It was the night of Victory Road and Nessa sat in Joe's locker room with him, her body there but her mind was elsewhere. It was the first time she had been out of the house since her miscarriage and Nessa couldn't help feeling nervous even though she wasn't sure why.
"Babe?" Joe whispered, bringing her out of her thoughts and she turned to look at him. "What are you thinking about?"
"I feel...nervous for some reason Joe."
"I kind of expected that actually, this is the first time you have been out of the house after all and not only did you not go somewhere normal you came to a pay-per-view. Did you want to go back home?" He asked causing her to shake her head.
"No. I want to be here tonight, I'm just really nervous about it."
"You'll be fine Ness don't worry." Joe changed his clothes real quick then sat down beside her to watch the show as it started up.
"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!" Nessa exclaimed as she watched D'Amore make Eric strip his Team Canada jacket and pants off. "Damn asshole." She muttered, getting up and rummaging through Joe's bag.
"Babe what are you doing?" He questioned, watching in amusement as she pulled a black t-shirt out of his bag.
"Walk me up to the tunnel." Joe was about to argue with her but the look on her face changed his mind and he led her out the door and up towards the tunnel. Nessa stood with Joe waiting for Eric to get to the back and the minute he did she ran up to him and handed him the t-shirt. "Here sweetie."
"Thanks Nessa." Eric took the shirt and slipped it over his head. "Damn, that was embarrassing."
"That's why I brought you the shirt. Why don't you go finished getting dressed real quick then meet up with me in Joe's locker room? You can keep me company while he has his match tonight."
"All right, sounds good. Give me a few minutes and I'll be there." Eric gave her a hug and quick kiss on the cheek before walking off.
"You've really taken to him haven't you?" Joe asked her on the way back to his locker room, his voice was laced with amusement and it made Nessa giggle.
"Yeah I have, he's such a sweetheart and I get along with him so well."
"I'm glad too...it's nice to see you smiling again." He admitted, pulling her to him for a kiss.
"He's not the only one who makes me smile baby, you do a damn good job of it too."
"Yeah I do, don't I?" Joe reached down and cupped her ass with both of his hands before lifting her up causing her legs to instinctively wrap around his waist.
"Don't start anything you can't finish Joe." Nessa whispered, kissing him.
"Who says I can't finish it?" He questioned, smirking. A knock on the door interrupted them and he growled.
"That says you can't finish it." She giggled as he put her back down.
"I'll finish it later don't you worry about that."
"Yeah well, you better." Joe laughed and opened the door to reveal a smiling Eric.
"I'm not interrupting anything am I?"
"Actually you..."
"No you're not Eric, come on in." Nessa spoke up, cutting Joe off. "Joe can wait to get him some later because his match will be coming up soon and he needs to save his energy for that."
"I have plenty of energy." Joe grumbled, flopping down on the couch.
"Stop pouting baby, it doesn't fit you." She teased him as she sat down in his lap. There was another knock on the door and Nessa groaned.
"Sit still I'll get it." Eric offered, getting up and walking to the door.
"Young is Nessa here?" Chris Daniels asked.
"In here Chris!" Nessa called out.
Chris laughed and walked into the locker room. "Hey there, how are you?"
"I'm...better."
"That's good. I just thought I'd come tell you that you're the talk of the backstage."
"I'm...what? Why?"
"Brown's going around talking shit about you and when Silvestry heard about it he started in on it too." Chris explained and Nessa sighed, burying her face in Joe's shoulder.
"I suppose I should've saw this coming. What do I do?"
"I don't think you'll have to do anything." Chris stated, a smile on his face that Nessa didn't understand.
"What do you mean?"
"You're getting help from an unlikely source that doesn't even know you."
"Who?"
"Terry Gerrin (Rhino)." He replied and Nessa's mouth fell open.
"You mean...he...why would he help me?"
"What's Gerrin's interest in my wife?" Joe demanded to know and Chris shrugged.
