Chapter 2

It was finally here. March had brought spring weather and with it Morgan's first day as a WWE Superstar in Training. A full medical had been completed and she had passed with flying colours. She had been found a place to live close by and it had been purchased outright by the WWE. Morgan assumed it was because they intended to use it as a temporary accommodation for others who came after her. And now here she was, nervously walking through the performance centre on her way to the gym. Her first session there was to be watched over by the trainers so they could see what they had to work with. In her case not much, Morgan told herself as she passed NXT and Performance Centre wrestlers alike. Reaching the gym doors, she put her hand to the metal handle and took a deep breath. Here goes nothing, she told herself and pushed the door open.

The gym sprawled before her. She took in the machines and watched as people worked. The whapping of ropes, the clanking of weights. The sound of cables being pulled through pulleys and punchbags being hit. These were not alien sounds to her, but Morgan could never recall being so damn nervous about setting foot in a gym. Just do your normal workout, she had been told. We'll observe and see what we need to change. As she contemplated turning and running, the trainers greeted her and reinforced what they had told her prior, before telling her to do as she normally would. Don't try and impress them, just do your normal. She glanced over to where Noah was already hard at work, and he gave her a nod in greeting. As she finished her warm up, Noah waved her over. He then nodded to the rowing machine next to him as if to say to come work out with him. Morgan decided it wasn't a bad offer. She got on the machine and got to work.

As she did so, she couldn't help hoping that perhaps no one among those training there seemed to be watching her. Perhaps they were watching Noah. Watching Chantelle and Graham. But not her. Why would they, after all?

"So, you've got no experience hmm?" Noah said next to her, knocking her out of her thought process and making Morgan pause in her workout.

"What?" She tried not to show she was alarmed. Had Vince not kept his word and told them after all?

"It's ok. When Vince said about it, I did some research, found them two easy enough. Couldn't find you. And I spent a long time searching. So I assumed you're the one they picked that had no experience. Don't worry I'm telling no one." He reassured, his voice low enough to be drowned out by the noise of people working on machines nearby.

"I appreciate that." She managed back as relief washed over her.

"I get the impression that those two are taking this far more seriously than us." He said as he got off his machine, picked up his water bottle and drank. Morgan glanced over to where Graham was working himself hard at the weights and then to where Chantelle was on the running machine. Both had looks of immense concentration on their faces but their eyes kept flickering towards where the trainers were stood, watching them all.

"I can't say I blame them. If they make a good enough impression, they'll be earmarked for NXT development. Well, I assume that's what they're hoping." Morgan said as she got back in to a rowing position. "The only impression I'll make is one on the canvas when he flattens me."

For two weeks she was allowed to find her footing in the Performance Centre. She was paid no mind by those wrestlers using the place apart from a quick hello here and there, or an "After you" from the guys if they held the door for her. Certainly no sign of Roman. Morgan resigned herself to the fact she probably wasn't going to see him till the match itself. Then came her first day of wrestling training.

It was either to avoid issues or to avoid outing her, Morgan wasn't sure which, but she was assigned a far later training session than the others. Noah had covered for her when Chantelle asked when she was training out of curiosity and stated she was in his session. Easier to manage two new people to the centre at once than to try keeping an eye on them all, he had said. And so Morgan found herself rolling up on her motorbike to the performance centre that evening, unsure what to expect and feeling a hundred percent out of her league. She walked in to the practice ring area to find herself alone. There were no other wrestlers. No trainers. In fact half the rooms lights were already off. The thought she had been pranked with a wrong time and location crossed her mind. After all, there was fact she had no experience, she didn't belong here. Maybe they were second guessing themselves and had decided to let her go, but had to do the bare minimum for the contract to be at least a little fulfilled? She would give it five minutes and go, she decided as she reached the middle ring.

"Anyone here?" She called, her voice echoing now in the empty room. "Hello?"

"Is it me you're looking for?" Sang back a voice, making Morgan laugh a little. The laugh died in her throat however as the hulking frame of Triple H came around the corner, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts with ring shoes on.

