Chapter 16

She was really getting on his last nerve. Roger did not want to get his hands soiled in the catching of her. The last thing he needed was to be seen dragging her pathetic ass into the back of his car.

"Find her. I've already got a few of the boys hunting down her loser friends." He scowled. "They'll be taken care of shortly. I want to be out of here in an hour so make this quick." He hung up, refusing to let his lackey get another word in.

"Damn it!" The lackey growled, cracking his knuckles dangerously, eyes flashing. "Martina, you know, you would make this a whole lot easier if you'd just..." He grunted, being nailed from behind with something sharp and drug into the nearest alleyway -the alleyway she was currently hiding in- behind the dumpster.

"Mother fucker." Ted grunted, tossing the crowbar down, Cody and Randy behind him. This Roger had lackeys, but they were nowhere near strong enough to take Legacy down. "We need to find her fast. She was around here." He stated, peering down the dark alleyway, sighing heavily. "Where could she have gone?"

"I have no idea. She's in even MORE danger now since she thought running would better the situation. If anything, being with us would protect her further."

Martina was holding a hand over her mouth to keep from making a sound, biting back sobs, being perfectly quiet while she overheard their conversation.

Randy's blue eyes were ice, having found a two by four in the alley, planning on using it soon, preferably on someone's head. "She's around here." He said in a low monotone. His heart could break later. Obviously, Martina didn't trust them -trust HIM- to protect her and that hurt more than words could say.

"Well, we gotta find her and quick; that guy said something about killing people and we're the people."

"Come on, Martina, where are you?" Ted was pleading now, having picked the crowbar up he used to knock that guy out, Cody having a switchblade on him. "Where the hell do you suppose we start looking?"

"I don't have the foggiest idea..." Cody sounded exhausted as he sighed, looking toward the dumpster in the alleyway then dismissed it, before they began walking away.

Randy was hesitant to leave the area, turning back to stare at the dumpster. It was like the night they had found her and he took a step forward.

"There they are, get them!"

"The boss wants that Orton guy dead first!"

"Okay, they have guns, we need to run!"

Martina heard that and immediately gasped, eyes widened, swallowing past the lump that formed in her throat. Her heart shattered when she heard gunshots and knew this was all her fault, clutching her chest painfully, mind screaming at her for making that phone call to her mother. 'YOU FOOL! YOU PROBABLY JUST GOT RANDY KILLED!' Martina couldn't stop herself from crying and booked it down the alleyway, tears blinding her vision as she tried to clear it. She turned the corner that lead to the other side and collided with someone, falling back on her ass.

"Oh my god, Martina!" Ted cried out in both panic and relief, hearing the guys behind him, and lifted her over his shoulder. "GO NOW!"

Cody blinked; where the hell had she come from?

"No! You have to let me go! He won't stop! He'll keep coming after you until he has me again!" Martina was struggling against Ted, but he was too strong for her, screaming when bullets flew at them, not hitting anyone luckily. "NO!"

"TAKE HER AND GO!" Randy shouted, falling back with Cody to block the bullets, hopefully. He knew he and Cody could stop a bullet, once. And then- "SON OF A BITCH!" He grabbed his left arm, blood spilling from between his fingers.

"THEY SHOT YOU!"

"NO SHIT, NOW RUN!"

"RANDY!" Martina cried out, beginning to fight Ted, and groaned when he just squeezed her tighter.

"Martina, stop it right now!" Ted ordered gravely, not believing Randy was just shot, blue eyes wide. What the hell had they truly gotten themselves into?

Cody glared at Martina, who was sobbing uncontrollably, wanting to slap her to knock some sense into that damn thick headed brain of hers. "Come on, we have to get somewhere fast!" Randy was holding off the gunmen and Cody stopped, going to help him. "Shut up!" He ordered, doing a leg sweep, knocking them on their asses as the guns went flying and skidded away. "COME ON!"

Randy nodded, kicking the pistols away from the currently stunned gunmen, before following Ted and Martina, Cody right at his side. Christ that hurt! He didn't let go of his arm, knowing it wasn't anything too bad. It just hurt like hell and was bleeding like crazy.

Ted commandeered a cab, keeping a firm hold on Martina so she didn't try bolting. "God help me, I will knock you out if I have too."

