AUTHOR'S NOTE: Two updates within a week, haven't done this since lockdown lol.

It's great to be back to this baby of mine with a new chapter. There will definitely be a bit less violence and lot more laughs in this chapter in order to clear the air a bit. But story wise, it's a must read especially for later chapters. Shall we begin...

WARNING: This story may contain triggering scenes and strong language not meant for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised. (I love to get that outta the way)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters except my OC Kendra and other OC's I might have forgotten to mention. This story is a pure work of fiction (hence its written on) and most of the events and facts are completely made up so... I guess that's it.

Chapter 28 - Shrouded Beliefs

"You were just fine the last time we saw you, how did you end up in a cast?" Sable asked as she signed Kendra's cast being the first one to since they both arrived at the arena early. "Here you go honey" She said handing her pen over to her husband Marc who signed on the cast as well.

"I fell yesterday. Clumsy ol' me" Kendra brushed off with a laugh. Sable narrowed her eyes at her.

"And you didn't think to text or call me. Really. It looks pretty bad, I could've been there to comfort you!" Sable said. Kendra smiled.

"Thanks you girl and I know all that but trust me, things were all under control" Kendra affirmed. Sable's look of worry quickly turned into a smirk as Kendra uttered that statement.

"I'm guessing someone else was there to give you the comfort no one could huh? A certain heart..."

"Yes Sable yes!" Kendra said whilst laughing. "Now please don't bring it up again capiche?" She said with red tints being very visible on her cheeks.

"You're as red as a tomato" Marc pointed out.

"Shut up Marc!" Kendra fired teasingly.

"Don't you dare talk to my husband that way or I''ll knock you down to size" Sable threatened. If it was anyone else, they should have probably been scared but it was Kendra, she knew Sable was just playing around.

"My bad. Sorry Mero" Kendra apologized to which Marc acknowledged with a friendly nod.

"It's all good." He said as he kissed his wife. "I'll leave you both to your lady talk and gossip, gotta get ready for the night" He said and with that he was gone.

"So back to our convo, spill. What happened last night? Is he as big as the rumors have said?" Sable inquired, the last question making Kendra's eyes pop out of their sockets. Sable giggled. "Oh relax, I know you two haven't done anything... yet"

"Eww gross. We're just friends" Kendra assured. Sable cast her a skeptical look.

"Sure and I'm as ugly as hell" Sable said.

"It's time someone said it"

"Hey!" Sable reacted making Kendra laugh.

"Relax girl. And yeah, Shawn was quite some help. Took me to the clinic and stayed with me all night till I fell 's a really nice guy and not as sleazy or jerky as I thought" Kendra said. Sable nodded.

"Well good for you. But do remember to be careful, that is if you really wanna get into anything with him. Wait do you?"

"Well..." Before Kendra could answer, they were approached by a stagehand. "Hi Kyle"

"What's up Kyle?" Sable greeted.

"Hey beautiful ladies. Sorry to interrupt this obviously interesting banter but, the boss needs Kendra. The boss meaning Shane" Kyle said. Kendra gulped. She was extremely happy about her new job and all and most of all, she was ecstatic about Vince Russo's firing but then there was Shane.

There was no doubt in her mind that Shane would be curious about the cast on her arm. And he was one of the last people to see her last night. She only hoped he wouldn't connect the dots.

"Alright Kyle, I'd be there in a sec. Thank you" Kendra said to which Kyle nodded and walked away.

"Goodbye and good riddance to Vince Russo and hello to Shane McMahon. Quite frankly he is much hotter and..."

"Sable! He's married" Kendra cautioned making the blonde laugh.

"I know, all in good fun. Now run along and go meet your new boss" Sable egged. Kendra shook her head at Sable. Sometimes she just didn't understand that woman but she loved her all the same.

She made her way to Shane's office in little time and gave a slight knock on the door to which she heard a "come in" and let herself in.

"If it isn't my new PA... what the hell happened to your arm?" And there was it.

"I tripped and fell yesterday and sprained my elbow." Shane raised an eyebrow.

