Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you recognize. I only own Amanda and the names of Dave's daughters as well as any other name in here you do not recognize. Heather owns Gavin, as well as herself.
A/N: Did not order the Backlash PPV from April. I've basically combined both rosters now, cause well it's my fic, and that's how I want it to be. Reviews are greatly appreciated.
Chapter 25
Amanda, Randy, Jamie
Amanda slowly walked down the hall towards Stephanie's office. She had been sitting in Randy's locker room, when Beau, another writer for Raw, came and said that Stephanie wanted to see her. Knowing that she knew about her and Randy dating, she figured it wasn't about mixing business with pleasure, so to speak. Trying to figure out what she could possibly need to talk to just her for, Amanda found herself standing in front of the closed door, that simply read 'Stephanie McMahon-Levesque' Gathering up her courage she knocked, and waited till she heard a pleasant 'come in' before opening the door.
"Hi Steph, Beau said you wanted to see me?" Amanda said nervously, walking into the room, and sitting down across from her boss.
"Yeah Amanda. I've been meaning to talk to you the last couple of days actually. You've just seemed so distant lately, and I'm sad to say, it's starting to reflect your work. I was just wondering if there was something going on, and that you might need to talk to someone. If you do, I am more than willing to listen. A lot of the creative staff has noticed you seem more tired and jumpy lately. Do you need to take a bit of a vacation? I mean, you have been working practically non stop since you were hired. I'd really hate to see you burn out, cause you're one of the best writers we have on this brand." Stephanie said, concerned for one of her staff.
"I'm fine Steph. I'll admit; I've had quite a bit on my mind lately. I promise I will not let this affect my job anymore. I wasn't even aware how this had been affecting my work, so I'm glad that you talked to me about it before it was too late, and I ended up fired or whatever." Amanda replied casting the fake smile she had been using a lot, as of late.
"Okay, well you're free to go. Just remember what I told you, if you need anyone to talk to, or you feel you need a break for a week or anything, just let me know." Stephanie said a warm smile on her face.
"I will, thanks Stephanie." Amanda said, hurrying out of the office. Deciding to take the long way back to Randy's locker room, trying to think over some things, Amanda ran into a hard body. Stumbling backwards a bit, the person grabbed her arm lightly, to keep her from falling causing her to scream. "NO!" She yelled, right before her hand made contact with his face.
"Shit. Manda, girl, are you okay? Matt, go find Randy he should probably be in his locker room." Jamie said, as her tag team partner for the night, Matt Hardy ran in the direction that Jamie pointed at. "Manda, try and calm down. You're going to make yourself sick, just calm down and tell me what's wrong." Jamie said grabbing her friend in a hug, as Amanda just sunk down onto the floor in unstoppable tears.
"Amanda, beautiful, what's wrong? Come on talk to me. What happened?" Randy asked, trying to wrap his arms around her in a hug, only to be shoved away by Amanda.
"Manda, come on. Randy's here, let him get you back to the locker room." Jamie said, kneeling down beside one of her best friends, while Matt tried to talk to Randy.
"Listen, I know what this is. I've gone through it with Jeff. Man you got to watch how you do things, when people are in this situation you got to handle it delicately or it'll push them over the edge." Matt said, trying to give Randy some insight on how to handle whatever was upsetting Amanda like this.
"You know what Hardy, why don't you just keep your little North Carolina redneck opinions to yourself." Randy said, getting frustrated at Matt telling him how to treat his own girlfriend.
"Listen man, if you want to help her, then you need to realize that she's not in the right frame of mind right now. Look at her; she obviously doesn't even realize that it's you that just tried to hug her." Matt yelled, getting right back in Randy's face, causing Amanda's cries to grow louder.
"Would you two get your fuckin heads out of your fuckin asses? It doesn't matter who's right in this. Randy, Matt has a point. If he's gone through this with his brother before, then he obviously knows how to handle this. Matt, Randy's right too. None of us even know why she's like this now, and all either one of you two jackasses can do is stand here and bitch at each other. Well I'm telling you to grow the fuck up and get over it." Jamie yelled at the guys, as they both started blushing a bit at the fact they were most definitely in the wrong. "Now, Manda, sweetie, let me help you back to Randy's locker room. You can get yourself cleaned up there, and you two definitely have to talk." Jamie said, trying to help her friend calm down.
