Chapter 57

If Stephanie thought for a second they didn't have help, they were sadly – SADLY – mistaken. When Taker returned to the road, he reconciled with Kane and they had started traveling together. Whatever their differences, they were still brothers in the end. Then there was the Acolytes, her boys, who thought of her as a little sister and wouldn't hesitate to help her out in a second. They were about to come to her aid with the Faction, but Taker had beaten them to the punch. Tahlia and Taker also had another plan in mind, already making the necessary phone calls. The Faction wouldn't know what hit them once their plan came to fruition; everything she was about to go through would be worth it in the end.

Taker became aware that the Faction was out for blood and an all-out war when he stepped out of an arena one night and was jumped by Hunter and his three little bitches. Hunter had been swinging a sledgehammer and Taker only just avoided having his hip smashed, which could've ended his career. Apparently, they really wanted him to lose his temper and go medieval on their asses. And then… then he found out the depths that Stephanie and Tori were hitting in their harassment of Tahlia. All the planning and reforming old alliances was about to come in handy.

After Taker's attack, that prompted everyone to start traveling together as a unit, nobody going anywhere alone. Tahlia was against it at first because of her history with Taker, but after the Faction's attack on him, her insecurities were tossed out the window. The motels they stayed at were on the outskirts, nobody wanting to stay in the ritzy hotels Vince had the WWF Superstars in. Kane in one room, the Acolytes, Edge and Christian and Taker and Tahlia in another. She refused to let him stay alone after the attack, worried it would happen again. Tahlia would never admit it, but she was protective of the man she still loved and refused to let anything happen to him.

The more she tried pulling that mother hen bullshit, the more pissed off he got. It was wrong. He knew it was. She was still somewhat skittish around him, for whatever reasons outside of their romantic history. Knowing she was insisting on them sharing a room, with double beds…knowing she was right there within arm's reach, but he couldn't have her, was driving him crazy.

"No." Taker growled, glaring down at the single, full bed, wondering what the hell had gone wrong. "Christ…" He was in HELL.

Sharing a room hadn't been easy for either of them, but Tahlia made it work somehow. "Take the bed."

She was too tired to argue with him, at her wit's end after the hellacious trip here. First, the rental vehicle had a flat, which Kane had to help him with and that put them behind in their schedule. The show wasn't until tomorrow so, luckily, they could sleep in, but Taker did not look happy with the fact the motel hadn't gotten their reservation correct. And the worst part there wasn't a vacancy open throughout the city due to the WWF being in town. Taking her bag into the bathroom, Tahlia didn't bother closing the door and started her nightly ritual. She had a roll-out cot in her bag, bringing it just in case this ever happened and would sleep on that comfortably. It wouldn't be the first time she had to do it and Taker would have to deal with it.

His response was to sling his bag over his shoulder and storm out, letting the door close behind him. She could take the room and he'd bunk with his brother. It wasn't like he didn't need to have a chat with Kane anyway, about his fire issues and how best they could be utilized. He just couldn't take another night in a room with her, knowing he couldn't have her anymore.

Jumping at the sound of the door slamming shut, Tahlia rushed out of the bathroom and frowned, sinking down on the bed with her head in her hands. Did he think this was easy for her? Spending all this time with the man she loved, but couldn't have, destroyed little pieces of her every single day. Every night they had to share together. It killed her slowly not being with him, but she needed his help to bring down the Faction.

"Damn it!" She growled, taking her shoes off and tossed them against the wall harshly, not sure how much more agony she'd be able to withstand.

Kane, for all intents and purposes, had no problems bunking with his brother, but…it was a little weird at the same time. They had let the past go, both having a common enemy in the Faction, but Kane was still building his trust with Taker. When Taker began talking about his fire antics in his Corporation days, Kane smirked and knew exactly what big brother wanted him to do. It was time to get some payback on the Faction…a fiery payback.

Actually, what he wanted was for Kane to take hairspray along with a blowtorch and singe off both Stephanie and Tori's hair because he was tired of those whores running their mouths. Then… he wanted baby brother to gasoline a room and he'd bring those Factions fucks in, slam the door on his way out, and watch them barbecue. Taker was feeling vicious, pent up… he needed an outlet.

"DADDY!"

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

Vince groaned, not bothering to hide it while watching the DX bus…a very EXPENSIVE luxury bus, engulfed in flames.

