"You seriously cannot make this one adjustment for me?"

"Taker, I'm sorry-"

"You're going to be sorry if you don't take me out of this fucking match," Mark growled.

"Do NOT threaten me, Mark. You forget, I am your boss, and you are not untouchable."

Mark immediately toned down the anger he was showing. As soon as Vince began referring to him by his real name, he knew he had gone too far. "I just don't get why you can't switch things around for me."

"Why is it such a big deal? You have never been this reluctant about having a match with someone."

"I just...it's complicated, Vince."

"Taker, you know you're one of the most important guys in this company, and you know I almost always give you what you want, but I just can't this time. Please try to understand."

"Well, I don't."

Vince gave a sigh, his patience clearly beginning to wear thin. "I'm done with this conversation, I've made my final decision for tonight's matches and I'm not changing them."

Fuming, Mark remained silent as he stood up and stormed out of the makeshift office set up for Vince, the force of him slamming the door shut making Vince note to himself he did not know how it stayed on its hinges.

As Henry saw Mark making his way towards him, he immediately tensed at the look of fury on his face. "You...okay, Taker?" he asked hesitantly, both wanting to try and help him and also sprint in the opposite direction.

His immediate reaction was to react in anger, but Mark once again had to remind himself what he saw was not actually Henry and Brandy. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he muttered, and hesitated before adding, "Nervous about the match?"

"I mean...I'm a little worried you'll tear me apart out there," Henry confessed with a nervous laugh.

Mark could not help but to give a faint smirk. "I won't beat your ass too bad in the ring," he replied, his teasing comment taking Henry by surprise, and added before walking away, "See you out there."

Remaining silent, Henry watched Mark as he walked away, in disbelief over what had just happened, and the fact Mark had actually treated him in a civil manner. "You okay?" a voice behind him asked, making him quickly turn around where he found Brandy standing there.

"Yeah, why?"

"I saw Mark talking to you. He wasn't mean to you, was he?"

"No, not at all...he was actually very civil. I don't know how to take that," he explained, his statement taking her by surprise.

When Mark heard Henry's voice, he grew curious, and before rounding the corner he turned back around to watch Brandy interact with him. As the two of them talked, Mark noticed how animated she was in their conversation, and how they every now and then gave each other a playful push or punch. At one point, Henry suddenly lifted her and shook her as he made a comment about getting excited. Laughing, she squirmed and kicked in protest until he finally put her back down, and after saying something to him they gave each other a fist bump before walking towards the ring entrance area, their interaction making Mark give a faint smirk. He felt stupid for ever thinking she would want to be with Henry in a romantic way. When he actually took a step back and watched them, it was very clear they saw each other as only friends.

Seeing Stephanie walking towards him, Mark could feel his mood immediately go south. He hoped the match he was forced to remain in with her went by fast. "Are we ever going to talk about what happened?" she asked once she was standing before him.

"I have nothing to say to you."

"Taker, we have been friends for years. You're really going to let that all go over one fuck up?"

"Stephanie, what you did was unforgivable. It was the cruelest, most selfish thing I have ever seen someone do, so any relationship we once had ending is completely your fault."

She stood there in silence for a moment, a multitude of emotions crossing her face, when finally she said, "I need you to come with me."

"Absolutely not."

"Look, you can hate me all you want, but you are needed for something work related. Now quit being stubborn, and just follow me," she replied, and reluctantly Mark walked with her around the corner and down another hallway.

He grew confused when they made their way into a darkened area of the arena which was clearly not being used. "What-" he started to ask, when there was suddenly a loud 'crack' as a metal folding chair came in contact with his back. Groaning, he fell to his knees, and gave a grunt when he was again hit in the back. A foot swiftly came up to kick him hard in the ribs, the impact knocking the wind out of him. A few more kicks landed against his stomach and side, a quiet snapping sound followed by immense pain telling him one of his ribs had been broken. Just as he collapsed to the floor, a hand grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, forcing him to look up at Stephanie.

"You shouldn't have ended it, Taker. We could have been so happy together, but you had to fuck it all up, didn't you? Don't you get I did what I did because I love you? No one could ever love you the way I did, but you hurt me," she commented, and reaching over grabbed a baseball bat before adding, "No one tells me no, Taker Not even you."

Abruptly, she swiftly swung the bat, and as soon as the metal connected with his temple everything went black.

) ) ) )

"Man, Vince is so pissed," Henry commented as he walked down one of the halls with Brandy. "I don't get where Taker went. He seemed fine when we talked earlier so I don't get what happened."