Rae and Dave
Dave and Rae had been sitting in his locker room, getting ready for his match that night, when Dave's cell phone started ringing.
"Babe, can you grab that? I need to go get my knee wrapped up real quick." Dave asked, grabbing his slide on brace from his bag, while Rae answered the phone.
"Kaitlynn calm down sweetie. What's going on?" Rae asked, trying to get the 15 year old to calm down enough, to make rational sense. Dave hearing the panic in Rae's voice, immediately went back over to her, and tried to get the phone.
"I need my Daddy. He's got to help us Rae." Kaitlynn cried, looking over at her sister.
"Okay, hang on. He's right here, you can talk to him." Rae said, hoping that would calm her down enough so she could talk to him.
"Princess, what's the matter?" Dave asked the concern showing on his features immediately.
"Daddy, you need to come get us. He tried to hit Nicole, and I stopped him, and so he hit me. Mom doesn't believe us, and she told us to get out of her house." Kaitlynn cried, the tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Okay princess. Where are you girls at now?" Dave questioned the unadulterated hate coursing through his veins, at his ex wife and her new husband.
"She brought us over to Nana's. Nana said she'd bring us to the airport if you'd get us tickets and everything." Kaitlynn answered calming down a bit, as she talked with her father.
"That's fine. Let me call the airlines and tell Nana I'll call her back with the information. Are you and Nicole okay now?" Dave questioned, knowing that both his girls had to be hurting. If not physically, then most definitely emotionally.
"Yeah, we're fine." Kaitlynn lied, not wanting to tell her dad about the bruises both she and her sister have.
"Alright, well I'm going to call the airlines now, and get you girls booked on a flight. Rae may have to be the one to pick you up, depending on what time your flight will be in. I'll call you back as soon as I find out everything." Dave said, before saying his goodbyes to his daughter.
"Dave, what was that all about?" Rae questioned, having pieced together a bit of information, just from what she'd heard Dave say.
"Angie better hope and pray that I never see her new husband on the street. I'm not sure I'd be able to control my temper if I do. That son of a bitch put his hands on my daughter, and then Angie kicked them both out, and basically said she doesn't believe our children. If it comes down to it, could you possibly go and pick them up from the airport for me? They're at my mom's house right now, and she'll drive them to the airport, but I don't know if I'll be able to make it out there to get them." Dave asked, trying to find the number to Delta in his phone.
"It's no problem. Honey, let me call the airlines. You go and try to calm down some. I'll get everything taken care of for you, and once it's all straightened out, you can call your mom and let her know." Rae offered her own hate for Angie and this jackass of a husband she has, growing by the minute.
"Thanks babe. I'll be down at the trainers' room, if you get done before I'm back." Dave said before walking out of the room, trying to clear his mind for his match tonight.
John, Heather, and Gavin
"Honey, are you going to take Gavin in for that paternity test tomorrow?" John asked, while he and Heather were waiting for the PPV to start.
"Yeah I mean I have to pretty much. If I don't, I'll go to jail, and who will wind up with Gavin? Either way, I'm going to lose. I don't have the kind of money and power that Paul does, I mean, look at who his father in law is. How can I compete with that?" Heather said, feeling her world starting to crumble more.
"Heather, I told you that night you told me about Paul being Gavin's father, that I wouldn't let anything happen to you or to OUR son. That is the promise I made, and it will be the promise I keep too. Just because some paternity test will show that he is his father, does not mean that some judge is going to let him have full custody. I mean, by the time you found out you were pregnant; he was already on the road, and in some other town. How in the world could any judge say you could have tried to get a hold of him?" John asked, trying to get Heather to think positive.
"Yeah, but financially he can give Gavin a better life than I could. I mean, he's the Billion Dollar Princess' husband. He's got to have something. You know he'll try and use that fact, and say that he could give Gavin a better home and life than me." Heather cried, as the warm tears started down her cheeks again.
