Chapter 28

The following day, after a night full of satisfaction, Tahlia was up before Taker in the morning, slipping his shirt on. They were completely alone, so none of the Ministry would see what went down. She could get away with doing things like wearing Taker's shirts with no panties or bra. What was the point? Honestly, Taker had a habit of tearing them off her body and Tahlia had gone through quite a few pairs since their reconciliation. She decided no more panties would be destroyed and simply go without wearing them until they rejoined the company. Her black hair was swept up on top of her head while mixing pancake batter, humming to Metallica playing over the radio and danced around the kitchen in her own little world.

Normally, Taker was up before the sun had even begun to consider rising. He was an early riser by nature. Sleep was for people who had no lives, no grand plans, or darkly amusing schemes to see played out. When, however, he did finally open his eyes, the sun was out and the clock read an hour he was usually conducting business at. What the hell… He sat up, stretching his arms over his head and looked down to his side. Taker was not surprised to find the spot Tahlia had occupied to be empty. He had thought she'd be worn out from their extensive nightly rounds, but… not surprised she was awake either.

Yawning, he got up and headed for the bathroom, pausing to tip his head. She was up, playing music… Hiding what might have passed for a smile, he handled his business before venturing to see what she was up to. The domestic scene in the kitchen was not what he had been expecting and all Taker could do was lean in the open archway, wearing nothing except his black pajama bottoms, arms folded over his muscular chest and stare. He hadn't bothered pulling his hair back, brushing it had been enough and the raven locks spilled down over his shoulders as he shook his head when she belted out the song. This was… different, and not the Tahlia he had grown used to.

Did he suddenly forget the time he came to her hotel room and asked her to turn the music down? She'd been listening to Metallica and he'd been extremely polite about asking her to keep the noise level down. Tahlia obeyed and instead plugged her headphones into her Walkman so Taker could rest. It was surreal how much time had changed from then to now and all that had happened. Feeling eyes on her, Tahlia turned around and smiled apologetically at Taker, immediately turning the music down.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I'm making pancakes, bacon and eggs for breakfast if you want some. I also have coffee brewing." She knew he was a huge coffee person and already had a cup while cooking, flipping the pancake over in the pan.

It hadn't been forgotten, but there was a difference in scenery and plans at the moment. He wasn't needing sleep to be up doing something evil or working. Taker felt refreshed actually and idly wondered how he had slept through the music. She was likely going to go deaf earlier. He nodded, walking over to accept the mug of coffee Tahlia held out, taking it with one hand and using the other to pull her against him for a quick morning kiss.

"You never put domestic skills on your resume." Taker said deadpanning, looking at the cooked food and what was in progress. He sounded so serious only those closest to him would know he was teasing.

"You learn something new every day, Deadman." Tahlia shot back softly, feeling his hand smack her backside and nuzzled his side for a moment. She'd already taken the pancake out of the pan and hadn't added another yet. "I figured since we can't go anywhere, me especially, for a week and the house is stocked full of food, we'll have to cook. I don't mind cooking for you." Winking, Tahlia extracted herself from his embrace to pour more batter in the pan and took the eggs out of the fridge. "Over easy for the eggs, right?" At his nod, she grinned and cracked two eggs into the heated pan and popped some bread in the nearby toaster.

It was a little sad he had to confess that the few homecooked meals he did get with his hectic schedule were the ones Paul cooked for him. And that was only by Paul's good grace. He could cook, sure, but it was a tedious task and finding something relatively decent wasn't hard to do with all the diners and fast food joints that seemed to crop up overnight. Searching in the fridge, Taker set out orange juice, eyeballing everything that was in there. He needed to give his mentor a raise; the man went above and beyond his onscreen persona and duties.

"Thank you."

