Chapter 4

"Are you sure you have the right flight number?" Dave paced nervously at the American Airlines terminal. He had checked the flight arrival time three times already and his watch more than that. "She should've gotten off already." He imagined every horrible thing that could have possibly happened to her flying from Tampa to LA alone. "Maybe she missed her connecting flight, or maybe they got delayed from that storm in the mid-west."

"Davey… the plane just landed ten minutes ago. Give her a minute to get her stuff off the plane." How could Britain be so calm? How could she just sit there and flip through a magazine? For all she knew his daughter could have been locked in the bathroom of the plane and would remain there until it landed somewhere else, far away from him.

Just as he walked up to the ticket counter to demand that they search the plane for her, he spotted her.

Chase walked slowly down the ramp with a carry on bag on her shoulder and loosely clutching a beaten up brown stuffed dog, which he recognized immediately. It was Scraps. She had slept with Scraps since she was two years old. He knew because he had bought him for her. Scraps was her present from him at the adoption. It was just a little token to show her that even when he was away, she could hold Scraps and know that he was thinking about her. Knowing that she kept him, and needed him close by was enough to fill his heart.

Chase Erin Batista was just about as beautiful as they come. At 5'5", and 110 pounds, he knew that she would be breaking hearts and taking names. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a long French braid, making her round face look softer. You would be taken aback by her long eyelashes, that is if you could get past her eyes long enough to see them. Chase had piercingly dark blue eyes. Her eyes sucked you in as soon as you saw them, they took you prisoner and you would spend the rest of your life trying to look behind those eyes to see what she was thinking. Chase's face looked the same as it had when she was a baby. It was soft and round and seated perfectly in both cheeks were two of the deepest dimples ever created. It was hard to believe that she was going to twenty in a few weeks, when she looked like she was four. She was the quintessential fantasy of young boys everywhere, the kind that made them hope that good girls really did turn bad.

"I thought I was going to have to call the US Marshals. What took you so long to get off the plane?" He hugged her tightly. It felt too good to hold her; he had almost forgotten how good it felt until she was in his arms again.

"I couldn't find Scraps. He fell under the seat and I had to wait for everyone to get off so I could get on the floor to find him." Chase admitted melting into her father's embrace.

"I'm surprised you still carry that thing around with you." Dave knew Chase did not remember how she became the owner of the significant toy, but she loved him just the same.

"This is my friend Daddy, where I go, he goes. Somebody's got to watch out for me when you're not around." Dave made sure to give her another hug, touched by the sentiment.

Britain and Chase hugged and walked away from Dave leaving him to carry the bags while they caught up. It had taken all of five minutes for Chase to find something more interesting than him. Although he was happy that his two best girls got along, he secretly wished that either one of them would pay him some attention. He shook his head, picked up the bags and followed behind them to the truck.

"You're staying for two days, why do you need so much stuff?" He said opening the trunk. He knew that she would want to start to bring some of her stuff out to her new place now, but this was ridiculous. The bags felt like she was bringing everything she owned, like she would never be coming home on breaks or the holidays. He couldn't help but to think that allowing her to live on her own, was going to be something that he would soon regret.

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Jeff sat hunched over the chair in the hotel lobby, trying desperately not to pay attention to strands of blue hair falling in his face. He looked at his pad, then back up at Matt. He was concentrating too hard. He'd drawn Matt thousands of times before, but now it was a challenge. He wasn't sure if it was the way that Matt was sitting, or if it were because Matt would not keep still; all he knew was this was harder then it needed to be.

Jeff needed inspiration, something other than the ugly mug of Matt. Although, Matt have certain features that he loved to capture, for example his pouty lips, his unruly curly hair, and his perfectly aligned ears; today, not even Matt's best features made any difference. To be an artist and to have nothing was like being suffocated slowly. Jeff knew he had all of these ideas in his head, he saw visions of this wonderful art full of color and life, he heard music that he needed to be playing and heard poems that he needed to recite. The only problem was these artistic pieces of Jeff were stuck in his head, and they wouldn't come out. No matter how hard he tried, something blocked his creative flow and it was more than being sober.

Ultimately defeated, Jeff slammed his book closed. He looked past Matt and saw a sight that made him suck in his breath. An angel, there was actually an angel walking right through the door. "An angel." Jeff's abrupt admission of a divine being made Matt whip his head around immediately. "An angel… on the arm of Dave Batista?"

Jeff watched the pretty blonde stroll into the lobby and walk over toward the front desk. He noticed how the girl stood with her arm looped in Dave's, but not with her body pressed up against his. Jeff surmised by her body language that she was comfortable with him, but didn't want himJust looking at her made the colors in his mind come to life. He could feel the twitching in his index finger as he watched her laugh with Dave. He had found it; he found the muse that he needed to create.

Matt watched in wonderment as his younger brother stared hopelessly at the girl who walked in the room. "She's trouble Jeff. Better not mess with that one." Jeff had a tendency to fall for the wrong type of girl. She was usually very pretty and very not Jeff's type. Jeff was a wild child, a free spirit; he needed someone who could understand that, let him be weird and still love him unconditionally. But it never happened that way. Jeff would meet women that wanted to change him, restrict him and jade his picture of the world.

"Shut up, Matt. She's beautiful…like one of those cherubs." Jeff shot back without taking his eyes off of Chase.

"What's a cherub?" Matt asked, wondering if it was something that Jeff had just made up. Jeff always did have a way of talking about things as if everyone else around knew what was going on.