Cody and Randy got in, Cody taking the front seat. "DRIVE!"

"YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR MINDS! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" Martina was beside herself, seeing Randy was hurt and covered her mouth with her hand, shaking her head in disbelief. "You three are completely insane to want to help me! I put everyone in danger, don't you realize that?!" She was ranting and raving angrily, the cab driver having question marks swirling around his head, and suddenly her world went dark.

Ted had applied a pressure hold to her neck, staring back at Randy, who just nodded grimly before they both stared out the window again. This woman was going to get herself killed as Ted shook his head, trembling along with Randy and Cody. "You alright man?" He asked softly, placing a hand on Cody's shoulder.

"No, no I'm not."

Randy was trying his best to tear a strip of his shirt off to bind his arm, ignoring everything around him except the pain in his arm. Though he did note that Martina suddenly stopped screaming, guessing that Ted had made good on his promise to shut her up.

"Do you need a hospital?"

"No, just take us to the airport." Cody ordered, pushing off the hysteria long enough to call Carlito and ask him to have their things sent on ahead. THEN he had his breakdown, crying like a child.

~!~

When Martina woke up sometime later the next day, her stomach was killing her and she was incredibly dizzy. Being knocked out did that to a person; not to mention she hadn't eaten hardly anything in the past twenty four hours. Her eyes slowly opened, feeling a soft texture beneath her, and looked around the room. The events came flowing back to her, causing her eyes to widen, and bolted upright as tears streamed down her cheeks.

'Randy!' Her mind screamed, already moving to get out of the bed, still in the same outfit and gasped when she was yanked back down. The sudden movement caused her head to spin even more.

"Don't move." Randy growled, arm in a makeshift sling. The wound was superficial but it hurt like a bitch. Ted had stitched it up for him as well as made the sling so Randy couldn't move it and tear out the stitches. "What the HELL were you thinking, Martina?"

"I was trying to protect you." She whispered, hearing the anger in Randy's voice, and knew he was injured. She could see the sling through the darkness and knew if she moved, he would probably end up knocking her out like Ted had. Randy would never hurt her, but also knew what she'd done was very WRONG and stupid. "Helping me nearly got you killed and now…now I don't want to even think about what's going to happen next." Roger was going to be livid, no doubt about that; though that would also cause him to be brash and make a mistake. "I don't know what else you want me to say."

"I want you to say you'll never pull a fucking stunt like that ever again and MEAN it." He snarled, pain making him cranky. It wasn't good since he was already pissed beyond belief that she had actually run away from him. "Running isn't going to make anything better, Martina. Did you think Roger was just going to let us go after he got you? This is a man with a reputation to lose; he'd of came back to tie up any loose ends."

"I won't pull another stunt like that again." Martina whispered, knowing she had no choice and felt the tears stream down her face as she rolled over to lie on her side, knowing he was incredibly angry with her. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry that you got hurt and I'm sorry for everything that's happened..." Martina wanted to crawl into a hole and die; that's how low she felt at the moment and slowly stood up from the bed, yanking her arm out of his grasp. "I have to use the bathroom." Was all she said before slamming the door shut behind her, angry at herself for what she did.

Randy groaned, tempted to drag himself out of the bed, go in there and either kiss her or paddle her ass.

"She awake?" Ted demanded, poking his head in. The slamming of the door had been the alert. "She alright or..."

"She's taking a piss. How's Cody?"

"I think he's going to be alright, once he comes out of his shock."

Martina stayed in there and let more tears fall, not wanting any of the guys seeing them, knowing she didn't deserve their concern or pity. What she did was reckless and downright stupid. She hated herself for it, knowing Randy probably thought even less of her now. Sniffling, Martina wiped her eyes before walking over to the sink, splashing cold water on her face, most of her makeup gone. Whatever was left was washed away with the water as she patted her face dry, before finally walking out of the bathroom, not sure what to do now.

Ted and Randy both stopped talking, heads turning to stare at her, both men looking agitated. "Now he knows who we all are. Randy's been shot. Cody is probably going to have to be watched for a few days so he doesn't freak out. Enough is enough, Martina; you have to talk to the police, ANYBODY. But this has got to STOP."

