Chapter 11

"The Ministry has to be destroyed."

Hearing approaching voices, Tahlia quickly stepped further into the dark shadows the trucks provided and frowned, listening intently. It was Vince, Shane, Test, Kane and Chyna. Her eyes narrowed at Chyna and Kane, gritting her teeth to keep from growling and stayed perfectly calm.

"How do you plan on doing that, Mr. McMahon?"

"Give us orders and they will be carried out, sir."

Vince smirked, clapping Test on the shoulder and nodded. "If we take out Undertaker, the rest will fall with him. It won't be easy, but…" His beady eyes landed on Kane. "Are you capable of taking him out and proving your loyalty to me?"

"Yes he is." Chyna stepped forward, clasping Kane's arm gently. "We both are. Tell us what to do."

"Listen carefully."

Tahlia's amber eyes widened as she overheard Vince's plan to try destroying her master and had to inform Taker of the danger immediately.

Shane fell behind, shaking his head with a half-smile as they continued on. More boasting about taking out the Undertaker and for all his McMahon bravado, he knew that was easier said than done. That man was inhuman, he had to be, withstanding the punishment he had taken over the years.

"My money is on Taker." He mused, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his trousers and trailing along after the group, wondering if Test could put his head any further up Vince's backside.

If Vince thought for a second he could take out the Lord of Darkness, he was sadly mistaken. Tahlia agreed with Shane McMahon, eyeing the boy and wondered if he was truly on his father's side. Interesting. Once the Boy Wonder had ventured into the building and Tahlia knew it was safe to head back inside, she made her way back to the Ministry locker room. Tahlia had no idea how to go about doing this, if she should tell Taker in front of everyone or…alone. They would all just laugh at her and carry on since none of the guys thought of her as a true member. Making her mind up, Tahlia pushed open the locker room door and shut it, flipping the lock on it to gain everyone's attention.

"McMahon is planning on taking you out tonight, sir." Her eyes were locked on Taker, who merely raised a brow at her. "I overheard the Corporation talking outside while I was getting some air and…they have your hotel room number and all of your information. I think they plan on sending Kane to do the deed. I just thought you should know in case you wanted to change hotels or something, my Lord."

As the words spilled from her lips, Taker's eyebrow just rose higher and higher. "Oh, really?"

He didn't doubt her for a second. Though Farooq and Bradshaw were openly considering her words, as if she might have been blowing something out of proportion. Taker supposed that was how it worked, the majority of females in this company were drama queens; the boys just needed a bit more experience with one who was not.

"Kane, hmm?"

"Should I...?"

"I'll need gasoline... lots of it."

She didn't storm into the locker room in an uproar or raise her voice hysterically. Tahlia had remained perfectly calm, breathing a little heavy from walking fast, but other than that nothing she did should've screamed drama queen. Gasoline…she could only imagine what that would entail and hoped the Big Red bastard fried for thinking he could get one over on her master. As long as Taker believed what she said, that's all Tahlia was concerned about. Honestly, why would she lie about something like this?

Bradshaw narrowed his dark eyes at the woman, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Why were you outside in the first place?" He demanded, eyeing her shrewdly.

"No offense, but…I'm the only woman in a group of dicks." Taker DID say she could defend herself if the situation merited and right now, it damn sure did. "Sometimes, I need a moment to myself to get away from all the testosterone." Walking into the bathroom with her bag in hand, Tahlia shut the door and flipped the lock on it, shaking her head.

"Well…that was rather rude…" Bradshaw grunted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"And you deserved it, partner." Farooq shook his head, getting ready for their tag team match that would main event the house show.

"All things considered, is it safe for her to be outside by herself, without giving anyone notice?"

Taker did not miss the look Paul shot him, and inwardly rolled his eyes. "No." Mideon had a point... not that he knew the logic or reasoning behind it, but Paul did. "Brother Paul, I believe you have some gasoline to procure?"

Paul groaned, hating handling the chemicals that Taker frequently needed. "Anything else?"

"A blowtorch would be nice."

