Chapter 20
"Sir, I understand you're distressed, but there is a LIFE on the line right now." Detective Borash growled grey eyes flashing, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Your friend's life is on the line, do you understand? Martina isn't dead, you're not dead, nobody is dead; you're all just injured, but she could have her brains blown out of her head at any second! Now you either cooperate or she WILL die along with others!"
"Randy..." Martina cupped his face in her hands, pressing her forehead to his and kissed him softly, knowing both of them were injured. "The sooner we can get Beth away from him, the sooner this ends. If it takes me to do it, then so be it."
Vince thought this woman was incredibly brave, holding his wife tightly in his arms.
"I have to do this..."
Randy knew she did; he was just being a selfish, greedy bastard and also acknowledged that fact. But he had almost lost her once; he was having a moment of fear, what if he lost her again? What if something DID happen to her? They couldn't really promise her safety and he knew that Martina had a martyr complex. She would sacrifice herself to save someone else. Finally, he just nodded, staring down at her intently.
"I love you." Her mouth was right by his ear, hugging him tightly around the neck, feeling his arms encircle her just as tightly. "I'll be back." Martina whispered and pulled back, seeing he was in somewhat shock and took Detective Borash's hand, who guided her slowly out of the room.
"You're very brave. Thank you." Borash wrapped an arm around her shoulders, knowing Roger had hurt her just by looking at her. He wouldn't let anything happen to her or the other woman.
Martina didn't say a single word, tears sliding down her cheeks, knowing she had to tell Randy how she really felt before taking this chance. This sacrifice. She closed her eyes briefly, taking the elevator down to the front doors, where Roger was waiting with Beth.
Roger was getting impatient with this bullshit and it showed, face screwed up with anger. The insanity had been barely checked over the years; he dug the pistol into Beth's temple, ignoring her cries of fear and pain. "THREE SECONDS, THREE SECONDS UNTIL I BLOW THIS BITCH'S HEAD CLEAN OFF!" He shouted from behind her. It was a controlled insanity after all.
"Roger, don't!" Martina called from behind, causing him to tense, slowly turning around, keeping hunched over, eyes locking for the first time in over a month. Had all of this really happened in just five weeks? "D-Don't hurt her..." The blood was caked against the side of her face, feeling Detective Borash behind her, hands drawn up in surrender. "Roger, don't hurt her, please..." She started crying, trembling from head to toe, stomach tightening viciously as the tears mixed with the blood.
Roger gave her a cursory once over, eyes narrowing at the obviously expensive suit she wore. So she was living it up with her new wrestling boyfriend? "Get your ass over here, Martina." He ordered, still not moving from behind Beth. "NOW!"
"Release her first then I will." Martina stated, voice a little stronger, knowing if he pointed the gun at her, it would be over. The cops would blow him sky high, including the snipers that were lowered on the WWE Headquarters. "Roger, don't do something you'll regret. I'll come to you if you'll just let her go. Let Beth go, please." Her eyes locked momentarily with Beth's, letting her know silently that she was distracting Roger enough for Beth to make a move. Beth was a female wrestler after all; she just had to get out of this hunching position and the gun away from her temple as Martina took another step forward. "Roger, please don't hurt her. Remember how good it used to be?" She felt sick saying these words, but knew it had to be done, having briefly gone over it with Detective Borash. "Remember how happy we were?"
"How good it used too be, how happy we were and how it can be that way again." Roger said mockingly, refusing to be distracted, free arm wrapped tightly around Beth's throat, pulling it in so he cut off her air, causing her to gasp. "Martina, sweetheart, did you happen to forget I'm a LAWYER? I use distraction tactics all the time. Cut the shit and get over here, I'm not playing with you anymore. If you are not over here in three seconds, I'm shooting."