Once breakfast finished, both eating in amicable silence, Tahlia cleaned up while Taker moved to the living room to watch some television. Was this what domesticated life was like? Tahlia wasn't sure if she liked it or not preferring the insane hectic schedule WWF had them all on. She enjoyed traveling and moving from place to place like a nomad. One day she would want to settle down, but definitely not right now. With the kitchen done, Tahlia felt restless and frowned, looking out the window and could see they were surrounded by wooded area. Taker wanted to make sure nobody could find them, not even by helicopter.

Finally, it was Sunday night! Tahlia was going out of her mind with boredom in the house and missed the road, wanting to get back to start tormenting Shane and defending her title. Paul had arrived earlier that day along with the Acolytes, who welcomed Tahlia back with open arms. Mideon was still at home recovering from his beating, so he wouldn't be joining them until Monday evening before Raw. Viscera was keeping an eye on him to make sure he tended to the wounds so they didn't get infected. Edge and Christian opted to join the group once they were back at Raw as well. Grabbing her Women's championship, Tahlia stared down at it and sank on the bed, still not believing she'd reclaimed it and Shane McMahon had helped in his own way. And now Boy Wonder was about to get a very RUDE awakening.

Any of those thoughts about Tahlia being a happy homemaker had been dispelled pretty quickly during their week of downtime. She was content to cook, but it soon became apparent that she was bored easily. Tahlia liked action and a fast-paced life. Taker understood, he did too. Playing house was fun, but in very small amounts. There was simply too much fun to be had elsewhere.

"What's on your mind?" He asked from his place in a chair, where he was polishing the leather of his own stuff. "Shane?" And he wasn't concerned or having jealousy issues anymore, not overly. He knew her thing with Shane was making him suffer now.

"Yes, not the way you're thinking though. At least, I hope you're not thinking I miss him or something. Because then I'd have to politely inform my master that he needs his head examined." Tahlia replied cheekily, setting the title down and resumed packing her things. A week off was great once in a while, but now she was ready to shell out vengeance and make Shane McMahon suffer for ever laying eyes on her. "After we're done packing, we should do that video to send to the Boy Wonder. Just to make him THINK I'm being held against my will." A wicked chuckle resonated around the room by both of them as Taker nodded and Tahlia went to go inform Paul to get the video equipment prepared.

Given how spiteful and evil Tahlia was turning out to be, Taker and Paul had both made mental notes to never get on her bad side because the woman was missing something in her brain. Most everyone in his Ministry was, but a woman… women were evil. An evil beyond him.

"What exactly are we doing?" Paul asked as Tahlia helped him lug his equipment.

He had the general idea and it was interesting to see the sparkle of amusement in her amber eyes, but he was wondering if they would need more than what he had. He had prepped for some things, but also spent time with his wife and kids during his week off. When she reminded him, he nodded.

"You are as evil as he is." It was a match made in hell.

While Paul set up the camera equipment, Tahlia lit various candles throughout the room, turning the light on and off several times to test how it looked through the video camera. She nodded once 20 were lit, pleased with the eeriness and luminescent glow it gave off. The luggage was out by the front door since they had to leave early in the morning to make it to the Raw location by the afternoon. Then Tahlia began her transformation, slipping on a deep dark purple negligee and put some eyedrops in her eyes to give the illusion she'd been crying. No makeup was required for this. Tahlia completely drenched her hair and combed it back to make it look like she'd just gotten out of the shower. Then she thought better of the negligee and instead used the black silk robe, tying it. It would be easier access for Taker, though she'd put on panties. Once she was ready, she walked out of the bathroom and shut the light off, taking a deep silent breath.

"3…2…1…And now."

Taker was never truly 100% out of character, so this was simply like finishing getting dressed for him, just adding the last piece of clothing. He had also made himself ready for this little gift to Shane. Taker wore his wrestling tights, minus the top, boots, and his robe. The hood was down, his damp black hair loose and the robe was wide open, revealing the broad muscular expanse of his pale chest.

