Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who has read or reviewed my little slice of the WWE Universe. As always, I own nothing except my OC's. All mention of Ashley and Undertaker, their relationship, and anything that happens to Ashley belong to TakerAlways and her story "Stunned, Shocked, and in Awe" As always if you have not read this amazing Undertaker fan-fic please do so now. You will not regret it – I swear.

Without further ado, I give you

Chapter 24

(John's POV)

Thankfully, I was able to get a flight out to Missouri immediately. Racing through the airport I called Randy to say that I had landed, hailing a cab, and would be there soon.

Outside the terminal I caught the first cab in sight. Firing off the local address, I tossed my bag into the backseat sliding inside I listened as Randy filled me in on everything that had happened. He nearly laughed when he told me that it was Glen's idea to have the big guy sedated. Sure they started out as strangers 'playing' brothers on television; over the years though they had formed a bond that was as thick as blood. Mark was not going to be happy about this and Glen wasn't the only one who was going to take shit over it either.

Nearly an hour later, I was with Randy as Mark slowly woke up. 'Let the shit storm begin' I thought to myself. "You fucking sedated me!" screamed a very angry Mark. I looked at Randy as he clarified with a brisk shake of the head. "No, we drugged you."

I snickered slightly. "Then we sedated you." I clarified further. Sure I hadn't had a physical hand in the drugging or sedation, but I sure as hell hadn't tried to talk my friends out of it either. Right, wrong, or indifferent at the time we all agreed it was the best idea for Mark. As expected Mark was pushing himself to get up and out of bed immediately. Damned stubborn ass man; maybe Randy and I should have let him face plant the floor instead of pushing his swaying ass back onto the hospital bed.

Shouting Mark demanded "This was his idea, wasn't it?" Looking at each other Randy and I nodded. What the hell it was Glen's bright idea no sense lying about it now. Roaring with anger and worry, Mark demanded to know where his 'brother' was now. Randy tried to explain that he had unbreakable commitments to keep and had already flown out. Mark grumbled about Glen being too much of a fucking coward to face him as the two of us looked on sheepishly.

Anger bubbling over Mark ranted about sleeping the day away while his woman was out there possibly hurt or worse. Neither of us doubted his worry, his true feelings for Ashley were becoming more than evident. He needed to understand that we were only looking out for him. Mark going off half-cocked wasn't going to accomplish a damned thing.

"You were out of control. Mark the police were talking about arresting you. Then where would Ashley be? She's going to need you when they find her." I informed him as gently as possible.

Seeing where I was going with all of this Randy chimed in "And they will find her, Mark. Alive, but she's going to need you there by her side."

My own worry and frustration clouded my words "You can't do that in a jail cell."

Mark was pissed but I could see that our words were getting through. He was still angry, but he got it. He understood why we did what we did, but that didn't mean he had to like it. Seconds later his phone rang. Within seconds Mark shoved the phone is his pocket; gruffer than usual informed us point blank "I've got to go!" Before Randy and I could say anything he bolted down the hallway. Racing after him, Randy and I finally caught up to him in the parking lot.

"Mark!" I shouted watching him unlock the doors of his rented SUV. With barely a glance over his shoulder at us his voice a calm dread. "Ashley's been taken to Baptist Medical Center. I have to go." Approaching him with as close to caution as Randy ever gets I watched with a near laugh as he snatched Mark's key right out of his hand.

"Ok 'big-dog'" He began patiently as if speaking to a child. "Baptist is only about twenty maybe twenty-five minutes from here – give or take. Let me drive?" I could see the wheels turning in Mark's head. Mark was a man used to being in control. Admitting that he might need Randy or me right now had to be rubbing his nerves raw. Without a word Mark raced to the passenger side of the truck and climbed inside. Climbing into the back seat I prayed to who or whatever might be listening; because God help the man, woman, or child who got between Mark and his woman.

Twenty five minutes fifteen hundred seconds that's how long the drive to Baptist Medical was. What gets accomplished in a twenty five minute car ride? Do you talk about the weather – it was fucking over cast? Do you talk about your destination? What was there to talk about; I mean we all knew where we were headed. Do we make small talk? Sure I could sit here and talk about the ass whipping I took before leaving Raw earlier. But what is the point in that? Do I try to talk to Mark – maybe 'ease' his mind just a bit? Like and damn thing I could say right now would change how he feels. Nothing changes what happens over the next twenty-five minutes. Randy (the Missouri native) drove like a man always searching for an out – a short cut to magically appear. His occasional curse filled outburst coupled with a fist or two against a defenseless steering wheel his only tell. Mark on the other hand filled twenty five minutes with silence. His anger and worry grew – morphed into a nearly physical presence inside the truck. With Mercedes running virtual circles in my head I saw Mark and Ashley with fresh eyes. Mark's worry for and over Ashley was painfully obvious. I questioned his anger. I couldn't help it. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask who was angrier at. Was he angry with whoever did this to 'his Ashley?' Or was he angrier with himself for letting her leave her place without him?

