Chapter 35

That was a HORRIBLE way to wake oneself up out of a dream, but Brooklynn had to do it. True to his word, she was sticky and needed a shower, groaning softly. Mark was asleep beside her, dead to the world and that was good because she wouldn't be able to explain any of this if he was awake. Sliding out of bed, Brooklynn glanced at the clock and saw it was just after 2 AM, scrubbing a hand down her face. Why was she suddenly feeling like she had betrayed Mark? Why was she having second thoughts and doubts about Taker? That's why she had to get out of the dream, before he could corrupt her heart more and drag her away from Mark.

"What the fuck am I doing?" She asked herself in a mumble, closing the bathroom door and turned the sprays on, staring into the mirror. "Damn it…"

Her heart was literally split in two, one half going to Mark and the other half in Taker's grasp. How was she supposed to keep this secret from Mark, from the circle, from everyone? Randy already knew she was lying; if he touched her, he would know the truth and there was a very real possibility of that happening during this vacation.

"Julia…I wish you were here to tell me what to do. I'm scared, and I'm lost…I don't know how I'm supposed to feel anymore and following my heart isn't an option…I don't know if I can trust my instincts, if I can trust myself…"

She would force him to take over and physically come out. Brooklynn was talking to herself in the shower, talking to her dead sister. Julia wasn't coming back, that was a no-go because Julia might spill the beans and he couldn't have that. He refused to be trapped again, dead, unable to see Lynn, unable to see his daughter.

"What does your heart say, Lynn?" He caught her when she jumped, making sure she didn't slip and kill herself.

"Christ, wear a bell or something!" Brooklynn hadn't meant to snap at him, but she didn't hear him step into the bathroom due to the shower sprays. Her hands were on his chest as he backed her up to where he could enter the shower as well, the sprays cascading over him. "I can't trust my heart with this because…half is yours and half is Mark's." She wanted the best of both worlds and couldn't have it. "I'm betraying him…I'm lying to him about you being back and it's not a good feeling."

Brooklynn never kept anything from Mark, not in all the years they'd been together and knew each other. Sex wouldn't fix this. Hell, nothing would because, in the end, Taker would have control over Mark's body and Mark would be gone. She didn't want to lose either of them and let the tears fall down her cheeks, mixing with the shower sprays.

"I see."

She wanted them both, though perhaps not at different times. During sex… she definitely wanted him. For the gentle stuff that he was unable to provide, she wanted Mark. Brooklynn wanted them both and he wasn't sure how to give her that. Reaching out, Taker cupped the back of her head, bringing her to him and wrapped his arms around her slowly, enfolding her against his body beneath the sprays. This felt almost alien to him, foreign, holding her like this and nice at the same time. That was… a troublesome thought.

Clinging to him for dear life, it ALMOST felt as if Mark was the one holding her from how gentle Taker was. She knew the difference though, could feel his hesitation, his body tense. He wasn't used to doing this, being this soft and comforting. However, Brooklynn wanted him for more than just sex. That's not why she fell in love with him. Hell, they hadn't even had sex until years down the road because she didn't want to ruin their friendship.

It became a game between them, who would break first? Who would hold out the longest? And each time she saw him, each time they were brought together, it became harder and harder to fight back her desire. She could remember her first time with Mark and her first time with Taker – the differences were astounding, like day and night. They each gave her something, and if they were two separate people, Brooklynn would've lost her mind trying to choose between them. Thankfully, that wasn't the case, but it still felt like she was in a love triangle with her own husband.

If they were both being honest and they really weren't, at least not out loud, neither Taker nor Brooklynn knew each other anymore, except on the physical level. He had been locked away for 17 years, unchanging, not mentally aging. He didn't have the experience or the life she had. Seventeen years and a kid had changed her too. They were so many worlds apart it wasn't even remotely funny.

The following morning was hectic. Brooklynn woke up to Mark, not Taker, and got rid of the black rose before he could spot it. It broke her heart to throw the flower away, but she wasn't taking any chances. While she made breakfast, Mark piled their luggage in the car to get it out of the way. Claira was doublechecking to make sure she had everything, in slight teenager panic mode.

"Breakfast is ready!" Brooklynn called out, knowing Mark and Claira would hear her and had the table already set.

The new kitchen really did look beautiful with the new appliances and remodel. Mark did an exceptional job and she truly loved it. She loved him and wanted to spend time with him since, for the past week, it had been mostly Taker she saw.