"Oh fuck." She managed. "I...I guess this is the part where you put me through hell and I quit, right? That you get me to drop out because you've made a mistake taking me on? I can save you the trouble," She said with a weak smile before turning and walking off towards the doors. Footsteps came swiftly behind her and a hand grabbed her arm. She span back with a fist flying towards her attacker, which Triple H managed to only just block.

"Well you do have good reflexes which is a fantastic start," He smiled as she stood in a fighting stance, unsure what to do. "It's going to serve you well. But in answer to your question no, I'm not here to push you to quit." He replied as he released her arm and the fist he had managed to catch. Morgan looked at him warily.

"Then what exactly are you here for?" Morgan asked warily.

"To train you." He said simply. The fighting stance was forgotten as she burst in to laughter. "What's so funny?" Hunter looked at Morgan as she doubled over with mirth.

"The great Hunter Hurst Helmsley, The Game, Triple H training a nobody like me? For the sole purpose of a publicity stunt? You're good, I'll give you that." She said between gasps for breath before standing up again as she wiped a tear away. "It would be more believable being trained by The Undertaker."

"Or, maybe it is believable that Vince McMahon wants the best outcome from this for the WWE, for Roman, but also for you. That he's not the hard ass he appears on screen and neither am I for that matter, and he wants to give you the best fighting chance you could possibly get so you don't crash and burn next year?" Hunter suggested.

"Right now? No, it's really not." Morgan replied with less laughter this time, but laughter all the same. "Do you even know what you've been set up for? I have never set foot in one of these." Morgan gestured to the rings around them. "I've never done a turnbuckle dive, a moonsault, a running bulldog. Never had the strength to pull off a…a samoan drop, never attempted a spear, a…a Superman punch. I've never even taken a bump." She shook her head as if to say it wasn't going to work.

"But you know the sport well enough to list all those moves. That's a start. And that confidence of yours clearly needs work. As for not stepping in to a WWE ring, well we can change that now. Hop in." Hunter said pointing to the one nearest to them. Morgan looked at him perplexed. "If you don't hop in, I can do one of two things. I can pick you up over my shoulder and dump you in there myself. Or, judging by that t-shirt of yours you're a Taker fan. So, I can ring Taker and tell him there's a girl who needs a Tombstone in the Performance Centre and would he be so kind as to oblige?" Hunter said as he pulled his phone from his shorts pocket. Morgan felt the blood drain from her face at the realisation the pair were likely very good friends and it wouldn't be hard to get The Undertaker to pay a visit. The very thought of having the man she idolised sweep her in to his signature move was terrifying.

"You…you wouldn't," She stammered taking a step back. "You wouldn't. He…he lives all the way in Austin and-"

"Ah, and that's the scariest option?" He asked as he unlocked his phone and scrolled through the contacts. He opened the entry for the Undertaker and showed her it, his finger hovering over the call button. "In, or you'll get a tombstone in front of everyone here." Morgan eyed the familiar logo that Hunter had selected as the contact image and bit her lip as she tried to figure out what to do. Hunter raised his eyebrow and pushed the finger closer to the button. With a deep breath Morgan closed her eyes and admitted defeat.

"This isn't going to work, you know." Morgan said with a shake of the head as she walked over towards the steps. "I'm in way out of my depth for this."

"That remains to be seen. Now, we're going to warm up, and I'm going to teach you how to take a bump." He said, setting his phone down on his bag at the side of the ring and following her between the ropes.

The thought that Morgan was expecting perhaps too much of his on screen personality, and little else came to her several times as Hunter worked her through the steps that night. But despite her unease and nerves Hunter was patient with her. He took his time. Morgan felt it was perhaps more than he usually would with a new person. At first it was twice a week they met to train. Then three, then as she progressed to being comfortable with the basics it was every day of the week. Before she knew it she had been training for four months with him.

As he wound down training for the night after a particularly taxing session, Hunter smiled at her.