"Hon, that won't be what the judge is looking for. They're going to look at who can provide a better home life. Not who can provide the most toys, or the best clothes. Besides, I don't think that any judge would just make a 3 year old that has never met Paul, just go and live with him. Trust me, it won't happen that way." John promised pulling Heather into a hug, hoping that what he just said would be close to the truth. He wasn't sure what would happen, if things went the way Heather feared.
Randy and Amanda
Once Jamie got Amanda back down to the locker room, and semi calm, she and Matt left the couple alone claiming to need to finish going over their match. After about 10 minutes of silence, Randy quietly called her name. "Amanda." He said, walking over to the other side of the room, to face her.
"I'm fine Randy. I was just scared by running into Matt, and everything. I was going over my talk with Stephanie, and it just startled me. I didn't mean to scare you hon." Amanda lied, her gaze not meeting Randy's. Although, part of it was not a lie, she had been going over her talk with Stephanie when she had bumped into Matt. Running his hand across his face in frustration, Randy had to bite his tongue from exploding in aggravation.
"Manda, what are you hiding from me? I mean, if you were only startled by bumping into Matt, like you say you were, then you wouldn't have reacted to me the way you did. I mean, damn it, you shoved me to the other side of the hallway. There's more to this, than you just going over this talk you had with Stephanie in your mind. Now tell me what is wrong? I just want to help you." Randy pleaded, noticing for the first time, just how scared and fragile his girlfriend seemed.
"Randy, I've told you, I'm fine. There is nothing wrong, I've just had a stressful day, is all." Amanda replied, the lies seeming to come easier each time she said them. Turning away from him again, and walking over to the couch, she sat down and started flipping through the folders she had for the next nights Raw.
"Bull shit Amanda!" Randy yelled, his patience finally gone. "You haven't been okay for awhile now. You're snippy with everyone, you haven't slept but maybe an hour a night, sometimes not even that. Hell, you've even got your own nephew, scared to death to come around you anymore, afraid you're going to yell at him or Heather or John. Why can't you just admit that there is something bugging you, so we can help you?" Randy asked, not knowing what else to say to make her understand.
"Damn it Randy. I've said I'm fine, why can't you just trust me on this? I'll work out whatever it is you think is wrong with me, on my own. I don't need to talk about it, because frankly, you wouldn't understand it anyways." Amanda yelled back, standing up and started pacing the length of the room.
"I don't understand, because you won't let me understand. Why can't you just see that I want to help you?" Randy asked, knowing in his mind and heart that he truly loved this girl, and would do anything to help her.
"I don't need your help….I don't know what I need anymore. It all just seems to be spinning out of control." Amanda finally broke down, her body shaking with sobs, as Randy was quick to grab her up in his arms and hold her. "I can't do this anymore. I need to get out of here. Can you take me away from here please?" Amanda half pleaded/half cried, while Randy just ran his hand up and down her back in a sort of calming effect.
"Alright beautiful, I'm not even supposed to be here anyways. I'll go tell Steph that we're leaving. Just sit back here, and I'll be right back." Randy said, leading her over to the couch.
Dave and Rae
"Okay, the girls' flight is at 6:30, and should be here about 8:40. I'll go to the airport and pick them up. I talked to Steph, and she knows what's going on, and she said it was fine. I gave Lucy the rest of my papers; I'll bring the girls back here as soon as I get them." Rae announced, when Dave came back into the locker room.
"Alright, I'll call my Mom and tell her to get the girls to the airport now. I just can't believe all this shit is happening. What in the hell is Angie thinking not believing her own daughters? I just hope I can stay on top of my game tonight, so to speak." Dave said, resting his head in his hands.
"Don't worry yourself sick. The girls are okay now, and you'll get them and have them with you. You can't go out there, with your mind clouded with all this. You just let me worry for you. I know that's a hard concept, but you can't let this get to you too much. You know what I'm saying is the truth, so just clear your mind. Call your mom, and tell her to put the girls on the flight, I'll get them, and bring them here, and your match will probably not even be on yet. You'll be able to see them for yourself before your match even starts." Rae told him, knowing it would be of little comfort, until he could see for himself that his girls were okay.