"Shit darlin', make it a sandwich." Mark laughed, slapping Brooklynn's backside when he came in, eyeballing the spread. "Well, leftovers maybe…" For on the road. "Claira's packed that bag 5 more times today." From his understanding, she had done it several times yesterday.

"Shut up… ohhhhh bacon."

"Sit your ass down and eat, both of you. We're not animals around here." Brooklynn chastised, smirking at her husband and sat down at the table to make her plate.

"Mom, you do realize the human race was started by animals, right?"

"And you realize I can whoop your ass if you don't sit down and have an actual breakfast with your mother, right?"

"Yeah – yeah, whatever." Claira rolled her eyes, sitting down like her mother wanted and chomped on a piece of bacon while making her plate. "Seth is going to be here any minute."

"He can eat with us then. There's plenty, as always."

"FYI Dad, if my chore is taking out all the trash, I'd really appreciate you bagging it from the bathroom first." Claira wasn't going to see him for a good while since she was heading out with Steve and Trish after school, so she figured she'd harass him a bit.

"Uh…" Mark didn't use panty liners and he flushed the toilet paper, one auburn eyebrow rose.

Claira snorted, shaking her head. "Uh… your trimmings."

He hadn't shaved in a few days.

"Mom… can I just not take out your guy's trash?"

Teenagers were…fickle, evil creatures and Brooklynn saw the blush creeping up Mark's neck to his face, trying hard not to laugh. "I'll take care of the trash in our bathrooms from now on. Both guest and bedroom. You don't have to worry about those, but every other trash in the house, yes." Christ Taker, what did you do, she thought, knowing little things like that would bother Mark and make him suspicious something wasn't right.

Losing time was a surefire sign he wasn't in control of his body.

Taker had cast a glamour to keep Mark from noticing. Mark kept that area neatly trimmed. He hated pubic hair, period, and it stemmed from zipping up said hair as a teen. Commando, jeans, pubic hair… not a good combination. Mark had no idea what the fuck Claira was talking about, or Brooklynn, and just sipped his coffee, eyeballing them suspiciously. Women were insane. He didn't want to know.

After Claira left for school, Brooklynn cleaned up the kitchen while Mark went to the shop to take care of a few things before it was time to hit the road. They would be gone for a week and Mark hadn't been at the shop this week due to being taken over by his counterpart. That was partially Brooklynn's fault. She sighed, wondering how much longer she would be able to keep up this ruse and hoped Taker had a trick or two up his sleeve if Mark did notice something wasn't right. After the kitchen was spotless, Brooklynn went upstairs for a quick shower to wash up, knowing it would be at least 15 hours before she could bathe again. She walked out of the bathroom and ran smack into Mark, screaming out in surprise.

"Wear some damn bells!" It was the same thing she'd yelled at Taker the previous night, when he scared her in the shower, as she clutched the towel to her body, trying to get her heart rate back to normal. "Jesus, I didn't expect you to be back so soon. Everything good at the shop then?"

"Yeah, they think with all this time off I've been putting in, I'm fixing to do promotions or something." Mark chuckled, and maybe he would. It wasn't like they needed the money and, in Mexico, they had talked about getting out more. "If this trip goes well, darlin', and once we settle this business from Julia… we should start planning a summer vacation. We haven't done one in a few years."

Well, not anything outside of mandatory camping trips and then hunting camps in the Fall. Claira and Brooklynn hadn't really found said hunting trips to be all that much fun. Something about shooting Bambi apparently set women to crying.

What would Taker think about that? Why the hell was she once again putting him above herself and everyone else? Brooklynn had serious issues and nodded, cracking a smile before heading into the bedroom to get dressed.

"Where were you thinking to vacation?" She asked, drying herself off with the towel and towel-drying her hair, feeling him walk up behind her. If this was Taker, he would've had her bent over the bed and been balls deep inside of her already. The towel would be tantalizing enough for him, but Mark was the opposite. Mark was busy admiring the little glimpses that towel would afford him, whenever she moved, the little gaping areas. Or when she stretched or bent, how it would shift and rise.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe we should let Claira spin a globe and just go wherever her finger lands. Could be fun."

They had done all the traditional family vacations, time for something new. When Brooklynn finished with her hair, he ripped that towel off, laughing at her gasp. Brooklynn squeaked out when he did that, amber eyes wide and shook her head at his playful nature, rolling her eyes.

"I could've done that myself, but thanks for the assistance."