"And it was so bad that you had to be put in a cast?" Shane asked looking a bit skeptical. Of course he would. Of course anyone would. They all worked in the sports industry, everyone had more than average medical knowledge. What the hell was Bret thinking?

"Yeah it was. The doctor was shocked as well but... these things happen" She said trying to give off as little as possible. And it worked. Shane's previous look of puzzlement turned to one of pity which wasn't any good but at least it was better.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that. Would you still be able to work?" He asked. "Can you write at all? Or type?"

"Oh trust me I will. And it would just be for a month. I have months and months of storyline ideas on my laptop. We'll be fine" Kendra said.

"Alright. Though we won't do much today. Vince mainly just wants to address the whole roster concerning the Russo situation when everyone gets here. So like in... one hour"

"You're not even wearing a watch" Kendra pointed out.

"I know. I suck" Shane said making Kendra giggle.

"Yeah you do. Big time." She said as they both shared a laugh. "Wanna sign my cast?" She proposed taking her arm out to him. He responded by taking a pen out of his suit pocket and signing on it. During this he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in!" He said. "Hello Bret" Shane said. At the mention of Bret's name Kendra quickly spun around with a more than obvious look of terror on her face. Bret had an unreadable expression on his face as he looked back and forth between his sister and his bosses son. "What can I do for you Bret?"

"Well, you seem a bit busy so I'll come talk to you later." Bret said holding up his hands.

"Well, Kendra was about to take her leave so you're more than welcome" Shane assured.

"Nah, I'll drop by later. Maybe after the show" Bret said. Kendra's cast caught his attention as his eyes flickered over to it. But he said nothing. "Catch you around" Bret said before exiting the office. Kendra quietly let out a breath of relief.

"Well that was random. But either way I'll call you before Dad makes the announcement or I'll send someone to you. So don't go too far" Shane said.

"Yes boss. See you later" Kendra said as she made her way out of his office. She hadn't taken up to two steps away when felt someone tug her by her right arm', her good arm. She didn't need anyone to tell her who it was.

"You don't listen or learn do you?" Bret asked. She looked up at his forehead to see a vein about to pop. Sweet lord have mercy! She was too stunned to even say anything to him as she looked at him straight with fear. Her saving grace was that they were in public. Granted no one was really paying attention to them. He couldn't do anything to her.

Could he?

Suddenly Kendra felt the sudden need to scream as Bret's grip on her arm tightened to the point where she wasn't sure of blood flow any more. She gritted her teeth as the pain absorbed her.

"Listen to me and don't you dare make a sound. I want to see you in my locker room immediately the show is over. Maybe one good cast deserves another" And with that message, he was off. Kendra looked at her upper arm which was hidden by her sleeve. She raised up the sleeve to see a nasty red bruise forming.

She hoped Shane and Vince made that announcement and soon as they could before she got any more injuries.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"He's just been lying there for like ten minutes, he hasn't said zilch" X-Pac told Triple H who had just stepped into Shawn's locker room. Shawn hadn't taken notice of either of them yet. "I'm kinda worried, I've been waiting for him to acknowledge me or something. But nothing"

"You didn't think to tap him or snap him out of it or something? He's obviously in sort sort of daze" Hunter concluded. "Allow me" He said clearing his throat. "SHAWWWNNN!" Hunter screamed.

"Sweet heavenly father!" Shawn reacted jumping off the couch. Hunter smirked.

"Works every time"

"What are the both of you doing in here? And how long have you been standing there?" Shawn asked.

"Well, I just got in. And X-Pac..." Hunter started before being caught off by X-Pac.

"And X-Pac, that's me. I've been standing here for ten fucking minutes! And you've been fucking staring off into space thinking about God knows what man!" X-Pac yelled looking like a crazy person. Shawn and Hunter shared looks.

"Why didn't you just tap me or something?" Shawn asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah now that I think of it, how could you really stand there for ten minutes without moving?" Hunter asked.

"Beats me. Pretty weird, even for X-Pac..." Shawn started but was cut off by X-Pac.

"Forget that. The issue at hand is Shawn! What's up man?! Are you fucking alright?!" X-Pac asked sounding worried as hell.