Tahlia watched from a distance alongside Taker, Kane, Bradshaw, Farooq, Edge & Christian, amber eyes glowing demonically. This had been a great idea on Taker's part and the fact Kane wanted to help made it that much better. They wanted to destroy her rental vehicle, as well as the others, this was simply the best payback. Stephanie was screaming and shrieking like a banshee while Hunter cussed up a storm. Vince just simply stood there, shaking his head while the rest of DX stared slack-jawed. The show was over, the Faction had tried attacking Kane and Undertaker during a tag match, but that was until Tahlia, the Acolytes and the blonde brothers made the save. They made it known tonight this was officially war and there WOULD be casualties, which was why Tori was on her way to the hospital now, thanks to a chokeslam from Kane, her ex-lover.

Getting payback on Tori had been… well, Kane had felt a burden lift off his chest that he hadn't even known was there. Something had changed. He smirked, watching as firetrucks rushed the scene, shaking his head. Taker clapped his brother on the back, smirking wickedly.

"Nice." He growled approvingly. That would let those dicks know it was game on. The time of the McMahon-Helmsley Faction was done and over with.

And he did love a good game…

It had been discussed earlier that day where they would go on their days off since nobody could be split up right now. The Faction would be out for BLOOD after the destruction of their precious DX bus. Tahlia had been the one to bring up the mansion and Taker had agreed, though she wasn't sure how happy he was with the circumstances. After storming out of their room the previous night, Tahlia decided to keep as much distance from him as she could, which wasn't much given they were working together to destroy people.

The drive to Texas would be very interesting because they had rented a van to fit all of them. Since Taker was driving, Tahlia took the back of the van and played cards with the Acolytes to pass time, eventually falling asleep with her head on Bradshaw's shoulder. It wasn't until the early morning hours they arrived at the mansion as Tahlia's eyes slowly opened and she stepped out of the van, stretching her sore limbs, looking up at the masterpiece Taker owned. It was just as breathtaking as the first time she'd been here and saw it back in the Ministry Days. Grabbing her bag, along with the others, they all headed inside to start the day.

The first thing he did was excuse himself to call home, apologizing that he wouldn't be there to spend time with Gunner and give Sam and Amanda the time off like had been originally planned. He hadn't explained everything to them, but gave them enough information to know that he wasn't just off messing around before speaking with his son. Gunner asked several questions, most of them pertaining around Tahlia, and Taker didn't know how to reply to any of them. He knew Gunner felt remorse over what had happened, but that hadn't changed the outcome, and it couldn't change anything now.

This was going to be pure hell.

"Man, I'm hungry."

"Dude, I second the motion."

"I third it."

"Think this place is stocked?"

"One way to find out."

Tahlia wasn't going to sleep any time soon, having taken a nap in the van. She was ready to go for a while, not sleeping much these days. 4 hours max is what she needed. Surprisingly, the mansion was stocked full of food, so she began pulling stuff out from the cupboards and fridge, turning the small radio on a classic rock station.

"Go sit down mongrels, I'll let you know when breakfast is ready." She called over her shoulder, shooing them out of the kitchen and washed her hands before getting started. Luckily, her hair was pulled back in a braid, so she didn't have to mess with it. She turned up the radio a little more when Metallica came through the speakers.

"Bro, you got to remember, they were together for… forever, of course she's been here more than us."

"Yeah, you're right dude. She's probably been here so many times… like, she'll have a room, just for her."

"Think he still has that crazy maze out back?"

Shaking his head, Taker walked past the duo and into the kitchen. All he had to do was follow the sounds of Metallica, it always led him right to her. She was cooking. Of course, she was.

She had just cracked the final egg in the bowl and felt eyes on her, slowly looking up to see Taker watching her, flashing a warm smile. "The boys were complaining about being hungry, so I decided to whip up some breakfast."

Tahlia found her way around the kitchen easily and moved her head to the beat of the current song playing. They had stayed here a few times throughout the Ministry days and she'd cooked for all of them before…except Kane. When Taker joined her and just leaned against the counter to watch, Tahlia poured the eggs into the heated pan and turned halfway to face him.

"Everything okay?"

"Yeah." He answered, running a finger along his bottom lip thoughtfully.

Had she gone back to New York, to that sweet condo with the bad pipes? He imagined she had. She had loved it there. Just another reason why they wouldn't work out. Taker had loved Texas too much to ever consider moving away. Stay at a vacation home, sure, but leave his beautiful state? No.