She sashayed over to the dresser to pull out some clothes to slip on, her curves on full display for her husband, who was drinking her in. A quick glance at the clock told her they had a few more hours to kill before school was out and, if this was Taker, she knew exactly how he would spend them. Pulling on the panties and clipping her bra in place, Brooklynn sat down on the bed to pull her shorts on.

"I don't know about that finger idea. You know Claira won't want to be away from Seth for long periods of time this summer." Providing they were still together, which Brooklynn saw as a huge possibility. "Unless we bring him with us…again…"

"Brooklynn… I'm not planning our lives around her boyfriend." Mark said flatly, stopping her from finishing dressing. "She's going to have to eventually learn that fully functioning people sometimes have to spend time away from their… boyfriends."

Brooklynn hadn't even TRIED pretending she was interested in Mark, she had bantered and dressed. That was fucking hilarious. Though, Taker did agree about the Claira thing.

"See… you were perfectly fine without these." He snapped the strap of her bra against her shoulder, now crouched between her legs. "What's going on with you lately, Brooklynn?" She was acting… almost skittish sometimes.

Telling him the truth was out of the question. Too much was at stake and she was confused about her feelings for Taker. She was also worried about this darkness coming for them and couldn't get Julia's words out of her head.

"Why don't you dominate me?" Her eyes widened when she asked that question and could see the bewilderment on Mark's face. "Oh god…fuck…I mean, shit! I didn't mean to ask that…" She was off that bed in a heartbeat, rubbing her hands together nervously and could FEEL Mark's eyes burning into her back. "Do you remember our first night together? We waited SO long for it and had built it up in our heads to be amazing and it was. It still is…but…Mark, why don't you get rough with me when we have sex? I'm not talking about making love either. I'm talking about hard fucking. You never get rough with me, you always hold yourself back. At first, I thought it was because of Claira, but…you still do it. You hold yourself back and all I want you to do is show me the beast inside of you. The animal you're keeping caged – let him out once in a while. You won't hurt me if that's what you're worried about. That night in the shower a few nights ago was…incredible. It was the first time you actually dominated me in…I don't know how long and I want more of that. What is holding you back? Why are you afraid to let your inner sexual predator out?"

"My inner sexual predator… don't call it that, it sounds… rapey." Mark ordered, fighting back a shudder.

Why hadn't he let loose with her? Probably because in the time she had known his other half, Taker wasn't always the nicest guy. While Taker had purposefully managed to block memories of him and Brooklynn, he hadn't with other conquests and he had seen what the savage did to them. Not to mention, during the Nemesis crisis, she had regretted bringing Taker back.

"I don't want to remind you of the Undertaker, darlin'." He admitted, clearing his throat and wondered where this stemmed from. "I know I'm not him, and I'm not going to tear you up and spit you out, but… I guess I didn't know how you felt." They sucked at communicating, but better late than never, right?

That stung more than Brooklynn cared to admit, especially since she had been lying to him about Undertaker returning. "Do you think I don't know that? I know you're not Him." She had to keep playing the part in order to keep the ruse going. "You've been holding yourself back because you were afraid of reminding me of your counterpart? Mark…" Shutting her eyes, Brooklynn took a deep breath and opened them, walking up to him. "Undertaker never hurt me. He had a right to be angry when I asked you to bring him back because it wasn't out of love or want. It was a necessity to ensure our survival because I didn't think you were strong enough to face Nemesis." He wasn't, not without Mickie's help at least. "I admit, what he did to Randy was wrong, but that was a long time ago. It was almost two decades ago." She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him the same way she had Taker only hours ago, pouring all the fire, love, passion and desire into it. "You could never scare me away. So stop holding yourself back and thinking you're gonna scare me off. Give me back the man I fell in love with, the man who made my toes curl and stole my heart, my breath, with his kisses and touch. Don't hide from me anymore, please. I love all sides of you and, if you don't know that, you're a fool."

Taker was going back to sleep starting now. He could read those thoughts flashing through Mark's mind as he did what he had been wanting to do for years now, what he SHOULD have been doing, and dominated her. Not the same way Taker himself would have, but… he'd give his counterpart high grades for effort. She was a little hypocrite, his beautiful Lynn. Lying through her teeth, scolding Mark… he was thoroughly enjoying it, actually. But… he needed to be dormant now, give any potential energy residue time to settle before they reached D.C. He didn't need a certain Witch catching onto him; he would probably kill her, her husband, their pets and leave their brats orphans.