"Either way, you won't get out of here alive. So if you kill her, you're going down. Why are you doing this? Why am I that important to you? I don't want you; I HATE you for what you've done to me!" She couldn't handle it anymore, the anger flaring in her green eyes and took her cardigan off, tossing it to the side. "You've made my life hell since the moment I stepped foot in your house, Roger. I'm not your puppet, I'm not your property and I damn sure won't die surrendering to the likes of you!" She could see the anger building in his eyes and knew he was a second away from pulling that gun from Beth's head, waiting with bated breath. "I hate you! I hate you with every fiber, every ounce of me, and I hope you rot in hell for what you've done, what you've put me through! You're hurting innocent people because I refuse to come back to you! There is a man who wants to be with me, even though I'm damaged, and guess what? I love him. I love him more than I've ever loved you and that will never change, no matter if you pull that trigger or not! So go ahead, shoot me, Roger! Pull the goddamn trigger, you no good son of a bitch! DO IT!"
Roger took a long, shaky, deep calming breath, beady eyes showing his dangerous rage at her words. So she was in love with her new boy toy, how...fucking disgusting. "I won't shoot you, Martina. I'm going to shoot her." He, at this point, had cut off Beth's circulation, slowly strangling her to death. "Her blood is on YOUR hands sweetheart, not mine."
Martina was running out of time, heart thundering in her chest, and knew she would probably regret doing this, but... "GO TO HELL!" She roared and felt the rage build up inside of her as she ran at him full speed, tackling him, completely shocking him since he was so busy staring down at Beth, the gun flying.
Beth's body crashed to the ground, Martina's elbow ramming right into Roger's stomach, knocking the breath of him. She felt him grab her throat and closed her eyes, the breath slowly leaving her body. The police open fired at that moment, every bullet piercing his body, grip releasing her as Martina fell to the ground, coughing harshly and holding her throat as the tears flowed down her cheeks, knowing Roger was dead.
At this point, Randy was struggling to get out the doors, having relocated himself to the lobby to watch anxiously, Linda and Vince alongside of him. Ted was still upstairs with the still unconscious Cody. "LET ME OUT!" He bellowed at the security guard, who was restraining him, needing to see if Martina was alright.
"Beth..." Martina whispered, watching out of blurred vision as she was lifted on a stretcher, a breathing mask over her nose and mouth, eyes slowly opening. She wasn't dead and that's all Martina cared about as the EMT's rushed over to her, while Roger's body, along with his goons, were dragged off, most of them to the morgue. Martina had deep bruises around her throat, from where Roger had throttled her, as they placed a breathing mask on her as well, lifting her up, knowing Randy was probably beside himself. She took it off, wheezing slightly. "Randy...Randy's hurt..."
"We'll take care of him, miss. Just relax and learn how to breathe." The EMT murmured, placing the breathing mask back over her nose and mouth.
Vince wasn't allowing Randy out of the building now, knowing he would panic himself into getting his ass sedated. "You can go see her AFTER you get looked over." He said firmly, gesturing an EMT over. "His arm is bleeding."
"Damn it, it's fine." Randy growled, not amused, ready to kill someone; his boss was first on the list, since Roger was now dead.
~!~
"You were brave. Stupid but brave." Detective Borash said, cracking a small smile down at Martina, who was currently lying in a hospital bed. "I need your statement."
Martina wasn't injured that badly, just a few cuts and lacerations, luckily no head trauma either. She was lucky, though the doctors weren't taking any chances and had her hooked up to machines, keeping her overnight for observation since she had a minor concussion. "I couldn't let him hurt her because of me." She said softly, causing the detective to nod and issued her statement, telling him everything from the moment the abuse started right till the very bitter end.
~!~
By the time Randy was allowed to even consider exiting the building, he had been checked out, given a statement regarding everything that had happened from the moment he had met Martina up until now. Ted and the now conscious Cody had to do the same, which was a complete waste of time, considering Roger was dead. While Cody both held his still shaking girlfriend and threatening Ted at the same time, he bolted.
Martina was sleeping soundly in the hospital bed, having been administered pain medication, and a small sedative to help her sleep. She had a white bandage against her temple, small butterfly bandages on her cheeks, while white bandages wrapped around her arms. Her chest rose and fell evenly, hands on her stomach, red hair strewn all around her in a hospital gown. She didn't need a breathing mask or tubes do to most of her injuries being superficial.
Randy had sat patiently through his arm being tended too, to glass being plucked from his elbows, through giving a damn statement. That irked him since it wasn't like they could press charges against a dead man, figuring it was all a waste of his time. But he had NO patience anymore. Anyone who so much as got in his way would simply get knocked over. Luckily, Randy made it to her hospital room without any further delays, freezing in the doorway to stare at her.
