so not you. You're more delicate than 'Sammy,'" he said, making the word sound so ugly. She tried not to laugh but a giggle slipped through. "'Mia' is so much prettier—short and cute, just like you."

"Quit buttering me up...hey, I'm not short."

"To everyone else around here, you are. As to the rest, I'm just being honest." She cocked her head at him as he continued, "I really seriously want to talk to you. I want you to know that we had absolutely nothing to do with what happened tonight. All of us really want you to know that and believe us." With the exception of X-Pac for the moment, he thought. "I'm not gonna give you any lines about joining up with us even though that doesn't mean we don't want you anymore. Now that Rob's walked out on you, you are still more than welcome to hang with us," Shawn sweetly said and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. She nodded and wiped away a few trickling tears. "If you still want to work in the WWE, one of us will find a way to get you a job here."

"Why do I believe you?" she sighed.

"Because I've got one of those faces?" he asked with a smile and she only shook her head. His face straightened and then he commented, "Maybe because it's the truth?" There was a moment of silence. "You need to see someone about that bump on your head. You weren't out long but we might want to be sure."

"Yeah, I guess so. Thanks," she said and rose to go.

"I'll go with you," he quickly added and, to his surprise, the woman didn't protest.

Samia held on to his arm but she was steady on her feet again and her vision had cleared, except for the remnants of her crying. The trainer seemed to be satisfied with that but he wanted her to stay with someone throughout the night, just in case. She ignored that comment, thanked him, and Shawn rejoined her from where he was leaning up against the wall, watching the man check her over.

"Everything's all right, so…" she trailed off, debating what she needed to do next.

"I guess you need a ride back to the hotel."

"I can take a taxi," she said with a sigh and started to rise.

"I can't let you do that," he countered and put a hand on her arm to stop her. "I'm not sure you even need to be alone tonight. You're really upset and the trainer wasn't too thrilled about you staying alone either." She shot him a questioning look and he shrugged his shoulders and replied, "I heard what he said."

She looked down and her mouth formed a silent 'oh.' "I think you're right, but who…all of my friends are his friends and I don't think they're gonna be nice to me…ever…Do…do you think I could…stay with you for this evening?" she asked, staring at her feet and digging the toes of her flats in the floor at the chair.

Shawn slipped his hand under her chin, drawing her eyes up to look up at him. "I was hoping so. Come on, let's go. Did you bring anything with you?"

"Yeah, I've got a bag that I hope is still in the dressing room. Ever since that impromptu match with Terri, I don't leave without 'impromptu' gear." She made rabbit ears in the air. They headed back to the room and dug around in the mess until her bag was recovered.

Shawn glanced around and mused, "All probably Benoit and Guerrero. They were on our good side. Not anymore." She picked up her bag and looked around the room, a few more tears slipping out. "Don't do this to yourself. Let's go," he said, wiping one away with his thumb. She didn't draw back and he slipped an arm around her to lead her back to the nWo's room. "Samia's gonna hang with us tonight. Okay?" he explained, not expecting anything other than the nods of agreement. Samia timidly curled up on the corner of the couch to quietly watch RAW. After a couple of matches, the Big Show and X-Pac headed out for their tag-team match and the room became a little quieter.

Shawn settled down beside her. "After this match, I'm gonna take you back to the hotel and stay with you for the night."

"No, no, that's alright. I…" she trailed off, the realization hitting her. "Rob and I had a room together. I don't even know where I'm gonna stay."

"With us," he answered.

"I'll just get another room. It's no problem."

"Just let us, at least, this once. You already agreed that you don't need to be alone tonight."

"I meant that for the rest of RAW," she replied but then added with a slightly sarcastic smile, "but I knew you'd turn it into something else."

"Who? Me?" he asked in mock offense.

"Alright," she sighed and Shawn gave her a big grin before heading over to whisper with Kevin and Hunter for awhile. She didn't have the energy to care about what they were hiding from her.

Big Show and X-Pac finally returned. "Tough match, guys. Thought we were gonna have to come out and get you out of trouble. We're going back to the hotel. Go back and get some rest or y'all and Hunter can head out on the town," Shawn explained, massaging X-Pac's shoulders. Both of the tired wrestlers declined. "We're out of here then," Shawn said, jerking his head toward Samia. "See ya, t'morrow."

Samia rose from her place on the sofa, clutching her bag to her. She couldn't believe she was going back with him but she definitely didn't want to attempt to get into RVD's room or spend the night alone. "Let's go, chick," Nash said, putting a hand on her back and propelling her towards the door.

"What're we doin'?" Samia whispered to Shawn inside the limo on the way to the hotel.

"I'm gonna see you settled in mine and Kevin's room—he's staying with Hunter—and then me, Kev, and Hunter are gonna have a long discussion about Benoit and Guerrero and RVD."

"Please don't hurt him," she quietly pleaded.

"What?"

"Rob—please don't hurt him. He's been through enough," Samia replied despite his shocked face. He should have known that she would still stand up for him even though he had treated her the way he did that night and refused to listen to her. Shawn said nothing and Samia figured nothing else said would change his mind anyhow.

Nash and Helmsley disappeared into the adjoining room and pulled the door to while Shawn picked up around the room. Samia wanted to tell him to 'never mind,' she'd seen it all before. "I can take it from here," she said, interrupting his stashing of clothing. "Really, have your little conference or whatever. I'm gonna shower and lay down."

"How's your head?"

"It's still throbbing but, at least, it's a dull hurt now. You can go," she answered, nudging him towards the other room.

"I'm gonna wake you up when you can have more aspirin and every few hours. Standard for a possible concussion," he added the last when she raised her eyebrows in question. Samia thought she remembered reading that somewhere, so she didn't argue and just nodded. HBK did as he said but then left her alone after late morning to sleep as long as she needed. He knew it would be late before she really woke up after such an exhausting night.

No one was in the room when she did wake. Freshening up, she pulled on the jeans and sweatshirt from last night before leaving. There was a keycard on the television and she thought about taking it but she didn't want to stay another night in his room. The one she and Rob had shared was two floors up and she was not looking forward to facing him to retrieve her belongings.

However, he wasn't there to face. All of her luggage was sitting outside the door and he was gone or wasn't answering the door. It didn't matter because the key was forgotten in their hurry to get to the arena last night. She was so numb from it all and the luggage in the hallway didn't faze her. With nothing else to do, she made sure she was checked out of their room as well and into another.

Samia needed some time to decide what to do next. Should she give up and go home? Should she try to talk to Rob again? Reservations for the flight to the next town still stood and she could reroute it back to Atlanta tomorrow if need be. She was absentmindedly flipping through papers of reservations, expense reports, and an odd assortment of others while debating on what she would have for supper. She was still tired but her head no longer hurt unless she touched the knot on it. However, the spurned woman would have preferred to eat in then sit in a restaurant alone.

Apparently someone was listening in on her wavelength as Shawn Michaels showed up at her door with a dinner proposal.

"How'd you know this was my room?" she asked before giving him her reply.

He flashed that mysterious grin but moved on. "So, you are coming? You can finally take me up on getting drinks together."

"I don't know."

Triple H's gruff voice sounded from behind him. "Come on. We wouldn't let you go with just Shawn. We don't trust him either," he said with a slight laugh and he and Kevin joined HBK.

Shawn turned back to her after winking at Hunter. "So?"

"I guess," she responded, trying to fiddle with her ring that wasn't there, which reminded her of how heavy her heart and mind was. "I have nothing else to do."

"Geez, Mia, that was too easy," Shawn replied with a laugh.

"You want me to say 'no?'"

"Never mind."

TBC…