Chapter XIV: It Just Got Personal

"Wait," Shawn Michaels stated to Triple H, putting a hand across his chest. "Let me go. I want this. It's personal. If there's a problem, let loose. Hopefully, I'll see you when I get back." Hunter watched Shawn set his face and then take off down the ramp to interfere in Eddie Guerrero's and Booker T's match. He slid into the ring, pulling Guerrero down with him. He was back out of the ring before Nick Patrick saw him. It was the opportunity Booker T was looking for and he immediately had Guerrero rolled up for the pin. Shawn quickly made for the ramp but Benoit blindsided him from the side entrance. Benoit had Shawn beaten back down to the ring before Triple H was on him. Off the top-rope, Eddie frog-splashed Hunter down onto the hard floor surrounding the ring. The new Intercontinental champion dropped to his knee but opted not to go for the Spinarooni when he saw Guerrero rise from his risky move. Guerrero and Benoit double-teamed Shawn but not for long. Booker T catapulted over the ropes, taking out Benoit. The rest of the nWo finally arrived and the two men now turned tail and ran, with X-Pac taunting them.

After all that commotion, the nWo retired to their dressing room to prepare for the six-man tag match coming up. Booker's match was the second of the night while their tag match would be the fifth. Shawn and Nash plotted what they were going to do make the match interesting against Spike, Bubba Ray, and Undertaker. Such an odd combination they all agreed but Triple H, the Big Show, and X-Pac were hardly worried. The match commenced amidst chaos but then settled into a game of power and submission with a few trip-ups by Shawn and Kevin. In an unfair match-up, Hunter had Spike pinned. Instead of the nWo's music coming on, Guerrero was calling Shawn's name, his image on the big screen. Shawn chose to ignore him and began walking up the ramp.

"Don't walk away. I have something you might want to know about," Benoit announced. The camera pulled back to include him and Guerrero, and then another person came into focus. Samia was between the two, bound to a chair and gagged. Her clothes were rumpled and her hair was coming out of its braid. She looked like she was barely holding on to consciousness. "We've grown tired of your tawdry games. So we've chosen to end it all right here. Chris," Guerrero commanded in his thick accent, turning to look at him. An evil smile spread across Benoit's face. He raised a Singapore cane and brought it down across Samia's ribs. She tried to cry out in pain but the gag choked her. "If you don't leave us alone, this is only the icing on the cake of what we're gonna do to you and her next time," Eddie stated to reinforce his point. Benoit dropped the cane and the both of them walked away laughing.

Shawn finally gained his mobility and quickly left his friends behind in his search for Samia. He first found Margaret Salley and quickly described the room to her to see if she recognized it. The arena was so large he was afraid he'd never find her. The older woman was quickly on her radio, asking questions. She discovered the cameraman had been found and forced to reveal the location by the Undertaker. By radio, he led them to find Samia. He had her out of the chair and lying on the floor, all the restraints off her. In his anger, Shawn shoved the Undertaker away as he was tying his bandanna around a cut on her arm.

"I'm just trying to help," Taker growled.

"Then go find the paramedics," Shawn yelled at him.

"They're on their way," he retorted. Nash and Hunter were beside Shawn with the Big Show and X-Pac on the lookout for the dastardly duo that committed this act. The Undertaker realized that his presence wasn't wanted by far and slipped from the chaotic room as the paramedics arrived. Shawn never let Samia out of his sight. He rode in the ambulance and stayed with her except for when the doctor and nurses made him leave. He would then return to her side when permitted.

It wasn't long before Samia regained consciousness. She was thankful to awake to the sight of Shawn by her bed. The last she remembered was the Singapore cane whack Benoit took at her. She thought she recalled the Undertaker pulling her from the chair but assumed that it was just hopeful dreaming. "Hi, Angel. How you feeling?" he asked, rubbing a soft hand down her cheek but her reply was the mumbling of some ugly words at him. "Say that again?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Why is it that I seem to beg to be beaten?" she moaned. "Is it written on my forehead? Am I doomed to walk forever in wrestling with bruises?"