"If she hadn't been out there though, we wouldn't know what those assholes in the Corporation are planning." Farooq spoke up, narrowing his eyes slight at Mideon. "Next time she needs air or space, I'll go with her." He didn't bother waiting for a response and nudged Bradshaw, both of them walking out to go do their match. "Something's not right with that guy."

"Mideon? Yeah, he's a little on the…weird side." To put it mildly, Bradshaw added in thought. "Paul said somethin' 'bout his jealousy toward Tahlia. Said the Deadman's been spendin' more time with her than the rest of us, not that I care." Bradshaw honestly didn't and the only reason they decided to side with the Deadman was because of the career boost. "What do you think?"

"We need to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't try anything stupid."

"Agreed." Now it was time to kick Too Cool's teeth down their throat, or knock them out with a Clothesline from Hell.

Taker was left alone with Mideon while Paul left to go get what he wanted and Tahlia was still hiding in the bathroom like the premenstrual creature she was. He could feel his underlings stare on his face and simply continued staring at the monitor. It was one thing to demand obedience and devotion from a person, it was another entirely to have a fanatic salivating over his boots.

"Why don't you go see if you can't eavesdrop, hmm?" That was something Mideon was good at. Skulking.

Tahlia walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later, dressed in a purple short sleeved top and black skinny jeans, her hair pulled up in a high ponytail. Nobody else was in the locker room except her and Taker. Where had Mideon gone? She knew the Acolytes had a match and walked over to the monitor, sitting down beside him silently to watch. What would it take to finally get the rest of the members to accept her? Tahlia didn't show emotion for a second, but yet she could see the judgment all over Bradshaw's face. Farooq, she wasn't sure about.

"Damn!" She cringed at the lariat Bradshaw delivered to Scotty 2 Hotty, knowing he wasn't getting up from that. "Holy shit, he nearly decapitated him."

"Good." His voice dripped with approval, not minding for a second that Bradshaw could have hurt the idiot. "You do realize they think of you less because they have seen nothing to show you are not as airheaded as the rest of the... women performers." Disdain dripped from his tone. The women's division had become a joke. Bimbos, airheads... all the normal now. "Your 'dicks' comment and storming off, only cements this. You need to take it like a man and give it back just as well." Not flounce off. "In time, they'll realize you are more than your... more interesting areas."

"No matter what I do, it won't make a difference and I'm done trying to gain their acceptance. I have yours and that's all that matters."

Tahlia looked up at him, wondering if he truly did believe her and couldn't let the fact they'd had sex interfere with business. Granted, she'd felt worry the moment she'd overheard the Corporation's plan to take him out. What would've happened had she not been outside getting air? Tahlia didn't want to think about the deadly ambush or what Kane could've done to Taker.

"I should've just kept my mouth shut and waited until we were alone, like now, to tell you about the Corporation." Lesson learned, it wouldn't happen again.

"Tahlia," Taker pushed himself up out of his seat, turning to tower over her. There was no teasing, no playfulness, nothing but seriousness and command in his eyes. "You will learn to be a team player. You are not a single entity unto yourself and you will integrate. If I didn't think you could handle what I knew what is to come your way, I wouldn't have recruited you." He snorted. "And you will stop your fatalistic, woe is me, attitude concerning whether or not they will accept you. Make them."

How? How was she supposed to do that when everything she did and every word out of her mouth wasn't taken seriously? The tone of his voice implied it would be in her best interest to simply nod and obey what he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

Tahlia was clueless on how to do that, but one way or another she had to make every member of the Ministry accept her. She would figure it out. Maybe once they surprised the Corporation later that night and beat down Kane, they would see she hadn't lied or made up the story.

"I apologize, I will try harder and I won't stop until they do accept me. Thank you for making me see reason, my Lord." Tahlia didn't dare rise to her feet and stayed on her knees in front of him, bowing her head in respect.

Very likely, she was lying through her teeth and disagreed with him, but that was quite all right. This was one of those times when he wouldn't brook a disagreement. His men were men and he was pretty sure Farooq would be assisting Bradshaw in minding his mouth, which would be a monumental task as Shaw was a brash, bold and thoughtless Texan idiot. Taker lowered his hand to rest on the top of her head for a moment, tapping once to let her know she was to rise.

