Chapter 54

Throughout the 8 months since she'd been back on the road, Tahlia picked up some new moves and one of them was doing a suplex from the top rope. Then immediately standing up and delivering a brain buster, hooking the legs for the victory. Jackie had practiced it with her several times and it was executed flawlessly. Tahlia stumbled up to her feet, holding her back and held the title up, her body completely covered in sweat. The women were not just eye candy and she had proved it along with a choice select few in the women's locker room. Tahlia was a trailblazer, along with Jackie and the small circle of women who could actually take a beating in the ring like the men. Flipping over the top rope, she landed on her feet like a cat and waved 3 fingers at Jackie, who was still down in the ring slowly beginning to move. Once behind the curtain, she was immediately swept up in a big hug by Bradshaw and then Farooq, both congratulating her on a job well done.

"You better enjoy that title because, soon, I'm coming for it, Tahlia!" Stephanie sneered, walking past on the arm of her husband, Triple H, along with the rest of the McMahon-Helmsley Faction. She was going to pay for what happened to Shane.

Tahlia laughed, the sound bone-chilling as her amber eyes flashed at the Princess, patting her title. "Come get it, Princess, IF you can." Snorting, she turned on her heel and stalked down the hallway with her championship, heading straight to her locker room.

"Honey, you best watch your ass because if she does 'come and get it', she's bringing all those asshats with her." Bradshaw warned flatly, watching the McMahon-Helmsley Faction with disgust before following Tahlia.

Sometimes, he missed being part of the Ministry. Back then people feared and respected them. Of course, these days, pulling that kind of stuff got you prison time since technology was making leaps and bounds, making it harder to do some of the more… unsavory things they all had.

"If you think any of those assholes scare me, you don't know me very well, Shaw." Tahlia remarked, walking down the hallway with him and grabbed a bottled water from one of the many buckets of ice set out for the wrestlers, chugging half of it down.

They parted ways as Tahlia went to the dressing room to change and leave, ready to head back to the hotel. Maybe she would get a workout in, depending on how her body felt once the adrenaline wore off. The main event was underway and it would be over an hour long, so she decided to get a quick shower and dress while the first half happened. When she emerged 20 minutes later, wearing black jeans and a dark blue tank top, Tahlia sat in the metal folding chair and proceeded to watch the rest of the match.

Towards the end of the sixty minutes, that promo of little girls showed again :

As I lay me down to sleep – lay me down
I pray my soul is mine to keep
And never step outside this bed - never
…into all the evil
Now back from the dead.

His Harley, amplified with some mini-speakers, roared to life and he went out.

He's Here

The look on the McMahon's faces was priceless and inwardly, he was grinning. Even with the new look, the less evil attire, he still inspired fear, and that was good. It was time to remind these fucks that evil never died, it just slept, and waited.

"HOLY SHIT, ROOQ, LOOK!"

Amber eyes widened as Tahlia watched the man she'd left 8 months ago roar to the ring on a beautiful motorcycle. Taker was completely different…from head to toe. He was absolutely gorgeous. Long black leather trench coat, blue jean sleeveless shirt, black skintight jeans, black and white bandana around his head with his…auburn red hair pulled back in a tight tail at the nape of his neck. Tahlia could not take her eyes off the monitor, completely ignoring Bradshaw and Farooq barging into her locker room. Taker dismantled the entire Faction, resulting in The Rock being disqualified and Triple H walked away with the championship. When he rolled his eyes in the back of his head into the camera, Tahlia felt her heart skip a beat and ignite with a spark of life. He was back. Taker had returned to the WWF to raise hell with a new gimmick and the company would never be the same again.

"Tali…"

"I'm fine." That was a flat lie.

The show had ended with Undertaker looking at the ring and The Rock being pissed at being screwed out of the title because of his interference. It was time to leave and head back to the hotel as Tahlia shouldered her bag, keys in hand and walked out of her dressing room toward the exit.

Tahlia didn't make it very far because the hallways were filling up more than usual as people waited for the Undertaker to return backstage. They heard the motorcycle before actually seeing it. He was still the Deadman, still the Undertaker; he was just a different incarnation of that character. A little more Mark thrown in. He noted the blocked hall and cut the ignition, staring at everyone from behind his sunglasses. He could see Ron and John both staring over heads, both men smiling broadly and nodded at them. Then, as if Moses had parted the seas, people stepped back. He seen her looking ready to leave and lowered the shades, staring at her over the rims.

What the hell was she supposed to do? He was staring holes through her and Tahlia didn't know how to feel about it. No! She wouldn't go down that road with him again. Nodding her head once at him, no words had to be said between them as she walked out of the arena, fighting every urge inside of her body to go back and jump in his arms. The cool air was welcoming as she arrived at her rental, tossed her title and bag in the back before sliding behind the wheel. Avoiding Taker like the plague was on her immediate agenda. Just because he was back didn't mean they couldn't co-exist. If he left her alone, everything would be fine. Peeling out of the parking lot, Tahlia headed straight for the hotel and cursed when she felt the wetness on her cheeks, touching them. She started crying the moment she was out of the arena, refusing to shed a single tear in front of her peers and co-workers, especially Taker.

Taker wanted to go chase her down. He'd chase her down on his motorcycle, snatch her ass up, and they'd ride off somewhere and… and that's where his fantasy ended. They had made a break of it, broken away from each other. It wouldn't work, they had known that then. What had changed? Nothing, besides the fact that she now had a career all her own, a proper one. She wasn't in a group and surrounded by his reputation. She had made it on her own. That's what had changed and he didn't need to go messing it up for her or himself. Cursing under his breath, he felt John pulling him off his bike.

"Scratch the paint and I'll kill you." He threatened in a growl.

"I can't believe you're back! Sumbitch!" He glanced at Ron, who nodded and disappeared after Tahlia.

