Author's Note: Okay, I promised it would pick up, and I lied... Sorry!! I'll tell you though, in like a month from this point in the story there's going to be a PPV match between Kane and Matt. Just to tease you! Anyway, thanks to huntersgirl, Lindsey, Melissa, Latisha C, and ChArMeDcRaZiChIcK for the reviews. Please keep them coming!

Everything you say to me

Takes me one step closer to the edge

And I'm about to break

I need a little room to breathe

'Cause I'm one step closer to the edge

And I'm about to break

I find the answers aren't so clear

Wish I could find a way to disappear

All these thoughts they make no sense

I find bliss in ignorance

Nothing seems to go away

Over and over again

-One Step Closer by Linkin Park

Inside of Me

Chapter 5

Mina put her hair back into a half-ponytail, Randy watching TV beside her. Mina made a face at the mirror, elastic band in place, and tossed her brush into her duffel bag. Internally, she debated what to do today. 'The flight for the next RAW show leaves Thursday night, so I really have two days here,' she smiled a little, grateful that she wasn't assigned to autograph sessions, interviews, and whatnot just yet. 'I obviously need to talk to Kane... And I want to spend some time with him before the next show. I have to talk to Mr. McMahon too,' she realized with a cringe. It was doubtful that the McMahon would want to fire her, but she didn't want to start off on the wrong foot with him. After all, she did owe him an apology. She'd walked out on her Women's Championship match; a match that some girls in the back would give a limb to have.

As Mina zipped up her duffel bag, she decided what to do. First off, she was going to find Vince McMahon and apologize as soon as humanely possible. Then she'd see Kane. Nodding to herself, she slung the duffel bag onto the bed, plopping down on it and watching the TV, her feet tapping rhythmically against the footboard to the bed.

A loud knocking at the door interrupted a particularly annoying commercial, and Mina looked over at Randy. "I'm supposing they're here for you," she told him, "Seeing as how no one knows I'm here." 'And the fact that no one knows me enough to visit me...' she thought to herself, but shrugged it off. She'd make more friends soon enough. Randy slowly made his way to the door. Mina swallowed her curiosity and stared at the TV.

"Hello?" Randy said sleepily as he opened the door.

"Where is my daughter?"

Mina's head flew up, her eyes jerking to the door, immediately recognizing the voice as her mother's. Groaning inwardly, she banged the back of her foot against the bed. This was just not her day today, way it? Sighing, she began to stand.

Randy eyed Lita Hardy, his palm flat on the door and his body blocking any view of the room she might have. He didn't say a word to the woman. "I know she's here, Randy," Lita spit out the words, leveling Randy with a dirty glare. 'What did I do to deserve that?' Randy wondered, but pushed it aside.

"Yeah, she's here," he said finally.

"Let me in. I want to talk to her."

Randy raised an eyebrow. "Number one, sweetheart," he said, knowing fully well this was irritating the woman beyond belief, "You don't command me, or Mina. Number two, what you want and what's going to happen aren't always the same. If Mina wants to talk to you, then you'll get to talk with her." He challenged her with a look, but she just clenched her jaw, sensing that a fight with him would be useless. Randy turned, spotting Mina a few feet behind him. "Do you want to talk with her?" he asked.

Mina sighed heavily. "I guess. I mean, I can't exactly run from the inevitable." Randy pushed the door open a little more, and Mina brushed past him, giving him a small smile, and then turned to Lita. Randy tentatively shut the door, knowing they needed their privacy. The two redheads stared at each other, not saying a word.

"What are you doing in his hotel room?" Lita demanded suddenly.

Mina felt the anger creep up her. "Funny how that's none of your business," she answered stiffly. Lita took a step forward, grasping Mina's forearm.

"He's twenty years older than you!" she shouted, obviously coming to the conclusion that Mina was dating Randy. "You can't date him!"

Despite the fact that it was not true, Mina felt her feathers ruffling, so to speak. Her eyes narrowed, and she snatched her hand back. Generally, she tried to be patient and polite, but as of this moment, she had so much bottled up anger, it spewed from her mouth in cold words. "Do not touch me," she hissed through gritted teeth. "And as for Randy? We're not dating, but he's a real nice guy. Maybe we'll hit it off," the last part was unlikely, but it was a potshot to Lita. She judged her dates on personality, and everything else became second to that. Still...it was more unlikely than probable. "And, hey, do you know what makes him a good guy?" she didn't wait for her mother to respond. "He's there for me," she tilted her head. "Kinda like family is supposed to be, eh?" she tossed her hair behind her shoulders. "Then again, what do I know?" her eyes captured the snarl forming in her. "I don't have a family to relate to."

"Listen to me," Lita's anger had been spiked as well. "You better stop this ridiculous immaturity right now. Yes, we lied to you. We thought it was best for you. You're off making this hundreds times bigger than it needs to be. It's because of your immaturity that wherever Matt and I go, we get stared at."

Mina didn't know when it happened, but she snapped. "Fuck you," she hissed with such conviction it momentarily stunned Lita out of her fury. "You just don't understand, do you? You never did. And what the hell do you mean that its because of me that you get stared at? It's because of your own fucking mistake, and you're taking it out on me. If you wouldn't have slept with Kane than this wouldn't be happening," she hissed.

"And you wouldn't be alive," Lita said, surprised. How did she know about Kane? It hit her almost immediately: Randy.

"I'm starting to think that would be more acceptable in your eyes," Mina retorted sourly, and turned on her heel, her hand on the doorknob. Behind all of the anger, she felt tears brewing. She didn't like fighting with her mother at all, but when she was so blatantly wrong it was hard.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lita asked.

"Again, it's none of your business," she tilted her head. "Maybe I'm getting drunk. Maybe I'm getting laid. Maybe I'm cutting myself. Maybe I'm going to sleep. Any way, it is none of your frigging business what I do anymore," she turned the knob.

"You owe Matt and me an apology!" Lita shouted after her. Mina turned.

"You want an apology? Fine," she glared at her mother, struggling inwardly to keep the tears at bay. "I'm sorry that I was created from the mistake you made. I'm sorry I turned out to be such a screw up in your eyes. I'm sorry that I'm alive. And hey, who knows? Maybe I'll die tomorrow. That would make your life so much easier, wouldn't it?" she snapped. Mina whirled around, feeling the first tear slide down her cheek as she stumbled into the room.

She stood there for a moment, motionless except for the trembling of her body. Randy, lying on the bed with his arms over his head, looked at her and sat up immediately, concern in his eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Mina took a few steps and sat down next to him. She felt like she was on the peak of a mountain, off balance, ready to fall on either side: fury or sadness. Randy's brow furrowed as he studied her, rubbing her back with one hand. "It's okay... It's gonna be okay..." he told her soothingly. She shook her head slowly, her lips parting slightly, a half of a sob sounding.

"No it's not," she whispered, "It's not going to be okay," she pursed her lips tightly as the first tears began to fall. Randy used his other hand to squeeze hers. She buried her head in his shoulder and let the tears take over. Randy gently patted her hair. It stirred a pit of anger deep within him that Kane, Lita, and Matt were so oblivious to Mina's feelings in what was going on; in this game. Because that was really what it was.: A game of tug-of-war. It had been the same way nearly twenty years earlier. Matt and Kane arguing for Lita, and now all three arguing for Mina. It bothered him that Lita, who should've been the one to understand Mina the most, was, in fact, the one causing her most of the pain. Randy frowned.

He was going to have to have a talk with Lita.