"Had to uh… make some calls home." She'd get that. No one else knew about his son, or his home life, not even his brother. Sure, he loved Kane, but baby brother was a psycho and if he had a break… nope, he wouldn't risk it.

"Of course."

Knowing Taker, he probably had a good woman at home who Gunner did accept and that made a wave of nausea roll over her. Would she ever get over him? Would she ever be able to move on? Eventually, but spending all this time with him in order to destroy the Faction wasn't helping matters any. It wasn't helping her move on. Maybe getting her backside handed to her by the Faction was better than this constant torture of being near him, but not with him. Tahlia wanted to ask how Gunner, Amanda and Sam were doing, but refrained because it was none of her business.

"What happened last night?" It was a question she couldn't stop herself from asking, moving the eggs around in the pan while they cooked. "You stormed out of the room without a word. Did I do something to piss you off?"

"No." That was a flat lie. "Just done with your mollycoddlin', woman." He even managed to make it sound playful. His pride wouldn't let him admit that he had missed her, that being even this close to her without being able to hold her, touch her, or kiss her was killing him slowly but surely. "Told you once, I got on fine long before you and I'll keep on being fine."

Taker was fine at lying and he crossed the kitchen to get into the fridge, helping himself to a cold beer. He loved his silent, but efficient housekeeper. She was only needed when he called, but when he did, she was always on top of it.

"Right, well when you can take on the Faction by your lonesome without nearly having your career ended, you let me know, Deadman."

Tahlia shot back cheekily, opening the oven to check the biscuits and nodded. He was drinking at 7 AM? Tahlia didn't know what to think about that, deciding to keep her opinion to herself and placed a few pieces bacon in the hot frying pan.

"Oh shit!" She jumped back when the grease popped back at her, letting out a soft laugh. "Gotta turn it down." Then she went back to flipping the meat in the pan.

"Nah, we both know I'd wind up making it personal," Such as attack their homes, their families, as if it wasn't already personal. As long as they could keep it sort of at work… or in that general area, all would be fine. "Maybe you should wear an apron, little Suzy Q." Before she set herself on fire, or got a grease burn.

Taker moved around her, conjecturing if he even had aprons here. He didn't wear them. Amanda did, but she had also never set foot in this house. Raising a slow brow at him, Tahlia shook her head emphatically and took the eggs off the burner, covering them with the lid.

"Don't even think about trying to give me an apron, Taker." Her tone held a playful warning. She would personally stick the tongs up his backside she currently used to flip the bacon. And smile while doing it. "I'm far from Suzie Q." That title belonged to Amanda. "Well, go on with your big bad self and make it personal then. Just watch out for the sledgehammer." She had found him outside of the arena that night and it scared her to death to see him flat on his back in the parking lot.

Now that had not been one of his finer moments and Taker didn't bother pointing out he had just said passed on that already. Those ass clowns had already made it personal and he wanted to know who had spilled the beans about the surgery he had done while away. Hunter had been targeting that area specifically.

"I probably looked like a giant, leather clad turtle that night." At the time, it hadn't been all that funny and Tahlia had genuinely appeared to be scared for him. In retrospect, however, he bet he looked hilarious.

"More like a tortoise, but yes, you did."

Tahlia hated that he made light of a situation that could've been severe. Hunter had barely missed his hip and it was only because her, along with Kane, had arrived on the scene to help. The Acolytes hadn't been far behind either. The blondes didn't join the fray until they were screwed out of the tag titles, which the New Age Outlaws of DX currently held.

"And I didn't find it one bit funny, Taker." She added sternly, checking on the biscuits again and nodded when the timer went off, wanting to make sure they were golden brown on top before taking them out. "It's not a joke when I walk out of the arena and see the man I…" She stopped herself, clearing her throat. "Never mind, just don't joke about it, okay? Breakfast is ready." Tossing the oven mitt on the counter, Tahlia went to go inform all the boys.

The man she what? Walked out on? Still loved? The man who had a jackass kid? Sighing, Taker took his beer and made his way out of the kitchen. He wasn't playing lost boy this morning. He was going to go to his room and pass the hell out. That had been a long drive on top of a long, long week of being physically assaulted and mentally tortured by an amber eyed woman with a haunting voice. An amber eyed woman that would not let him go to sleep without eating. She brought a plate up to him, setting it on the nightstand since he was in the shower and hoped he did eat. Then she went back downstairs to eat with the others, sharing laughs and memories being in the mansion.