"What he said" Hunter tagged along.

"Yeah, just had something on my mind. But I'm fine. Really" Shawn said. "So how are you guys?"

"Bullshit! When do you ever just ask us that? Something's going on with you man. And whatever it is, snap the hell out of it. We almost lost you that time you were fawning over Bret's sister. We can't lose you again. Get your shit together!" X-Pac yelled once more.

"You know what, I've never seen you like this Waltman" Shawn said using X-Pac's real name which is Sean Waltman.

"Honestly, his current display of emotional empathy is quite contrived" Hunter said.

"What the hell does contrived mean?" X-Pac asked. Hunter shrugged.

"Beats me. I heard Joanie use it one day and it just stuck" Hunter said. X-Pac groaned.

"Ugh! You guys are the worst! And whatever. Get your shit together Michaels, Vince's stagehands are spreading the word that he wants everyone assembled around the ring before the show. He has an announcement of somekind to make. And we have to be there like pronto." X-Pac said. "I've done my job. Now Shawn do yours and get your shit together" X-Pac said exiting the locker room.

"You know he cares. He's just crazy" Hunter assured. Shawn sighed. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. I'm good. I will be anyways. Let's go hear what Vince has to say" Shawn said slinging the WWF championship over his shoulder as he and Hunter exited his locker room together. They had an extremely quiet walk before getting to the ring area where everyone was gathered. Shawn spotted Kendra talking to Sable at a distance and decided to go over to her. "I'll be right back"

"Of course" Hunter said as he watched his friend practically disappear.

"Hey" Shawn said greeting Kendra. Kendra looked away from Sable and immediately her face brightened.

"Oh hi Shawn, what's up?"

"Nothing, just wondering how you're doing with... well all this. Hey Sabes" He greeted.

"Hi, I'll leave you two together" She said stepping away from the pair.

"I'm nervous as hell but you know... just bring it" She said. Shawn nodded and was about to say something when he saw Bret glaring over at them, well him specifically. "Angry brother at 11 o'clock" Shawn said.

"Shit" She swore. "We'll talk later Shawn. I don't want anymore drama" She said as she walked away from him and further more away from Bret. Shawn sighed as he walked over to where his friends were standing and stayed there till Vince started up, whatever the hell it is he was doing.

"Ladies and gentlemen... good afternoon. Yes I will use the mic no matter what because I want to and I can. Also I'm rich!" Vince announced. Shane rolled his eyes from ringside and so did a few of the wrestling and non wrestling employees. "But on a serious note, I'm sure many of you are wondering why I called for this meeting. And you'll find out soon enough cause as a busy man I don't plan on staying here too long. Plus I don't even like up to half of you people"

"Vince Russo has been fired!" Shane said picking up a mic. The audience gasped. Even Bret. No one saw that coming. "A lot of shit went down and we won't be sharing every single detail with you guys for confidentiality purposes. That's pretty much it. Have a good day everyone" Shane dismissed. Vince gave him a look of anger. "You were wasting time Dad"

"That's preposterous. By the way, Kendra, Bret, Owen. A minute, or two. Maybe five. We all need to talk" Vince called out to the three siblings as everyone else walked off. "Over here" Vince said pointing to the chairs at ringside. There were four chairs there.

"Wow, brilliant counting Dad" Shane commended in a sarcastic tone to which Kendra couldn't help but giggle at.

"Thank you. I specifically did it so that you wouldn't get a chair" Vince said proudly. Shane rolled his eyes and hopped on an announce table. "Have a seat my dear. And what the hell happened to your arm?"

"I was gonna ask the same thing. What happened sis?" Owen asked with a concerned look on his face.

"I tripped and fell yesterday. Elbow sprain." She said. Vince and Owen shared confused looks.

"It looks pretty serious, could that really happen from a trip and fall?" Vince asked. Kendra shrugged.

"Beats me. But I'm alright. Thanks Vince and thanks bro" She said. Bret raised an eyebrow at her which she guessed was due to the way she formally addressed Vince.