"What? What did I do?" She asked warily.

"How did you find that?" He replied with a question of his own.

"It was…well it wasn't easy." She said as he pulled a bottle of water from his bag, and then a second which he handed to her. She took it with thanks and sat on the floor next to the ring, her back resting against it.

"But you didn't seem to be struggling." Hunter pointed out. "You seemed to manage just fine with everything I threw at you today."

"I'm fitter than I look." Morgan said with a shrug of the shoulders and a laugh. "You don't have to say I'm doing well if I'm not, just to make me feel good."

"I'm not." He said before drinking from his bottle. "Thing is, you're actually doing really, really well. You're coming on in leaps and bounds. I think we'll have you ready to join the others in their training by the end of next month, maybe even move up the timeline of the whole thing." Hunter added, before drinking again. Morgan said nothing but sipped at her own water before looking down at the bottle. She wasn't convinced she was ready for that, nor was she convinced she would ever be ready.

"Something wrong?" Hunter asked gently.

"I just…y'know what, don't worry, it's silly." She said with a shake of the head and a dismissive wave of a hand.

"No, come on, what is it?" Hunter pressed.

"This…all this…I can't help but think this is all going to end in embarrassment for me, for you guys. I mean…. How? how is someone as green as me going to make this look like it should?" she asked. "You guys would have been better off using this as a chance to push someone from NXT." Morgan shook her head before drinking again. A hand gently landed on her shoulder.

"You won't." Hunter's voice said reassuringly. "I can promise you now, you are not going to screw this up. You've made one hell of a start from nothing. You're almost textbook with everything I've taught you so far. You're doing really, really well. If I didn't know better I'd have sworn you were wrestling already." His words were rewarded with a small smile.

"That's nice of you to say, Hunter." She said heavily as she got to her feet. The unsaid words that he knew it wasn't true hung in the air as she walked off towards the door, grabbing her bag on the way and calling to him she would see him tomorrow. She didn't see Hunter watch her leave and plunge his hand in to his bag, pulling his phone from within.

Though she tried to let it go, Morgan found herself pondering all Hunter had said overnight and all the next day. There was no way that four months down the line she could possibly have her moves described as textbook. She didn't even know that many. He was just being nice, she decided. There was no way in hell he could have meant it. When she arrived at the Performance centre that afternoon it was still on her mind. As she finished working out and headed to the changing room she found herself joined by Chantelle.

"So, how are you finding life as a wrestler?" She asked pointedly. She didn't wait for an answer before carrying on. "I imagine it is far less glamourous than someone like you thought hmm?"

"Sorry?" Morgan looked at her puzzled. Chantelle let out a word or two in her native French and Morgan wasn't sure it was nice. Chantelle paused and looked Morgan in the face as she spoke.

"Morgan, was it?" Chantelle asked the question but again didn't wait for Morgan to respond. "This might be some kind of fantasy for you, some kind of fun game, but for me? This is my big chance. And I will not let anyone stand in my way, least of all some little girl who thinks this is all a game. I know you've never wrestled, I know you're just a girl from… England… who'd never set foot in a ring." She said the name of Morgan's home country with distaste.

"I don't know what you mean." Morgan bit.

"You see my dear, I have access to this wonderful thing called The Internet." She rolled her r at the end of the word dear on purpose. "I could find no mention of you in any local wrestling clubs, schools, events. Nothing. But I could find Graham and I could find Noah. Which leads me to assume you are the one Vince was talking about. The one who has never wrestled. Now, the sooner you realise this is peoples careers and not just some fantasy you get to live out, the sooner you go home, the better. Before you get hurt." She added with a malicious smile. "And we wouldn't want that to happen would we?" Morgan realised too late the words were actualy a threat as Chantelle walked away. Even if she did feel that Chantelle was right and she shouldn't be there, there was no need for threats.