"Yeah, I don't know either," Brandy replied, not wanting to admit her first instinct was to worry over him. "You should go down that hall, I'll keep going this way," she added as they came to an intersection in the hallways, and giving a small nod Henry turned to walk down another corridor. As she continued forward, Brandy noticed she was starting to approach a darkened area, and automatically assuming he would not be in this area she turned to go back in the other direction when she heard shuffling noises. "Hello?" she called out, and immediately heard the sound of running footsteps. Frowning, she hesitated before hesitantly continuing forward, nervous of what she may find. "Hello?" she called out again, but did not receive a response. Just as she was again about to turn around to walk away, she heard the distinct sound of a quiet groan. Giving another frown, she hesitated before again heading further down the hallway, when she stopped dead in her tracks when she finally saw what she had been hearing. "…Mark?" she said, her voice cracking with emotion and her eyes immediately filling with tears at the sight of him lying there in a broken, bloody mess. Once she was finally able to snap out of her shocked daze, she rushed over to him, and knelt next to him as she looked him over. Her chin quivered as she took in the site of dark bruises covering him, and blood splattered across his face and clothes. "Oh my god, Mark," she said in a strangled voice when she finally saw the dark pool of blood coming from his side. "Help! Somebody please help!" she cried out, looking up in hopes of seeing someone before looking back down at him. "Mark, please wake up," she begged, officially to the point of breaking down as she carefully ran a hand along his hair.

Surprisingly, he gave another groan, and eventually opened his eyes, his eyes glazed over he looked around with a dazed expression. When finally his eyes met hers, he mumbled, "Brandy?" Immediately, he winced in pain when a sharp sting went through his side from his injury. "I'm sorry-"

"Shh," she soothed, continuing to stroke his hair. "Don't talk. Just breathe." When Brandy heard footsteps, she looked up, and was relieved when she saw Henry. "Henry, help!" she yelled, getting his attention.

As soon as he saw them, h immediately ran over. "Holy shit, what the fuck happened?" he asked, kneeling as well next to her.

"I don't know, but he needs help," she replied in a panicked voice. "Go find someone!" Not needing to be told twice, he scrambled to his feet and ran back towards everyone else was, and once he was out of site she brought her attention back to the broken mess of a man lying before her. "You're going to be okay, Mark," she tried to reassure him, when on the inside she was terrified of the idea of jut how bad his injuries were.

Luckily, it did not take long for a group of medical professionals surrounded him, a whirlwind of movement going on around her as they immediately began to prepare him to be taken to the hospital. Through the haze of his blurred thoughts, he noticed as he was being taken away Brandy was no longer by him. "Brandy," he called out, his voice nothing more than a mumbled plea.

When he called out her name a second time, she moved to walk alongside him. "I'm right here, Mark," she reassured him, and took his hand in hers. In that moment, it was as if all the drama which had recently occurred between them had never happened.

As they loaded him into the ambulance, he again noticed she was no longer next to him, and protested, "Brandy, don't leave me."

Sensing how badly he wanted to be accompanied, one of the emergency personnel stated, "You can join him, if you would like."

Without hesitation, she got into the ambulance with them, and as soon as they were rushing to the hospital she held his hand in hers, softly caressing it in an attempt to soothe him. All she could focus on was the worry of if he would make it through these serious injuries he had endured.

) ) ) )

As he woke, Mark was greeted to immense pain coursing through his entire body. What had happened to him? He felt like he had been hit by a semi truck.

"You're finally awake," a quiet voice stated next to him, and when he looked over he was greeted to Brandy's sweet face.

"You stayed," he commented, both surprised and relieved by the site of her sitting there next to him.

"I needed to make sure you were going be okay."

"This seems all to familiar," he stated, his mind going back to the day he had found her broken and nearly dead on his property.

"I guess we are even now," she replied in a lightly joking manner, giving the faintest smile/

He chuckled, but was cut off with a wince when an intense pain shot through his entire body from his side. "You have no idea how much you staying means to me." She gave another small smile. "Brandy…I am so sorry about everything I did. I am so disgusted with myself in how I acted towards you."

Brandy could feel her emotions spark as she noted to herself she as unsure of how to feel in that moment. "I'm only here because I do care, and I did not want you waking up alone. I'm not staying…I can't. I need to go back to the house. I need time alone…I need time away from you."

Unsure of what to say, he imply looked at her, and when she stood up he watched as she left the room. Letting his head fall back, tears formed in his eyes and began to slowly roll down his cheeks as he noted to himself he could not remember the last time he had felt so utterly alone as he did in that moment.

CHAPTER 26