"You did do well, to let us know."

Standing, Tahlia nodded and kept a stoic expression on her face, looking up into his acidic eyes. "I'm just glad I overheard what they were planning and nothing catastrophic happened. Not that you can't handle yourself, sir. I'm just…"

She heard the door open and shook her head, clearing her throat as Taker walked past her to speak to the Acolytes. She knew travel arrangements would be changed due to the Corporation's ambush plan and would merely follow. Sitting on the bench, Tahlia felt like a regular fish out of water and leaned her head back against the lockers, trying not to eavesdrop on Taker's talk with the Acolytes. She wanted to know what was going on, but at the same time that would be sticking her nose in their business. So instead, she pulled the CD case out of her bag and began reading the back of it to give her something to do until it was time to leave.

"McMahon has left, we should head out, my Lord."

That was the cue she'd been waiting for as Tahlia grabbed her bag to sling it over her shoulder and raised a brow when Farooq approached her. "Everything okay?" She asked quietly, keeping her voice perfectly neutral.

"You're riding with us. John wants to apologize for footin' his big dumb ass in his mouth."

"You mean puttin' my big dumb ass foot in my mouth, man." Bradshaw cleared his throat, because he had been hard on her, but... so far, she was impressive in the ring and that was about it. Unless one counted her having women issues. "So yeah, ride with us?"

"Your gasoline is ready."

"Excellent."

Tahlia smiled back at them genuinely and placed a hand on Bradshaw's long-sleeved shirt covered arm. "It's okay. I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I was out of line." Extending her hand, amber eyes practically glowed back at the rough around the edges Texan and Tahlia felt her hand being accepted, shaking it firmly. "Come on then, lead the way, boys."

Farooq chuckled, extending his arm and guided her out of the dressing room, deciding to give the woman a chance. The Deadman chose her for a reason and they had to respect that.

Paul raised a brow, wondering what had gotten into the Acolytes and looked up at his master. "That's interesting…" Then he had an idea, tapping his chubby chin thoughtfully. "You think they'd mind if she accompanied them to ringside for a few matches?"

Taker considered that, stroking his goatee thoughtfully. "Maybe." He said finally with a shrug. "You can present the idea to her and see what she thinks on it." Personally, he thought she might find it offensive or something, being regulated to a valet. However, it would be good for her as she'd begin bonding with others besides him.

Mideon looked like he was going to say something and then bit his tongue.

"So, are you boys' hungry?" Tahlia asked and then laughed when both of their stomachs began gurgling. "Food first before you two waste away."

"Taker doesn't need us at the hotel right away, does he?"

"No." Bradshaw shook his head, opening the door for her and forced Farooq to sit in the back. "Unless you're more comfortable in the back, honey?"

"Nope, the back is fine with me, sugar." Tahlia winked, hopping in the backseat and laid sideways with her feet pressed against the side while Farooq took the passenger and Bradshaw drove. "I'm not picky about where we eat either."

It would have to be something quick considering Taker was expecting them at the hotel to catch Kane in the act. "It'll have to be fast food unless you wanna wait for room service?" He made it sound like a question, giving her a choice while staring back at her in the rearview mirror.

"Whatever works, I'm flexible. I'll just burn it off when I kick Mideon's ass during sparring tomorrow."

Farooq hated his cell phone. It barely ever worked. He did better with the pager. "Find a pay phone." He ordered, waiting patiently as Bradshaw scoured the streets. Right next to a McDonalds, fortunate. "Paul wants a check in." He explained, not even bothering to try angling his body into that booth, just reached for the phone.

"The Undertaker insists you three take your time. Apparently... there's something he doesn't want you to wind up involved in about to happen." Which was probably arson, and potential homicide. Taker wanted them to have plausible deniability. "Also, he wants French fries."

"He wants French fries?"

"He asked for gasoline. He asked for French fries."

"Uh... got it."