Mercedes had called and texted twice since I left her standing alone in that locker room. Was it my own anger/worry for a friend that prevented me from returning her call or answering a text? Or was I avoiding Mercedes because I was afraid of getting in any deeper than I already was? How deep was I? At this point, I wasn't sure if I really had any clue. Looking at Mark I realized I was battling my worry and anger. And like Mark, I had no idea what to do with it. Sure I was angry and worried about a sweet woman I'd grown to consider a friend – one of my best damned friends. Who would want to hurt such a sweet, caring, amazing woman? But Ashley wasn't the only woman eating away at my thoughts. Squeezing my fist tight around my phone I debated calling Mercedes once more. What would I say to her? She deserved an apology for the way I treated her earlier. She would have come with me if I'd asked – no doubt. Sure she'd only met Ashley once or twice but she knows how important to me she is.

The anger swelled inside my chest. I was angry at myself for everything over the last few weeks. I was mad as hell at Paul and his meddling interference between me and Cedes. Why didn't Mercedes do better job of standing up to Paul? We're both consenting adults. Why didn't she tell him to fuck off – stay the hell out of our personal lives?

What's that old expression 'like light dawning on marble head,' I realized what had been staring me in the face for weeks. I should have confronted Paul. Was Paul right? Did Mercedes deserve better than me? Could I ever be the man she needed or deserved? I was angry at Mercedes for not standing up to Paul but hell I hadn't do it either.

Seconds before we rolled into the hospital parking lot, my cell phone blew up seconds before Randy's. I suddenly had two texts from Stephanie and Paul was calling. Randy on the other hand had two texts from Paul and Vince was calling. It seems that we were both needed in Canada for Smack-down immediately. Mark was family to me always had been always would be. I was quickly beginning to feel the same for Ashely. Leaving him here alone to deal with whatever came next had my stomach forcibly rolling.

Seconds later Randy shoved the SUV into park just outside the emergency rooms doors. We both started to speak. We were willing to put our careers on hold to be there for Mark. Silencing us with a quick gruff "Will you two just shut the fuck up!" We looked at each other and then at Mark. Speaking quickly as he opened the truck door and climbed out. "Take your asses on to Smack-down. I got this!"

Climbing out of the backseat as he moved away from the truck I went after him. A few simple words and one hug among brothers and Randy and I were headed to the airport. Staring out the window, I saw nothing as Randy drove us to the airport. Digging my phone out of my pocket I pulled up Mercedes last text message. "I hope Ashley's ok….call anytime if you need anything!" I started to reply three times before changing my mind – sending nothing.

"Would you man up; grow a pair and call your girl back all damn ready" muttered a rather annoyed looking Randy. Cutting a brief glance as he fiddled with the radio he grimaced "Well asshole what are you waiting for?"

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell my 'well-meaning friend' to but the hell out of my personal life. Instead I laughed bitter and gruff "Fuck-off Orton!" Scrubbing my hands across my face I shook my head silently. Randall Keith Orton WWE's resident asshole was probably my oldest dearest friend these days. Sure he was difficult but we'd been through all this life has to give together since the beginning. We had each-others back and we knew it. We didn't need to discuss every little personal detail of our lives. We were grown men – we could run our own lives without meddling. That didn't mean that from time to time one of us didn't need to give the other a swift kick reminder to "Hey pull your head out of your ass!" Guess this was one of those moments. "Be honest with me Orton. What the fuck was I thinking getting involved with H's niece?

"Come on Cena, are you serious?"

Randy being Randy really didn't want an answer to that question. Pushing on without a word from me he continued. "So what she's H's niece! Last time I checked you were both grown ass adults capable of making your own decisions good or bad. She's a beautiful woman both inside and out she deserves to be happy. I may not understand her choosing a clean-cut do-gooder all American poster child like you but hey no one's perfect." He tacked on that last bit with a healthy chuckle."

I rolled my eyes in his direction before speaking "This business is hell on relationships. Look at both of us; our marriages both ended in divorce."