Randy had just said all that to Ted, but he was letting Ted be the mouthpiece since Martina didn't seem to think he could take care of her.

Suddenly, all the emotion, anger…every single feeling inside of Martina exploded as her face contorted with hidden rage, jade eyes lit on fire. "DON'T YOU THINK I'VE TRIED? I'VE SPOKEN AND FILED POLICE REPORTS FOR TWO YEARS AND EVERY TIME ROGER HAS FOUND A WAY ESCAPE BY THE SKIN OF HIS DAMN TEETH! HE HAS MONEY, HE HAS POWER, AND HE WON'T STOP UNTIL HE HAS ME AGAIN! YOU THREE WERE FOOLS TO COME AFTER ME! YOU CAN'T PROTECT ME, NOBODY CAN! SO STOP TALKING TO ME AS IF I'M A CHILD, TED! I'VE TRIED SEEKING HELP AND IT DOES NO FUCKING GOOD! NOTHING DOES ANY GOOD! HE WON'T STOP UNTIL YOU'RE ALL DEAD, SO YOUR BEST BET IS TO CUT TIES WITH ME NOW BEFORE YOU GET HURT WORSE OR END UP DEAD!"

Now he was on his feet, face red with anger. "WE HAVE ALL THOSE THINGS TOO, MARTINA. MONEY, FAME...YOU WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE TO GO TO THE POLICE; YOU COULD HANDLE THIS ALL THROUGH A FUCKING LAWYER WITH OUR SUPPORT. IT'S OUR WORD AGAINST HIS. YOUR DOCTOR FRIEND, YOUR MOTHER; HE CAN'T FUCKING SHUT ALL OF US UP!"

"But he can." Martina whispered brokenly, tears shining in her eyes as she stared back at Randy, wrapping her arms around herself, knowing damn well Roger had the power to do virtually anything. "He will hire hit men before the lawyer even files the complaint, he will do whatever it takes, whatever is NECESSARY to clear his name. You should've never gotten involved in this; I blame Michael for forcing me to go with you on the road." Though the true fault was her checking on her mother, which caused the tears to fall freely down her face, wishing they would understand just what they were up against, celebrities or not.

"Well, we're damn sure going to try anyway." Randy said through gritted teeth, looking at Ted. "Please tell me we have booze."

"Yeah, just a shot or two; don't go getting shitfaced." Ted sighed; they didn't have anything besides Tylenol for the pain and Randy wouldn't have taken any pain killers anyway. The guy had to sit through being sewed up without pain relief, and no doubt that had hurt like a bitch.

Randy walked out of the bedroom.

Randy wanted to be rid of her that much was obvious and Martina didn't blame him. She had caused them nothing but stress and turmoil; she felt awful. There was nothing she could do or say to make it right and that killed her. She was in love with him; Martina already knew it and looked away from Ted's disappointed look as she sank down on the bed, putting her head in her hands.

"Please leave me alone." She whispered when he came toward her, fighting off the sobs that were threatening to overtake her, and waited until the door closed before letting them out.

"You alright, Coddles?"

"No." Cody's voice was muffled, buried under a pillow. Yes, he knew he was acting like a little bitch, but they had been SHOT at for Christ sakes!

Randy downed his second shot, leaning in the doorway, and sighed heavily. "Come on, Codester, everything will-"

"NOT BE FINE, SO DON'T LIE TO ME!"

Ted sighed, knowing Cody would feel better after a few shots of Jack Daniels and poured him a shot, thrusting it in his hand. "Down it or I'll force you." He ordered gravely, watching the man do as he was told, nodding before pouring another one. This was already calming him down, but Ted wasn't about to let any of them get plastered. They had to be on their game more than ever now; Roger was on their tail.

Martina managed to cry herself back to sleep, face tear streaked, heart filled with pain.

"She has to go see a lawyer. Hell, let's tell Linda and Vince what's going on. If this Malcolm guy thinks HE'S bad..."

"Vinnie will kick his ass; you won't be able to wrestle for a few weeks." Cody said thoughtfully, completely forgetting the fact that wrestling was out of the question since they were now being hunted.

Randy shook his head, trying not to grin.