Chantelle's words did little to help her thoughts so when she walked in to the practice ring area that night, it took a moment or two for her to realise the rings were in use. People were training in them, some talking outside, some watching those at work within them. Morgan frowned. Had she messed up their time slot? She turned to go but found herself stopped by a voice.

"Hey Morgan! You come to train with us at last?" She turned to see someone leaning over the ropes of the ring nearest to her. He flashed a grin at her as he stepped between them and jumped down.

"Well…um…I was supposed to train…" She said as her words completely failed her at the realisation that hey, people here might actually know her name and she wasn't as invisible as she thought.

"Great!" He said as he came over. He held out a hand towards her. "I'm Drake, Drake Maverick." Morgan took it and shook it, still somewhat bewildered. As she let go, she got a phone call. Answering it revealed it was Hunter. He was running late and would be there as soon as he could, and to go ahead and warm up, practice what she could. It was as she hung up and put her phone away, dumping the bag down near the ring Drake spoke again.

"So, rumour in the rings is that you've never wrestled before." Drake said as Morgan began to stretch and do as Hunter asked. She paused in alarm as he continued. "I don't believe that shit for a second."

"You uh…you don't?" She asked, resuming her warm up and hoping she hadn't clued him in to the fact he was right.

"Nope. I think people are just saying that shit cause they've never seen you fight." Drake said after a shake of the head. "I reckon you could handle yourself easy."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Morgan said with a small laugh.

"So how about we settle the matter? How about you and I hop in the ring?" He asked. Morgan found her heart did a swan dive in to somewhere below her knees.

"N-now?" She managed.

"Why not? Brit vs Brit. I mean, I know you can handle yourself, you know you can handle yourself, so, why not?" Drake asked.

"I'm not getting out of this am I?" She asked as she continued her warm up.

"Nope." He said with a grin as he walked back over to the ring. Inwardly Morgan swore several times over. This wasn't a good idea. But Hunter said you can handle yourself, didn't he? He said you were nearly textbook The voice in her head was almost yelling. Alright, she told herself. Just till Hunter gets here. What harm could it do?

Morgan wasn't sure if Drake was going easy on her, or if it was the informality of it not being an actual lesson. But she found herself enjoying grappling with Drake. He seemed to instinctively know how hard to push her too she noted, as he didn't pull anything particularly challenging out of the bag. She found herself grateful for this. Outside the ring, Morgan didn't notice people stopping what they were doing to take note of the newcomer. She also didn't notice until he called out that she could do better Hunter had slipped in and was watching as she kicked out from a pin on a two count.

"How long have you been watching?" She asked as Drake allowed her a moment or two to stand before gripping her in a bear hug.

"Long enough to know you're holding your own very well." Hunter said with a grin. Morgan let out a sound of annoyance and began to try free herself from Drake's grasp. "Oh Morgan? I have something for you." He said as he pulled a piece of material from below her line of sight and draped it over the bottom rope to reveal it was an Undertaker t-shirt. And there was a silver squiggle that most definitely wasn't part of the design.

"Hey Hunter, is that signed?" Came a nearby voice, feigning innocence.

"Why yes Finn, yes it is." Hunter said with a grin as he looked Morgan dead in the eye. "You beat Drake, it's yours." Morgan almost called Hunter an asshole. He knew how much she looked up to Taker by now. She had asked him about working with him often enough. Hell, as a reward he'd told her stories of their fights and times together after Morgan had good sessions. A signed t-shirt? She would give her right arm for it.

"You're on." She grinned, making those around whoop and cheer. The quiet new girl was going to show what she could do.

The sound of people cheering for her gave Morgan the strangest boost. It was almost like she felt energised, that she felt like she was fighting for THEM. But she knew she wasn't. A brief wondering of if it was like that for those on the main roster filled her mind before being shaken loose by Drake's assault. As Drake grabbed her arm to twist it around, she dropped to the floor pulling him over her and twisting him in turn in to a move she had only seen on TV, but now seemed so clear in her head how to do. As she held him in the Anaconda Vise she yelled for him to tap but he refused, bringing up his knee to her back. Morgan swore as it impacted and forced her to let go while Drake rolled quickly free.