She was an angel, he was sure of it. He knew because in the 30 seconds had saw her, could vividly remember every single thing about her face. Only divine intervention could have done that. "Second choir of angels…" Jeff started letting his voice trail off. Matt sat staring at him, not knowing what the hell he was talking about. Jeff studied her face, making mental notes on how perfect it was. Her face was round creating soft curves at her jaw line. Her hair was the color of gold, that he was sure was only to accent her halo. Her eyes were too blue, the held the color of the sky and the sea; that color could not be anything else but divine.

He'd begged his muses long enough for inspiration, not of the chemical sort and they finally listened. This girl was sent down from heaven to inspire me, they dropped her in the middle of this very hotel… Jeff held his breath. But they put her on the arm of one of the biggest men in the business. His muses were at work alright, up to their normal trickery, trying to get him in trouble. Dave was an obstacle, but he couldn't concentrate on that right now. Right now, he was inspired and he had to get her on canvas, before he lost it again.

A loud crash pulled Jeff from out of his daydreaming. He looked down to find all of his crayons, colored pencils, sketches, inks, erasures, and chalks roll mercilessly across the room. Sometime during his revelation of a divine presence, he must have stood up, dropping the plastic supply box to the floor.

"Smooth, Jeffro, real smooth." Matt laughed patting Jeff on the chest. He watched Matt laugh at him and make his way to the elevator, while he cursed him under his breath. Jeff turned back toward his art supplies to see his angel girl kneeling on the floor in front of him.

"You got a lot of stuff." Jeff smiled and held his breath at the same time as she spoke. He told his hands to stay by his sides, forcing himself not to give in to impulse and touch her face. He had to know was her skin as soft as the rounded curves of her cheeks made them out to appear.

"Yeah." That's all his brain could come up with. What do you say to an angel? It's not like you see one everyday.

"You actually use it all?" He couldn't believe it; she was actually talking, to him! He had never before known his muses to actually get into a conversation with him; they just usually gave him trouble.

He couldn't get his brain to respond properly; before he knew it his lips were moving. "I never know when I'm gonna to see somethin' beautiful." He was an idiot. He was sure that she was going to slap him and run and tell Dave. He held in his breath and waited for the fatal blow, but to his surprise she laughed.

Dave turned to see Chase laughing with Jeff Hardy. Seeing his daughter kneeling with him and laughing made his jaw and fights clinch instantly. Her laughter bothered him. It was the kind of innocent laughter that he had heard before, it was the kind that made you want to do anything to hear it again, and it was the kind that Britain made whenever he was around.

Before he could take a step toward them, Britain rubbed her hand down his back. "You ok?" She had seen Chase go over to help Jeff, but she knew that Jeff was harmless. Sure, he was a bit strange, but he was a sweetheart.

Dave nodded and turned back toward the desk. He swore he wouldn't treat Chase like she was a baby during this trip. This was supposed to be a relaxing two days. But he couldn't help but to be uncomfortable.

"Ah, damn!" Chase turned around to see a smiling John and Randy standing behind her. She stood up and hugged John. A flash of heat overcame her as she put her head on John's chest and felt his arms encircle her. She completely forgot about Jeff, her dad and everyone else for that matter. All she knew was John Cena was holding her and she couldn't stop blushing.

"Baby girl! When the hell did you grow up?" John said while pulling away from her. He spun her around and indulged himself in her very well put together body. If she weren't Dave's daughter, she would definitely be someone that he would get with. She had long legs, a round bottom, a nice rack and a naturally toned body. Yeah, Chase would be in a trouble if he didn't know her father.

Randy pushed John aside and hugged Chase too. "What brings you to town? Checking in on the old man?" Randy thought Chase was beautiful too. She was a little too innocent for him, but she definitely was a looker.

"I'm moving into my first apartment." Chase squealed grabbing John's hand. "Can you believe it, Daddy finally said yes."

"Apartment? What are you, like 12? How the hell you get your own place?" John teased. He knew full well she was an adult, but she was like a kid to him. It was hard to believe that this little girl that he had known since he and Dave were at OVW, was now in fact, all grown up.

"I will be twenty in two weeks." She held up two fingers to emphasize the point.

"Get your hands off my daughter." Dave smiled as he kindly unlatched her hand from John's.

John stepped back with his hands up. "Big man, I wasn't doin' nothin'. I swear. Not yet anyway." Before he had a chance to move, Dave's open palm made contact with the back of his head. He was sure that Dave didn't mean to hit as hard as he did, but the pain in his head did not reflect that.

"Jeff." Dave stuck out his hand towards him.

"Dave." Jeff responded by sticking out his hand too.

Dave took his hand and shook it. He left his hand on Jeff's a little longer than necessary, and squeezed it a little harder than necessary. Jeff got the point loud and clear, this girl was not for him.

"We need to get your stuff upstairs, if we're going to make it to registration by two." Chase's father informed her, in his authoritative voice.

Chase turned to Jeff, who was unconsciously opening and closing his hand, trying to get the circulation back. She reached out her hand gave him back a few erasers that she had picked up. With his good hand, he opened it to accept the small items. She gently let her fingertips brush his palm, which sent a small chill through his body. He looked her in the eye, and smiled back at her. "I hope you find something beautiful soon." She said softly and turned away. Jeff smiled and watched her walk to the elevator.

I already have. Jeff smiled as the elevator doors closed and then she was gone.