"Alright, well I'm going to go and meet with Paul and Ric to set up our match. Let me know before you leave, okay?" Dave asked, trying to put his mind into focus for his match, and show that he's not just a 30 minute champion.
"I will. Just make sure you call your Mom first, and I'd get a hold of an attorney like right now. Find out what your options are. If she doesn't believe her own daughters, who knows what else she may attempt to try." Rae advised not wanting to tell him what to do, but knowing that Angie could be capable of anything. Nodding his head in agreement, Dave set out to make his calls, and go meet with Flair and HHH.
Amanda and Randy
When Randy came back into the room, he saw Amanda curled up in a ball and in a fitful sleep. Noticing the tears still falling from her eyes, Randy felt tears welling up in his eyes in frustration and sadness. Of all the things he ever learned in his 25 years of life, nobody ever once told him how to deal with the knowledge of seeing someone you love so much, in so much pain, and not being able to help them. Walking over to the couch, Randy gently picked Amanda up in his arms, noticing she was starting to freak out he placed a light kiss on her forehead, and whispered to her that it was only him. Walking out of the locker room, he spotted Jamie, Heather, John, and Tyson up ahead, deciding to make a quick stop, he walked up to them.
"Hey guys, I'm going to take Amanda on back to the hotel. Could one of you possibly bring our stuff back to our room after the show?" He asked, while Heather just turned her head away from her sister.
"Yeah, we'll bring it down to you. Is she okay now?" Jamie asked, the concern she felt for her friend, showing on her face, the annoyance at Heather, and her attitude showing a bit as well.
"I'm not sure. She just wanted to get away from here. Stephanie has given her two weeks off from the shows, and everything. Apparently a lot of people have noticed the change in her as well." Randy answered, before saying a final goodbye to everyone, and heading out to the car.
Jamie, Heather, John, and Tyson
"Heather, don't you think you could possibly start to let this go now? I mean, it's obvious that there is something wrong with her, and she's apologized for what she said about Gavin." Jamie said, turning around to face her friend.
"Why should I have to go up to her? Why can't she come to me? You all are making her sound like the victim here, and she's not. If she wants to talk, she knows where to find me." Heather yelled, getting frustrated with everyone jumping on her about the fight with her sister.
"Hon, I know you're mad at her. I also know how much you've missed having her around. She's your sister, and right or wrong, good or bad you two need each other right now. Just think about what we're saying, that's all we're asking." John whispered, pulling Heather close to him.
"Yeah, you don't want to let something like this stop you from ever speaking to her again. There's not a day that goes by, that I don't wish I had the chance to talk to my sister again. We never had the chance to make peace with each other, before she died. Don't let something like that happen to you and Manda." Tyson said, looks of shock, crossing the faces of his 3 friends.
"Boo, you had a sister? How come you never talked about her?" Jamie asked, looking up at her boyfriend.
"It's too hard to sometimes. I just don't want to see you going through what I've gone through, Heather. I know you don't want that either. Just think about what we've all said to you, before it's too late." Tyson said, placing a sympathetic hand on Heather's shoulder, before walking away with Jamie.
Rae, Kaitlynn, and Nicole
"Thanks for picking us up Rae. Are we meeting Daddy back at the hotel?" Nicole asked, her voice no louder than a hoarse whisper.
"No sweetie, I told him I'd bring you girls to the arena so he can see you. You won't be watching his match or anything, but he's got awhile before his match even starts. I know he's worried to death about you two. You'll stay with us at the show tomorrow, and then your Dad will take you back to Arlington, and will settle things there." Rae said, hoping to alleviate any anxiety they may have had about being there.
"Okay, is he mad at us?" Nicole asked not wanting to know, but knowing she needed to know, before she could walk in and face him.
"No, he's not mad at you. What would make you think he'd be mad at you girls for?" Rae asked confused as to why they'd think that.
"All this stuff that's going on now that Mom doesn't want us anymore. Does he think we deserved this too?" Nicole questioned again, looking over at Rae in the drivers seat.