"Yeah Cena…Yeah they did but so fucking what? Does that mean you just quit on it all? You plan on dedicating your life to this – to McMahon and the WWE? Neither one of us is getting any damned younger. What do you plan on going home to when all this is over?"

I shook my head. As my best friend / brother there was virtually no secret in my life Randy wasn't privy too. That said I went with the truth "Paul came to see me in Tampa a few weeks back. Mercedes walked in on us with a pair of my cuffs, yammering on about cuffing me to the bed."

With a burst of laughter, "Who knew little Cedes had a freaky side under all that wholesome good girl image."

"Yeah who knew," I muttered. "Paul thinks that I will get bored with her sooner or later. He doesn't believe she really loves me – thinks I'm only toying with her until someone better comes along."

No one took love more seriously than Randy Orton. Hell he'd eventually married Samantha and it still took him more than a year to tell her he loved her. With the exception of his parents and siblings 'I love you' was not words the Viper threw around easily or without care. If ever there was moment he was going to hit me with barrels it was now.

"She tell you she loves you?" He questioned all hint of even minor teasing gone from his voice.

"At my place while Paul was making an ass of himself she tried to stand up for herself. She fairly shouted at Paul that she loved me."

Thinking about it for a long moment, Randy finally spoke as we were pulling into the airport parking lot. "Love changes things, for better or worse, it changes things. You need to decide how you feel. If its love then you fight for her dammit; if it isn't then you get the hell out and stay away from her for good."

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(Mercedes P.O.V)

Climbing from the shower, I wrapped up in a towel before reaching for my phone on the vanity. It had been nearly three days since John had stormed away from in the locker room. I'd spoke with Randy I knew about Mark and Ashley. I prayed she would be ok. I was serious when I told Aunt Stephanie that I wanted to move out – it was time. In the end it was still nearly three days since I'd actually had a real conversation with John. Working for Uncle Paul and Aunt Stephanie there isn't much that I don't know or can't pick up about the superstars and divas. I knew that both Randy and John had been called and ordered to meet the show in Canada immediately. I saw him that first night at the arena in Toronto. He came down to H's office were I was working. He took a seat in front of my desk. We made a little small talk. He apologized for bailing out on me like he did. I asked about Ashley's condition. Never once did our conversation get too deep or too personal. Ten minutes later and he was leaving the office to go prepare for his segment on Smack-down. Watching him leave the office I knew I was making the right decisions. I called Celeste (who thankfully stayed in Connecticut) and asked if the offer to stay with her was still open. Ten minutes later I called Aunt Stephanie and explained that I was moving out as soon as I was back in Connecticut. While she completely understood my need for independence she again insisted that I talk with my uncle. If I really loved John as much as she thought I did then I needed to confront my uncle and make him see it as well.

Thirty minutes after the end of Smack-down most of the superstars and divas had gone from the arena when Paul came shouldering through like a bull in a china shop. I knew the drill; show was over, so it was time to hit the road. The office was all packed up and I was ready to go, but not before I made my peace. "Uncle Paul," I began patiently as I shut the office door behind him. "I think we need to talk for a second."

Taking a seat on the corner of the desk he smiled briefly as he reviewed the papers in his hand. "We've only got a few minutes Mercedes can this wait until we're in the car headed back to the airport?"

Frustrated I groaned, "No this can't wait we need to talk to now!"

His eyes never left the pages clutched tightly in his grip. "Sure Mercedes…Sure what do you need to talk about."

I'd had more than one 'distracted' conversation with my uncle. Usually they were no big deal, but this time…this time he pissed me off. Snatching the pages from his hand I tossed them on the desk. The the hell look crossing his face made me smirk and roll my eyes. "I've talked with Aunt Stephanie and Celeste. I will be leaving for Connecticut immediately. I'm moving out – Celeste said I could stay with her for a while. I love my job Uncle Paul; working for the WWE is an amazing experience that I love more every day. However, I am not going to continue to work here if you can't treat me like an adult."

He raised his voice starting to speak but I was on a roll and rolled right through whatever his words would have been. "John and I are grown adults and I love him. I need for you to understand that and stay out of it. Do you think you can do that?"

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(John's P.O.V)

"I'm not leaving until she wakes up and tells me to leave. Until then you're stuck with me." Mark all but screamed at Ben. Ashley's doctors were optimistic that with time she would recover. All we could do now was wait for her to wake up. Until then the tension in this room wasn't likely to get any better. Looking across the room I caught Randy's eye as he spoke "None of us are going anywhere until she wakes up."

Ben spoke quickly and coldly to Randy "Oh you misunderstood me. I don't care if you stay. I just want him to leave."