"Brilliant!" Yelled Hunter. "Keep going, keep on him!" She nodded, still cursing, and got to her feet ready to continue her assault. She was met with a drop kick knocking her to the canvas which told her she'd taken too long and Drake had now gotten the advantage. She shook her head as she got to her knees. That wasn't good enough, she told herself.

"I want you to fight like Taker himself is watching." Hunter's voice was closer now and she looked up to grasp the ropes and saw he was right next to her. "You'd wanna impress him right?" Another nod from Morgan as Drake asked if that was all she had. He paused as Morgan got to her feet and Hunter got on the apron. He leaned forwards to speak in to her ear. "Then fight like you want the chance to take his streak. To fight him at Mania. You want all that, earn it." Hunter said, his hand cupping his mouth to be heard above everyone. Morgan nodded and he slipped back off the apron as she stood defiantly looking Drake in the eye. She amused everyone as she did the common finger across the neck that her idol often did, and the two came to blows once more.

The fight was brutal for how short a time she had been training, and Morgan was pretty certain she had bitten her lip at one point as her mouth tasted like metal. But she was victorious and Hunter joined the others as she was counted to three by everyone around her. He slipped in the ring and helped her to her feet, holding her hand up above her head as if they were on RAW and she had just won in front of the crowds.

"Well done." He said, handing her the t-shirt. "You absolutely earned this." Morgan wiped her own t-shirt across her forehead as people around dispersed to their own things.

"Well, how was that?" She asked as she opened the t-shirt to see the signature. She grinned at the sight of it and clutched it to her, hugging it in delight.

"More than good. You've done really, really well since you came here and you should be pleased with yourself." Hunter said. "Thanks for that, Drake."

"Any time." Drake grinned as he shook Morgan's hand.

"You asshole you set me up, didn't you?" she asked with sudden realisation, the insult slipping from her lips. Hunter grinned and shrugged.

"Excuse me, but when do I get my turn?" asked a voice. Morgan looked from Hunter's unapologetic face to see Finn Balor was walking over to them from the ropes. He held out a hand to Morgan. "Finn Balor, pleased to meet you."

"Morgan Tupper," She said, shaking his hand with slight bewilderment. "Um…your turn?"

"Well yes. I'd like a chance against this British Spitfire." He said, looking from Morgan to Hunter to Morgan again as she blushed embarrassed. Spitfire? Her?

"And I'd like a rematch." Drake added.

"I…well..I uh…" Morgan stuttered before Hunter took over.

"Finn, you can have your fight this Friday afternoon. Drake, I'll let you know once we're ready for a rematch. I think a few more lessons first. Morgan, we're going to train in the afternoons now. You'll be joining everyone in the rings from now on."

"I'm not ready," She blurted, to laughter and disbelief from the three men.

"You pulled a perfect Anaconda vise without me teaching you, without me even instructing you in its usage. You quite handsomely kicked Drake's backside all over this ring, and you're not ready?" Hunter said with a laugh. "You absolutely are. This Friday you join the class and Finn gets his match."

And so Morgan did exactly as Hunter had said. She joined the groups of people learning to wrestle at the Performance Centre, and Finn got his match. Morgan suspected however he'd let her win rather than win off her own merit, which he strongly denied. After a month of this Morgan found herself called to speak to Hunter. She was surprised when Noah, Chantelle and Graham appeared as well. The latter two seemed to almost double take at Morgan's change in appearance, a result of being set different training times and in the case of Chantelle and Graham paying Morgan no mind. Far from the nervous, unsure woman of a few months ago, Morgan had now begun to bulk up a bit, she was working out hard and it was beginning to show. Only yesterday Morgan had realised one of her favourite t-shirts was too tight around her arms. Considering they were in the middle of summer, Morgan was less than impressed she wouldn't be able to wear a lot of her t-shirts and had resolved to go clothes shopping that weekend.