"You girls did nothing to deserve this. Just don't forget you're with your dad now, and he loves you very much. As for your mom...well, once you get back to Arlington everything will get worked out." Rae said what she did in a roundabout way, so that she didn't lie to the girls and give them a false hope about how things with their mom stood. She knew that the chances of their mom ever reconciling things with them, were slim to none. Looking into the backseat where Kaitlynn was sitting, Rae could see the silent tear tracks on the young girls face. The black sunglasses weren't fooling her though, as she had an idea of what exactly they were covering.
"Kaitlynn, what do you say when we get to the arena, we stop by the make up lady first, and see if she can cover up the bruise, before your Daddy sees ya?" Rae asked knowing the last thing Kaitlynn wanted, was to get Dave more upset at the situation.
"Okay." Kaitlynn answered quietly, leaning her head back against the window of the truck.
About 20 minutes later, Rae pulled the truck into the arena parking lot, and after making sure that both girls had something to do with them in the arena, they headed in first to find Jan, the make up lady, and then on to Dave.
"Rae, are you sure this stuff is going to work?" Kaitlynn asked, as Jan was applying a dark foundation and concealer on Kaitlynn's face.
"I don't know sweetie. It will work for now, but when we get back to the hotel, you're really going to need to talk to your Dad. Both you girls are, and tell him everything that happened." Rae replied, as Jan finished up with the make up. Saying a quick thank you, and asking Jan not to say anything to Dave, the trio made their way down to Dave's locker room. Knocking lightly on the door, it was yanked open not even a second later, by a frantic Dave.
"Oh thank God, you two are okay. You're both okay right? You know you can tell me anything, and I won't be mad at you?" Dave asked, firing off his questions before they even made it into the locker room.
"Hon, I told the girls they could talk to you about this, when we get back to the hotel." Right as Rae said this, a stagehand came and informed Dave his match was getting ready to start.
"Okay, we'll talk about this later. You girls just get comfortable, and I'll be back as soon as this match is over." Dave said, hugging both girls, and giving them a kiss, before walking to the door with Rae. "How are they really?" He asked in a hushed whisper. Knowing his mind would be scattered no matter what tonight, Rae decided to tell him the truth.
"Well physically, if they have any bruises or whatever, those will heal. Right now, their emotional health is what I'd be worried about. They're here, they're fine. Go out, and do what you do best, and kick HHH's ass. When you come back, we'll go get the girls some dinner, and take them back to the hotel, and you can sit down and talk with them." Rae said giving Dave a quick kiss for luck, before pushing him out the door.
Amanda and Randy
By the time Randy finally made it back to the hotel, he had to pull over twice because Amanda started screaming out in her sleep. Finally making it up to their room, Randy laid her down on the bed, and climbed in beside her, laying her head on his chest. He absentmindedly started running his fingers through her hair, and thought to himself. 'Why can't you just let me in beautiful?' After about a half hour of being back at the hotel, Amanda screamed out again, and this time, she bolted up right, almost knocking Randy off the bed.
"Amanda, what is it? Come on talk to me, you need to get this out." Randy said, gaining his balance back, and wrapped an arm around her, trying to get her into his embrace.
"No, just get away from me you're not going to hurt me. I never should have danced with you. I didn't mean to make you think I wanted to sleep with you." Amanda yelled, moving around on the bed, like she was trying to get away from whoever was in her dream. Like he had just been hit in the gut with a ton of bricks, Randy realized that the night at the club, and that bastard, had freaked her out more than she had let on.
"Beautiful, open your eyes. You're not near that guy anymore it's just me and you. Nothing happened to you that night you're safe now I promise. Just come on and open your eyes, and look at me." Randy begged the tears finally falling from his own eyes, as Amanda started hitting him to get him away from her.
"No, you're drunk. I just danced with you to get my boyfriend jealous, it was only for fun." Amanda said, struggling against who she thought was the guy from her nightmare, but was really fighting against Randy.
"Amanda, DAMN IT! Wake up, it's a dream, you just need to wake up and see that." Randy yelled, as finally Amanda started to come out of it. Looking up and seeing the tears in Randy's eyes, made Amanda finally break down and tell him.