"Sir, visiting hours are over." The nurse, who was tending to her dressings and checking over her vitals, staring back at him, swallowing hard at the anger that flared in his blue eyes. "Sir?"
"Randy..." Martina whispered in her sleep, the sedative slowly wearing off, feeling someone take her hand and slowly fluttered her eyes open, already knowing who it was. A gentle smile crossed her lips as her vision slowly came into focus, staring back at him, and squeezed his hand gently as the tears slowly began flowing down her cheeks. "Thank god you're alright." She whispered, closing her eyes as he kissed her forehead.
Even now, she was still more concerned with everyone but herself. She was the one laying in a hospital bed, looking hopefully worse than what she was, and yet it was HIM she was fretting over. "I'm fine." He soothed, not knowing to laugh or cry, just bending down to tenderly kiss her again, smoothing his fingers through her hair. "How are you feeling?"
"Free and peaceful." She murmured with a smile, not caring if it hurt and snuggled against the bedding while he ran his fingers through her hair, sighing gently. "He stays." She stated when the nurse went to open her mouth, scooting over on the bed and felt him move to join her, curling against his side, resting her head on his chest.
She needed him right now as her eyes drifted shut, the tears beginning to flow, and suddenly she was crying. She was crying out and clinging to him for comfort, love, affection, reassurance; everything. She was crying out of happiness, joy, relief because she would never have to deal with Roger Malcolm's abusive ways or her life being put in danger constantly again.
Randy held her, knowing physical affection was the best thing he could give her at the moment, stroking her hair gently. "It's alright, it's over." He murmured, the truth of that statement sinking into him.
It was over. Done. They wouldn't have to look over their shoulders anymore. He didn't have to worry if she was going to disappear suddenly out of a misguided notion she was a danger to him...they were simply free.
Martina cried until she could no longer do it, until her crying was no more than silent sobs before drifting to hiccoughs, finally settling down to tears slowly falling from her eyes. She loved the man who was holding her with everything inside of her and hoped he wasn't angry. She could've been killed, that gun had flown out of Roger's grasp, but what if it didn't? She was reckless, but also saved Beth's life. Martina eventually drifted off to sleep, the nurse having vacated; the only sedative she wanted or needed was Randy Orton.
Randy watched her sleep, still stroking her hair, knowing they had probably given her a sedative in her IV drip. The entire nerve wracking drive here, he had mentally berated her; what she had done was a stupid, foolish thing, running directly at a man with a gun, a man who almost killed her before. At the same time, it was incredibly brave. When he seen her, however, he knew he couldn't say anything; he was just too grateful she was alive.
~!~
"Will you marry me?"
"See me through, Randy."
It'd been six months since she heard those words sound out of his mouth and Martina accepted. Randy couldn't spend the rest of his life without Martina by his side and popped the question as soon as she awoke from her slumber in the hospital. There was nothing standing in their way, nothing holding them back, and he refused to let her walk away from him.
They were married in a small ceremony in Las Vegas with Cody and Ted being the witnesses, along with Beth. Cody had to explain to his girlfriend about everything that happened with Roger and who Martina really was. By the time he was finished, Beth completely understood, admitting she didn't believe for a second that Randy would marry someone after only three dates. Cody couldn't agree more and neither could Ted.
After they were married, Martina went to visit her mother in Phoenix, who squeezed the life out of her and refused to let them leave for two weeks. Randy took an extended leave of absence from the company, needing to heal his injured arm amongst other things. Vince completely understood, deciding to give Ted, Cody and Beth the same luxury, especially after what happened at WWE headquarters, which the press was all over Roger Malcolm's death.
After a brief investigation, authorities dropped all charges against Martina, putting it down as self-defense and closed the case. Martina was now on the road with Randy, everyone knowing her true name. Never again would she have to worry about being strangled in her sleep, raped or beaten. Never again would she have to live in fear and run for her life. Randy was her soul mate and nothing would ever change that.
That's what Martina meant when she said for him to see her through. Because he had done it and saved her life, saved her from herself, and made her into the woman she always knew she could be. No matter what happened in life, Martina knew one thing, she was the ultimate survivor.
The End.