"Morgan, you look great." Noah said with a smile and a hug in greeting. "Hunter been working you hard?" He asked, dropping his voice so the others didn't hear. Morgan guessed they didn't know who was training her, but she had mentioned it to Noah the few times they worked out together in the gym.

"Like you wouldn't believe." She replied.

"Told you it would be fine, that you'd be ok." He said with a grin as they waited outside the office they had all been summoned to. As she was about to answer his remark the door opened and they were welcomed inside. Morgan felt her stomach do a flip as she found herself confronted with not just Hunter, but Steph and Vince. Oh fuck…am I in trouble? Are we all in trouble? The thought shot round her head like a rocket as they were asked to take a seat.

"It's good to see the four of you again." Vince said with a smile. He looked from Graham on the far right to Morgan on the far left. "I've been going through all the progress reports. I've seen the training videos. I've spoken to everyone who's trained you. I am impressed with the progress reports I'm getting, and very, very impressed with one of you." Vince said. Graham had a smug smile on his face while Morgan fought the urge to roll her eyes at him. "So. We're moving up the schedule for this. How would the four of you like to make a trip to RAW on the 13th of next month?" The others managed words to say they would like that while Morgan only managed an eager nod of the head. She saw Hunter smirk out of the corner of her eye.

"We'll get the four of you up to Hartford on the Saturday, and pay for your hotel stay and stuff, don't worry about that. But it is absolutely crucial that no one on the roster knows you are coming. No one on RAW must even remotely be aware you're on your way, that you're attending, that you're even in the same city until RAW is over." Steph said. Morgan noticed her looking at Chantelle and Graham as she spoke rather than towards her and Noah, and wondered what had happened.

"So, now that you're all excited and thinking about going to RAW, take the rest of the week off. You've been working hard as hell since you've been here and had no time for yourselves. Take some." Hunter said with a smile.

"That's all. You can go now…oh except you, Miss Tupper, can we have a word?" Vince said as the four rose. Morgan swallowed hard and sat back down. She was in trouble, she knew it. She caught the smirk on Chantelle's face as she walked past, the concern on Noah's. The indifference on Graham's face. The door closed behind them and Steph went to it to make sure no one was waiting outside.

"We're ok, they're gone." She said as she closed the door.

"Good. Good." Vince sat down in one of the vacant chairs. "So. How are you managing, Miss Bellare?"

"I…well I'm ok. I'm keeping up with everything." Morgan said, more confidently than she felt.

"You're more than keeping up with everything." Hunter said with a laugh. "You're doing amazingly. We're really pleased with just how quickly you've picked this up, how fast you're learning." He added with nods from Steph and Vince.

"I wanted to ask how are you being treated by the others, do they know you're not a wrestler. Or rather, you weren't a wrestler to begin with? Because you are now." Steph asked, her brow knitted with concern.

"Well, Graham doesn't want anything to do with me. Never talks to me, never says a word. Chantelle knows, she's made that clear. Noah is absolutely fine with me. He's been the nicest." Morgan replied. "I don't suppose there's much point keeping the fact I'm not a wrestler-"

"You are." Hunter interrupted. "You can't say that anymore, you ARE a wrestler."

"Ok, the fact I wasn't a wrestler before then, there's no point hiding that now." Morgan reddened at Hunter's insistence she was a wrestler. "I guess it won't make much difference."

"While we're in Hartford, we're going to make a trip to the WWE Warehouse." Hunter said. The three smiled as Morgan's face lit up. "Yes, we as in me and you. I think out of everyone you've put in the most work here. You've worked the hardest, pushed yourself the most. This treat is for you." He said. "And yes, I will show you all the Taker stuff we have. Even the coffins." He added, giving Morgan cause for a delighted grin to cross her face.

"Really?! Oh…oh thank you so much!" She exclaimed, bouncing in her seat a moment before remembering she was in front of the three highest board members of the WWE. She regained her composure. "Thank you. I really, really appreciate it."