"He wouldn't let me go. He said that I was a tease for dancing with him like I did, and that he was gonna get what he wanted now. I tried to get away from him, but he had my wrists so tight. I didn't think he'd ever let go, and then he dragged me off to a corner in the club, and he un buttoned and un zipped his pants, and shoved me up against the wall and lifted my dress up just enough you couldn't really see what was going on. You, John, Dave, and Tyson weren't there, and nobody would help me, even when I would scream." Amanda sobbed, collapsing in Randy's arms, as the sobs overtook her.
"Baby, I am always going to be there. I am always going to help you, and believe me nobody is ever going to put their hands on you like that again." Randy said, holding her tightly to him, and rocking them back and forth on the bed.
"I can't sleep, every time I try and close my eyes, I see that night, and I can still feel his hands when he ran them up and down my body. I just, I want my life back Randy. I want to be able to fall asleep at night, without being scared of what is going to happen in my dreams. I want to be able to make love to my boyfriend, and not freak that it's that asshole from the club. I just want to be able to feel alive again, and not scared that he's lurking around some corner waiting to get back at me for teasing him." Amanda said, the tears still running down her face. The emotional and mental anguish finally taking it's toll on her, as she just laid in her boyfriends strong arms, not knowing if her life would ever be the same again.
"Sweetie, I think maybe you should get some professional help. This thing has become bigger than you can handle, and I think you need someone who can help you come to terms with it." Randy gently said, not knowing how she would react to someone suggesting she go see a therapist.
"So you think I'm crazy? You get me to tell you what the hell is wrong with me, just so you can say I should go see a fuckin therapist? What the hell Randy? I'm not fuckin crazy I don't need to seek professional help. I would have been perfectly fine in not talking about this, but you just had to keep badgering me about this. I won't go talk to some fuckin stranger, who doesn't know jack fuckin shit about any of my problems." Amanda yelled, her anger taking over any guilt or grief or sadness she had felt.
"I don't think you're crazy. You're not the same person, and this is eating you up inside. You have to talk to someone who is able to help you to deal with this shit. Come here." Randy said, well somewhat ordered, pulling Amanda gently off the bed, and into the bathroom, and made her look in the mirror. "I want you to look at this girl right here. That is not the same girl that I used to argue with in the middle of the hallways at arenas. That girl wouldn't take shit from anybody. Please baby, just let someone help you. You say that I wouldn't understand, and that a therapist wouldn't understand, but you need to make someone understand what you are feeling. I hate seeing you so torn up like this." Randy said, wrapping his arms around her waist, and resting his chin on the top of her head. Turning around in his arms, Amanda hugged herself tightly too him.
"I'm scared Randy. I don't want to have to live like this, but I just can't get rid of the images from that night. All that kept going through my mind was that I was being punished for trying to get to you like that. I only meant for it to be in fun, and I know you did too." Amanda started, feeling the anger rising again, before continuing. "Why did I have to come up with that stupid plan for? If I hadn't, we could have just walked off the plane that morning, and everyone would have known we are dating. I just had to carry on with that payback, and be such a fuckin child about everything. I brought this on myself Randy. I know I did. It's my fault that this is happening to me and I just gotta deal with it." She finished, her voice almost muffled by Randy's shirt.
"No. I'm not going to let you blame yourself for this, you hear me? This is not your fault. What happened to you was not your fault. You did not ask for that sick bastard to think that dancing with him, would lead to anything more than that. I've got an idea. What do you say that tomorrow morning, you and I, we had down to your place, and spend a week down there, and then next week, we'll fly up to St. Louis and stay at my place for a week?" Randy suggested, pulling away from their hug, long enough to notice Amanda shaking her head in response.
"I need to make an appointment somewhere to see a therapist." She said quietly, realizing that she'd never get better unless she did.
"Ok." Randy said kissing her head. "So we'll fly down to your place and stay there, and you can see a therapist."
"Will you come with me?" Amanda asked, reminding Randy of a small child afraid of the monster under the bed. He smiled and kissed her softly, hugging her to him.
"Of course baby." He said to her. "I'll be there for you every step of the way."