A knock on her hotel room door a half an hour after she got there didn't surprise Tahlia. "What do you want, Rooq?" She let him inside, closing the door and folded her arms in front of her chest, wearing a black robe and sat down on the bed.

"Now you know I had to come check on you." Ron thought of her as a little sister and sat on the bed beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She shrugged him off. "I'm fine. If this is about Taker, I'm glad he's back and kicking ass. That doesn't mean we have to speak to each other though. I'll go on doing my thing and he can do his." There was no reason to converse because all it would wind up causing is more heartbreak.

Ron didn't buy what she said for a second. "You still love him, Tali. And judging by the way he looked at you tonight, he's not over you either."

"Tough, it won't work between us." She couldn't tell him why either because she'd vowed not to mention Gunner to anyone in the company and kept it. "Shit fell apart between us for a reason. And yes, I do love him and I will always love him, but it's not enough."

Sighing, Ron hated hearing the pain in her voice and kissed her forehead. "If you need me, you know where to find me or John or both of us. Okay?"

Nodding, Tahlia watched him walk out of her room and laid back on the bed, shutting her eyes trying to think of anything except Taker.

The last place he had wanted to be was in a bar with Bradshaw, mostly because the man was nosy as all hell. Taker was nursing a beer, keeping one eye on the door, the other on John.

"She never said what happened, just… that things fell apart." John was trying to get some information out of his friend. He had thought Taker and Tahlia had been it for each other. They had been in love and perfect together, craziness and all. "What happened?"

"Things fell apart." He grunted, ignoring the exasperated look he got. He had known Tahlia wouldn't say a word about Gunner and felt appreciation for that welling up in him.

"But how?" Bradshaw had known this man a long time and he could tell there was a lot more to the story. Tahlia had kept the truth hidden and he'd be damned if he let his longtime friend do the same. "There's a reason she came back and left you. Things just don't 'fall apart', Deadman. You two were inseparable. Hell, you even bought her a goddamn ring and basically proposed to her! So how the hell do you go from bein' in love on the road to goin' home and everythin' falls apart? It doesn't add up." He took a shot of Jack, pushing one toward Taker. "You gotta shoot straight with me, man. Because she's hurtin' as much as you are and I hate seein' people that are close to me in pain. You gotta make this right, somehow. She loves you, she admitted that to both me and Ron, but she said love isn't enough and I wanna know why."

"Because John, sometimes love just isn't enough and you'll leave it at that or else we'll have a problem." Taker had drained that beer and was pushing himself up from the table. "She told you what she wanted to tell you and I'm telling you the same. Let it go and mind your own goddamn business."

Tahlia was a touchy subject.

It'd been a week since Taker returned to the WWF and Tahlia did everything in her power to avoid him. Her matches were usually at the top of the hour of Raw, so afterwards she stayed holed up in her dressing room until the show ended and then left. If he was at the end of the show, she ducked out before it ended, not giving a damn if it was against the rules. However, she rarely missed a segment and enjoyed the fact he'd gone straight after the McMahon-Helmsley Faction, making their lives miserable. Waking up at 6 AM, Tahlia dressed in her usual workout clothes and headed out to get it out of the way. The hotel they stayed in had an indoor gym, so she wouldn't have to leave to find one in the city they were in. Walking in, she dropped her bag and went straight for the bag, slipping her gloves on. Today, she'd work on her boxing and kickboxing to strength her arms and legs. Tomorrow would be cardio and thighs.

"Whoa, what the fuck, man?!" Taker had been behind that bag, contemplating what would happen if he punched it off its hook when it had swung violently at him. He had caught it and poked his head around, frowning. Leave it to him to come down at the ass crack of day thinking to avoid her only to get her beating him up. He was in a pair of workout pants and shoes, having forgone the shirt. His hair was back, braided, and he also had a pair of gloves on. His eyes raked over her, noting she was more fit than she had been 8 months ago.

Fate was out to bite her on the backside. The bag was long enough to nearly touch the floor, so she didn't see him behind the bag. What the hell was he doing up this early? Since when was Taker an early riser? Gunner had probably gotten him in the habit of getting him up early, especially with school. "I didn't see you there." She muttered, feeling incredibly awkward and knew that sounded lame. Very lame. She was an idiot. There were two choices: She could run like a coward or finally face him and at least welcome him back to the company. God, he looked so different from the Lord of Darkness she grew to love, but he was still the same man deep down. She knew that hair dye and clothes didn't change who a person was on the inside.

"Okay let's just get this over with. Hi, how are you? I'm fine. Welcome back. That about covers it, right? Right, okay. You enjoy the bag and I'm gonna go anywhere but here." Backing up, Tahlia grabbed her bag and headed for the exit, cursing herself mentally for being stupid.

What the fuck? No, no, no! She wasn't pulling that crap! There was too much history between them, too many feelings and unresolved issues. She wasn't going to have a dialogue, without his input, and then bail on him like some coward. Before Tahlia could get too far, Taker reached out and took her by the arm, pulling her right back.

"I don't think so, darlin'." He drawled, not about to show how irritated, and potentially hurt, he felt.

They were treading on dangerous ground, especially since this man was half naked in front of her. Why couldn't he wear a shirt? Did he enjoy tormenting her? Avoiding him had been her only plan and she figured getting up this early to workout would've helped fulfill that. Tahlia didn't want to see him or hear his voice or feel his touch on her arm or look into his gorgeous emerald eyes she often dreamt about. She did her best to keep it together, to hold her emotions in and slowly slid his hand from her arm.

"What do you want, Taker?" She asked quietly, resigned to her fate and clasped her hands in front of her. Even after all this time, Tahlia still couldn't deny him anything he wanted and she wondered briefly if that would ever change.