"I don't know man, really. If you want know...you're gonna have to talk to him."
"Babe you're gonna have to get up, I'm going to go have a talk with our resident War Machine."
"Not without me you're not and you can't anyway because your match is coming up." As if on cue a stagehand knocked on the door to let Joe know it was time for his match.
"I guess I'll just talk to him after."
Not if I can get to him before you. Nessa thought, standing up so he could get up. "Baby be careful out there tonight."
"I always am." Joe gave her a quick kiss then made his way out of the locker room. As soon as the door shut she turned to look at Chris.
"Yeah, yeah...I'm going to get him." Chris muttered, walking out of the locker room.
"Who's he going to get?" Eric asked.
"Terry. I'm not waiting around for Joe to find out what his deal is."
"Nessa maybe you should..."
"Why? So him and Joe can get into it? You know as well as I do that both of them have really bad tempers and I'm not willing to put up with them fighting." Nessa kept one eye on the monitor to watch out for Joe and the other eye on the door. She didn't have to wait long when the locker room door opened and Chris walked back in with Terry following behind him.
"You wanted to see me about somethin'?" Terry questioned.
"Yeah...why are you helping me?"
"You really don't know?"
"If I knew I wouldn't be asking you Terry." Nessa replied, laughing a little.
"I got a phone call from a friend of yours that I used to work with in the WWE."
It took Nessa a minute to put it together but it finally hit her who he was talking about. "Fuck! He called you?"
"Yeah, he called before he left from staying at your place and asked me to look after you."
"That's Dave for ya." Nessa giggled, cringing slightly when she heard someone go through a table. She turned to the monitor and saw that it was Joe causing her mouth to fall open. "Shit!" Nessa jumped up and started for the door only to have Chris step in front of it.
"Don't even think about it little missy."
"Move Chris." She growled, trying to get around him but two arms wrapped around her waist to stop her.
"He would want you to stay back here Nessa, he'll be fine and as soon as the match is over we'll take you to see him." Eric stated.
"Did I ever tell you two how much I hate you?" Nessa mumbled, moving out of Eric's arms to sit on the couch.
"You love us and you know it."
"Don't press your luck Daniels." She teased, laughing. "Terry...thanks for looking out for me."
"It's no problem really. When he told me what the hell was going on I was more than willing to do it."
"How much did he tell you exactly?"
"He told me about what Brown did the day at your house when you told him about your affair with Wolfe."
"Ah, that explains it." The bell rang and she turned to see that Sting had won the match. "All right...somebody's walking me to the tunnel so I can check on my man."
"Come on, we'll all walk you there." Eric said, taking her hand and pulling her off the couch. Terry, Chris, Eric and Nessa all walked out of the locker room and made their way towards the tunnel.
Joe hobbled to the back knowing that Nessa would be there to check on him but when he saw Terry Gerrin standing there with her he let out a growl that sounded more animal than human and he stormed up to Terry, getting directly in his face. "What's your sudden interest in my wife Gerrin?"
"Joe stop, please!" Nessa exclaimed, stepping up to him and putting her hand on his chest. "I already know why he's helping me so don't start anything."
"Why?" Joe demanded to know, his eyes never leaving Terry's.
"Dave Batista called him and asked him to look out for me...now would you please back off?" Nessa whispered, looking up at him with pleading eyes.
Joe sighed and stepped back a little. "Are you sure that's his only reason?"
"What's the matter Seannoa? Afraid I might steal your wife away?" Terry asked, smirking and Nessa's head whipped around to look at him in shock.
"You son of a bitch!" Joe yelled and lunged for Terry.
The two men started fighting back and forth before Nessa even knew what was happening. Chris and Eric pulled them apart as best as they could but they were still struggling. "You two stop it, please!" Nessa stepped in between them hoping to calm them down but before she knew it Joe lunged at Terry again, knocking her down in the process and the last thing she heard was Joe calling her name before everything went black.