"Of course. Now down to business. I had to make this a bit private because I didn't want the whole company knowing about this. Bret, Owen, the real reason Russo was fired was due to his maltreatment of Kendra" Vince said.

"What?!" Bret yelled. How hypocritical.

"What did he do to her?" Owen asked.

"A lot. He stole all her creative ideas including the Austin one, he constantly berated her. threatened her, threatened her to lose her job too and most disgustingly... he had Billy Gunn... um..." Shane started but got a bit tongue tied as he watched the angry faces of the Hart brothers.

"I'll take this. He had Billy Gunn sexually harass me." She said with a sigh. "I went through a lot of shit with Russo so I knew I had to do something so I set up a recorder last week on Raw and luckily for me he said a lot of incriminating things. And said more the next day as well. Hell that was what I wanted to show you that day Bret but it fell out of my pocket and well..." Kendra trailed off.

"That was what you wanted to tell me? I had no idea"

"Yeah. But luckily I was able to get Shane, wrestler's court was yesterday, that's why I wasn't available yesterday" She said.

"And I was the judge" Vince said sharing a piece of information that wasn't necessary.

"Yes dad" Shane said before turning his attention back to Kendra.

"All in all, my evidence was very damning, Russo got fired and well... Vince offered Russo's job on the creative team but I turned it down because I came for an internship program, I'm getting an internship program. Maybe once I'm done with the last three months I might consider the job offer we'll see how it goes. But now I'm Shane's PA which still gives me a spot on creative so... yeah that's basically it" She said.

"Well, that was shorter than I imagined. C'mon Shane, let's leave them to have their family discussion." Vince said standing up. "Once again, all apologies Kendra. And say hello to your dad for me alright" Vince said. Shane waved her goodbye and soon they exited the premises leaving behind the Harts.

"Why didn't you say a word to us? Or to Bret especially?" Owen asked looking crushed. He couldn't believe that his baby sister went through all that shit and he couldn't do a thing about it.

"I dunno. I just didn't wanna crush your spirit Owen." Kendra confessed. She knew very well that Owen had a soft heart especially when it concerned her. It would had definitely eaten him up, she knew that for sure. She saw it in 1989. "And for Bret, he'd never believe me" Bret cast her a look but said nothing.

"Well true." Owen sighed. "I'm just happy you're alright now with or without my help. I love you Kends" He said reaching over to give her a hug. Kendra smiled.

"I love you too bro" She said giving him a hug as well.

"I'll be on my way. I'll leave you and Bret cause you've got more explaining to do to him than me" Owen said as he stood up, ruffled her hair and walked away. "Family meeting after the show still stands!" he called out before walking out of hearing distance.

"When did all this start?" Bret asked.

"Early June" She replied.

"What did Billy Gunn do to you?" Bret asked.

"Pinned me to the wall, forcefully kissed me and... went to second base" She said. Bret clenched his fists.

"So you did nothing with Billy willingly, and Shane is your new Russo stole credit for all your work" Bret stated. He wasn't asking a question or anything but it just seemed like he was processing all the new details he'd just acquired. "God I'm an asshole!"

"Yeah you are" She said softly. He glared at her for a moment but dropped it when all the guilt flooded him.

"I gave you a black eye for no reason. I put you in a cast for no reason. I hurt my baby sister for no reason. Fuck!" He said running his hand up and down his face. Kendra just sat still and looked at his display. "Kendra I'm so..."

"Bret save it. Listen, I forgive you and all but I want you to stay the hell away from me." Kendra said and she stood up.

"Kendra..."

"No I mean it. I mean sure I made a lot of mistakes as a teen and I know I'm not the perfect adult but you had no right to raise your hand on me all those times and neither do you right now. Bret fucking take a look at my arm" She said as her eyes teared up and her voice began to crack. "I'm in pain Bret yes, I'm in a lot of pain but I try to hold it in while you inflict more and more on me. I didn't deserve it then and I sure as hell don't deserve it now"

"I was just trying to protect..."

"You're no worse than Vince Russo you know. You're just lucky you're my brother and it would absolutely crush mom if she found out. You were literally planning to do something else to me this night and I'm tired. Honestly tired Bret. You never let me speak or explain myself. You insult and berate me a lot and... please just stay the hell away from me. And when your guilt wears off please don't come trying to beat me up again" She pleaded.