"I guess so, Mia. You've got bruised ribs but nothing else major. Just take that whole incident with Heyman and multiply it by three…or four…or more." She groaned, remembering the whole Lesnar-Heyman incident. RVD immediately popped into her head as that was the night that had first kissed. She angrily dismissed the thought, Screw Rob, I don't even see him here. "I take it that Benoit's shot to your ribs wasn't the only thing they did to you."

She shook her head and grimaced. "There are things best left unsaid."

Shawn's face turned red as he rose from the chair beside the bed. "They didn't?" he breathed, so livid he could barely speak, afraid that one or both of them had forced themselves on her.

"Hold your horses. No, it wasn't that bad…I think," she breathed heavily and winced.

"They didn't, you know…" Shawn trailed off, unwilling to speak the crime, as if verbalizing the thought would make it real.

"No," she quickly replied, turning away from him, also not willing to entertain the thought.

"It du'n't matter," he responded through clenched teeth. "I will have their hides on my mantle."

"Just leave it be," Samia forcefully stated, putting a hand out as if to stop him. "I don't want to end up dead next time."

"If you stick with us, nothin', and I mean nothin', will ever happen to you," Shawn said, reaching over to take her hand.

"This isn't worth it. I want this career more than anything but, just when one set of injuries heal, something happens and there's a fresh set to take their place. I don't want it if this is the way it's gonna be," she replied to his offer, sighing and rubbing her temple where a headache was beginning to develop.

"I promise you—"

"Promise what?" Nash whispered, coming in the door. "Hey, chick, you're awake," he added in his normal voice and she weakly smiled at him. "So wha'cha promising, Shawn?"

Shawn took her hand in his and looked deep in her eyes. "That if she'll just let us, we won't let anything else happen to her—no more Heyman, Terri, Adrienne, Benoit, Guerrero, or whoever dares defy the nWo."

"I don't think anyone has been attacked by so many people in so little time," Nash commented with a smirk.

"Thanks," she responded through clenched teeth from pain and anger.

"I don't mean it that way. I'm just stating why you should let us, uh, 'protect' you," Kevin replied, this time more serious.

"Guys, I don't know. All that's on my mind right now is some Tylenol and my bed," she quietly spoke.

"I'll see what I can do," Nash said, patting her on the arm and heading out the door. He returned within minutes with her doctor in tow and she was soon released.

The two of them carefully got her back to her hotel room late that morning. Shawn promised to see her in bed and then leave but she woke to find him curled up in a chair, too small for his body, with an extra blanket and pillow. At first she was angered at him but then was touched at his gesture. The woman watched him for a few minutes. His breathing was slow and deep and he seemed to have been asleep for some time. His usual sharp features were softened and he barely looked like the hardened wrestler that he was. She couldn't imagine the sleeping giant before her now was one of the most feared men in wrestling. He was hardly anything to be afraid at the moment. His dark blonde hair had fallen over one of his eyes and she longed to push the lock back out of the way.

Samia made a determined effort to quietly rise from the bed but the springs creaked, giving her away. Shawn woke with a start and was immediately at her side before she could stop him. He sat her back down on the bed, chastising her in the process.

"Just tape my ribs up. I can still wrestle," she grunted and then laughed at his worry.

Shawn glared at her and replied, "This is no laughin' matter."

She straightened her face and calmly looked back at him. "Alright, Hugh Morrus, I'm not some delicate flower. I can take some knocks and keep going. Yeah, I'm hurting really bad right now but that doesn't make me an invalid." He shook his head at her but didn't verbally respond. "Besides, I have to be at work tonight. What time is it?" Samia asked, looking around for a clock.

"Three in the afternoon."

"I don't think I'm gonna make it on time," she slowly replied, thinking about a good excuse to keep her from getting into trouble for being late.

"I know you're not—not gonna make it at all. I called Margaret. You can take as much time as you need."

"But I want to go back," she insisted and tried to rise from the bed. "Oh, god," she loudly groaned as every muscle in her body protested. She lowered herself back down and looked up at Shawn with wide eyes. "Maybe I need a few days after all."

"You done now?" he asked, like a mother annoyed by her child's impertinence. "Lay back down." He grabbed the extra pillow and stuck it behind her. "I'm here whether you like it or not. Deal with it because I'm not leavin'." He folded his arms and stared down at her. "With that straight'ned out, do you want me to go get you somethin' to eat? You name it. What do you want?"