I wanted to scream! I could see the love and affection for Ashley painted all over Mark's face. Why couldn't Ben?

Mark being Mark didn't let a thing slide. He demanded answers from Ben. He wanted to know what his problem was. In Ben's defense, he didn't cower in front of the big guy , he stood his ground. Randy and I just stared at each other and Ashley as Ben played the age card with Mark. Sure we all knew that Mark was older than Ashley. I just didn't think Ben had the balls to bring it up so point blank. Mark and Ben continued on trading verbal jabs with each other. I was surprised at the crude words coming from Ben's mouth. I couldn't be quiet any more. "You're being crude and ugly Ben."

Verbal jabs continued on and on for several long minutes. I was certain that any minute we were all going to be unceremoniously booted out of here on our asses. Suddenly without warning the hospital room door swung open. In walked a very confident no nonsense nurse. "What is going on in here?" She questioned obviously expecting an answer from one of us; before moving to check on Ashley.

Within in seconds it was obvious to everyone in the room that Ashley was trying to come back to us. I don't know how Mark did it. I wasn't in love with Ashley but I still wanted to knock nurse ratchet on her ass. Seconds later I was revising my opinion of Ashley's nurse. Nurse Jekyll and Hyde was probably more appropriate than nurse Ratchet. Moments later the nurse and her beside manor meant nothing as Ashley opened those beautiful brown eyes of hers and looked around the room.

Nurse Florence as she introduced herself was all business over the next several minutes. She was a cross between Florence Nightingale and a kindly grandmother as she removed the breathing tube, provided Ashley with cool water to drink, and gaged her pain level; all this before turning back into Nurse Jekyll with all of us. "I don't know what you were arguing about but there will be no more of it. My sweet patient here does not need the stress right now. Do you understand?"

All of us nodded mutely as she continued. "If I so much as one slightly raised voice, I will have security up here and all five of you will be gone do you understand that?"

No matter how bad she felt and I was pretty certain it was real bad I could see the twinkle in Ashley's eyes. I knew she was enjoying this one little ol' nurse putting her dad and four of the biggest baddest wrestlers to ever come out of the WWE in our places. Yes the road to recovery maybe long and hard, but I was feeling more confident that she would do it with flying colors by the second.

Ben was the first to crowd in near Ashley's bed. He relief that his only child was awake and well was a alive inside this small ass hospital room. His words of love and concern were met with a disapproving finger shaking in his face and his daughter sticking her tongue out at him in silent defiance. Under any other circumstance we would have laughed at her behavior but not now. Now we were just glad to see traces of the old Ashley alive and well.

Within a few minutes she had pen and paper – curtesy of Mark. Armed with a way to communicate she was a force who wanted answers – she demanded to know what Mark and Ben had been arguing about. Mark and Ben tried appease her without upsetting her. It wasn't working. Finally Mark pleaded with her to smile. To that end he launched into telling her all about what happened while she was missing. Together the four of us filled Ashley in on how we drugged and sedated Mark for his own good. Our story worked! We were able to make Ashley smile just a little.

Moments later I was horrified, as I think we all were. We stood silent witness to Ashley's horrific tale of her kidnapping. Her own mother wanted her dead. What kind of woman gives birth to a beautiful baby girl and then waits all these years planning her death. I was completely lost for words. We all took our turn assuring Ashley that none of this was her fault.

Telling her story had obviously taken more from Ashley than she had to spare at the moment it was time for us to get out and let her rest. Randy spoke promising that he would be back later to check in on her. Teasing her about his kiss for good luck he stepped back from the bed. I moved in kissing her forehead, "You mean quite a lot to us too Ashley. You've got us wrapped around your little finger and we don't mind it in the least." I smiled at her little giggle, winking at her I whispered for her ears only "As soon as you can, I need some advice."

I laughed at her wide eyes as she mouthed, "a girl?"

I nodded "yes, I need some advice about a girl. So get better quickly." I brushed my finger across her cheek as I mentioned going back to the hotel with Randy. I too promised to come back later and check in on her.

Leaving the hospital room, I felt my relief for my friends safety lift off my shoulders like the weight of a thousand pounds. Now if only figuring out the girl in my life were as easy.

Author's Note: I cannot express how huge a thank you I owe to Taker Always. Without her this chapter / this story would not be what it is today. I love you girlfriend thank you so much for everything. As always you are simply the best. What else can I say except thank you thank you thank you to every single last one of you who has taken the time to read, review, favorite or follow this little work of mine – you all make my days so much brighter and better than I can ever tell you