"Kendra" He said simply but words couldn't come out. "I'm sorry"

"I know. Good day brother" She said as she walked off. Bret wanted to say something but he couldn't as he watched his sister walk away. All that rang in his head was "You hurt your sister for no reason."

For the past 7 years all he tried to do was to protect her but of course she wouldn't understand. Tina barely did and to an extent he didn't understand either.

1989 fucked his mind up, seriously. Half of the time he didn't even know what he was doing.

But the flashbacks, till these day the flashback of that night wouldn't cease. They just wouldn't even till this day.

The pills, the therapy, nothing. Nothing worked. Nothing could get rid of that image. It haunted him without end. He hated it. He hated it so much!

"Earth to jackass" A familiar voice rang out, snapping Bret away from his daze. Bret groaned. Speaking of hatred...

"What the hell do you want from me Shawn Michaels?" Bret asked as he glared at the Heart Break Kid.

"I hate your guts Hitman" Shawn declared. Bret rolled his eyes.

"I don't know why you're telling me but if it makes you feel any better I hate yours as well." Bret said standing up. "Oh and by the way, I saw you talking to my sister earlier. Bad move."

"Oh, and how is that?" Shawn asked feigning innocence. Bret glared at him.

"Stay the hell away from my sister. I'll be damned if you even breathe the same air as her Michaels." Bret said. Shawn smiled.

"I always get what I want Bret. And if I wanted your sister, she'd be putty in my hand. And I'll treat her well, like a real man. Not a Hitman" Shawn shaded.

"What in the hell are you...?" Bret said sounding puzzled. He knew it was a mere coincidence but... nah he knew it was a coincidence. The only way Shawn could have known is if Kendra told him. And if she hadn't told anyone yet, not even Curt, he knew he was safe.

"Get the hell outta my sight Shawn. I have a lot of anger in my system stored in and if you tick me off a bit more. I'll yank that badly conditioned hair of yours out of your stupid head and use it as a mop for my daughter's fucking bathroom floor!" Bret threatened.

"Oh how is your daughter by the way?" Shawn asked.

"Oh she's really good by the way. She's eight now and incredibly adorable. Here I have pictures" Bret said bringing out his wallet and handing the pictures over to Shawn. "Awwn, she'll grow up to be really pretty"

"Yeah just like her mother. I am a lucky dad alright"

"You're the man" Shawn said. "Now back to our argument" Shawn said. They weren't crazy but Shawn had a nice relationship with Bret's kids so just like they did in the ring where they still sold each other's various moves to perfection, they also put their personal conflicts aside to talk about the kids.

"Right. Stay the hell away from my sister or there will be hell to pay" Bret threatened with a tone of finality as he made his way away from Shawn. Shawn only smirked.

Let the games begin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright Owen, Shane wants me to fly with the McMahon's to Providence in about an hour so I hope this won't take long" Kendra said as she got to Owen's locker room.

"I just hope this isn't stupid" Bret said. "But I'll humor you, what happened?"

"Oh it's worth it. Remember yesterday when I was going undercover in that diner? And you and Jim thought I'd lost it?" Owen asked.

"Honestly, I've thought that since you eleven" Bret said.

"Oh please, you're just jealous cause I'm the better wrestler" Owen said. "Anyways, I made a huge discovery and I don't know how you guys are gonna take this."

"Whatever it is we'll handle it together. We're a family aren't we?" Kendra asked.

"Well alright then. This is about Davey"

It feel so long since I've written about X-Pac and Triple H. I honestly love those guys and they will be featured more in subsequent chapters.

Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was more of a feel good chapter as I felt like adding some light heartedness as the previous chapter was pretty dark. Kendra now has a stable job life, Bret is facing guilt (and it will eat him up. I love Bret in real life though, I dunno why I made him such a villain), Vince is still awesome.

There's a lot of drama coming up as our favorite family will be going back to Canada soon.

Till then, remember to stay safe. Merry Christmas!