"Some painkillers and a shower. The latter I can do by myself," she quickly added with a cheeky grin. Shawn couldn't keep the smile off his face as hurriedly found her pills and then helped her into the shower as much as she would let him. He left her in bathroom to run out to grab them a bite to eat and returned to find her in the chair he had occupied, wrapped up in a terry bathrobe and looking over her appointment book. She had some papers and pictures fanned out across the table. When she heard Shawn come in, she gathered up the papers before he saw them and stuffed them in a file on the table.

"I hope you don't mind Burger King," he stated, setting the brown paper bag down on the table and making the smell of fresh hamburgers waft from the bag. "It can't be any worse than that pen you're chewing on."

She kind of looked shocked when he made the statement about the pen. "Bad habit," she replied, jerking it out of her mouth as he sat down in the other chair across the little table from her. "The pay-per-view is this coming weekend. They really need me," she said, tapping the appointment book with her pen. "But…but…I want to go home, Shawn." Her face screwed up, threatening tears. "I need to go back to Atlanta. Just for a week or so."

A couple of pictures peeked out from the corner of the manila folder and he casually tugged at them while she stared at her schedule. One was of her and RVD in formal dress standing in a theatre foyer. He didn't recognize the couple in the second picture but he knew the young girl sandwiched between the two had to be Samia. He deduced that the beautiful dark-haired, dark-skinned woman dressed in a red evening gown was Samia's Arabian mother and the tall, red-headed gentleman in a tuxedo was her father. The three were standing in front of the FOX theatre, playbills in hand, and wide grins on their faces. He had a guess as to what was wrong. "Samia, are you okay? Do you need to talk?"

She took a deep breath and wiped away a tear. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to go home. A weekend here and there isn't gonna do it. Just a week, maybe."

"I'm glad you suggested it because Kevin's takin' you back tomorrow when he goes home for a couple of days of vacation. It's not like y'all don't live less than thirty minutes apart," HBK said as if it was nothing.

"Shawn! I can't believe you," she replied indignantly. "I'm not some helpless girl that can't do things for herself."

"I'm not saying you are. Look, I just want to help."

She fell silent for a moment. "Fine, I'll go with Kevin."

"Good. Now eat your hamburger before it gets any colder," Shawn said, digging into the paper bag where the top had begun to unfold on its own.

"There you go again, telling me what to do. You're lucky I was gonna do it anyhow," she replied, smiling and digging into her food like she hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Good to see you still have your appetite." He took a couple bites of his hamburger but then curiosity got the best of him. "I've been wondering something. If your mother is Middle Eastern, how did you end up lily white with blonde and red hair?"

"Something I've always wondered too. My grandfather met my grandmother while stationed in Saudi Arabia. He was as Irish as Irish gets. She was a dark goddess. You should have seen her. My mother looked just like her. They came back to the U. S. and she met my dad who was an Irish-American. He had this flaming red hair that Mom always made fun of him for…Anyway, I must take after my dad and grandfather. I can't believe I have that much Arabian in me and nothing to show for it."

"Interesting."

"Yeah, I really miss them. After the car wreck, everybody said it would get easier but it doesn't seem too," she softly said, feeling like she was on the verge of tears again. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure…Oh, I stopped by the front desk and you had a message," he said, digging into his pocket and producing a memo. She took it from him to read. The woman smiled, folded the paper, and tucked it in her briefcase. "What was that all about?" he asked around a mouthful of burger.

"Just a call from a friend at work checking on me." She didn't dare admit that the note read, "Just stopped in to check on you. –Mark." She couldn't believe the Undertaker even cared enough to come by. It's not like we have any connection other than a few comments here and there, she thought to herself but nonetheless was still delighted at his concern.

"Really? Who?" Shawn asked between bites.

"Maybe it's from my secret admirer. Would that bother you?" she answered slyly.

"Maybe," he replied, shrugging his shoulders and popping a fry into his mouth.

"Maybe?"

"Yeah, maybe." Samia smiled to herself at the thought of Shawn being concerned about a secret admirer.

TBC…