"Oh Tahlia," He began from offscreen, his voice reverberating darkly around the room. "You little fool, thinking you could escape the darkness…" He hissed that last word. His hands emerged from the blackness the candles hadn't penetrated, fingertips curving over her silk covered shoulders. "From me…" Next was his face, looking downright demonic in the candlelight, his eyes flashing acid.

How in the HELL was she supposed to act like she despised him when all she wanted to do was tackle him to the bed? Damn it, why did he have to look so delicious and send her heart racing? Tahlia was a master at controlling her emotions though, one of the qualities she knew Taker admired. She stood there stiff as a statue, tensing at his touch and tears spilled down her cheeks silently.

"I didn't escape, you let me go…or so I thought." That's what she'd told Shane when he first approached her at the arena. "So do what you have to do. I won't surrender to the darkness again…especially to you." Injecting as much venom as she could into her tone, Tahlia trembled at his evil demonic laughter resonating around the room.

"You will, Tahlia." He whispered, letting his chin come to rest on her shoulder, his hands skimming down along her arms and around her stomach until his fingers were at the ties of the silk robe she wore. "You've surrendered to me once before…" Taker was being excruciatingly slow about untying them, revealing bit by bit portions of her creamy skin, hints of her panties. "You will again. You cannot escape the darkness, you can't deny it…" He was aware the camera was panning around them, towards where her brand was.

"No." Tahlia shook her head, her mind and heart screaming 'yes', however. The Ministry was where she truly wanted to be. "I did surrender to you and it cost me nearly everything. It's because of you I ended up in the Corporation…with Shane. They gave me a home when you abandoned me. They'll come for me…SHANE will come for me." She spat defiantly and sucked a sharp breath in as Taker's finger began tracing the brand permanently seared into her skin. "I fell for your lies once, I won't do it again." Shane would LOVE to hear all of this, but once Raw rolled around the next night, his entire world would be shattered. And it was only the beginning of his torment.

They already knew that while Shane wouldn't appreciate seeing his beloved being physically tortured in the good old-fashioned painful sort of way, he would be able to tolerate it. He would be able to tend to her wounds, kiss everything better, help her heal. It was mental torture they were going to inflict on the McMahon brat. The kind that would drive him over the edge, make him wonder and question, make him break down and cry because this wasn't something that could be kissed away.

"We'll see…" He whispered, completely revealing that brand for the entire world to see. In the next moment, Tahlia was whirled across the room into the waiting bed, the silk robe fluttering to the floor. He slowly shed his robe and began laughing as she started screaming. "You will surrender to the Lord of Darkness." His eyes rolled back into his head, showing the whites, right before all the candles blew out.

He really needed to ask Paul how he managed that so flawlessly.

"That was fantastic!" Tahlia crowed the second Paul stopped filming, bringing Taker's mouth down on hers for a celebratory kiss. "But I shouldn't be surprised because it's you." She laughed with pure joy, wondering who in their right mind, especially a woman, could resist the darkness with this man. Paul had retrieved her robe and handed it to her while Taker removed himself from the bed to change into more comfortable clothing. "Thank you, Brother Paul." Kissing the older man's cheek, Tahlia grabbed a nightgown and walked into the bathroom where Taker was, sliding her hand up his bare back while staring at him in the reflection. "Prince is going to lose his mind when he sees that tomorrow night." They planned on showing it as soon as Raw went on the air to build the suspense of the Ministry's return with her. "Thank you for letting me help you with the creative details, Taker…and for trusting me."

Taker met her stare in the mirror, cocking an eyebrow. "I trust you almost as much as I trust Paul." Which was with his life, she was rapidly closing in on that coveted position. "You wear my mark." His eyes darted down, not that he could see it since she was covered again, but he knew it was there and always would be. "Paul leave?"

"Paul is tearing down the equipment." Paul called from the other room. They had left the door wide open so he was glad Taker had asked before they forgot themselves, and him. Awkward. "Paul would kindly appreciate it if you'd remember he is here."

"Yes, old timer."

Paul started grumbling at that one.