PART TWO

Ashley walked out of the abortion clinic looking and feeling like shit. She seen Alexander leaning against the building, smoking one of his menthol cigarettes and frowned, heading towards the car.

Alex fell into step besides her, flicking away the cig. "You could have kept it if you wanted." He said finally.

"Something tells me that even if I had wanted to keep it, you wouldn't have allowed it to take its first breath." She replied dryly.

Alex didn't reply, but the look in his eyes clearly spoke for him.

**********

The Undertaker was both amused and irate, not the best of combinations. He sighed, stroking his goatee as he listened to Christian and Edge, wondering which one he should kill first.

"He crossed the Kentucky border yesterday." Christian told his Lord. "He's not taking a direct route but there can be no doubt that Blackheart is coming here."

"Obviously." 'Taker replied dryly, sinking back down onto his throne-like chair. "Anything else?"

Edge cleared his throat, exchanging worried looks with his brother. "Um… he ran into some trouble in Indiana."

"Not enough apparently, he is still on his way."

"He met your brother, Kane."

The Undertaker's green eyes flashed. "And?"

"And Kane's dead."

"Really?" Black eyebrows raised dangerously. "How?"

"From what we were told, Blackheart got him with a knife to the throat."

'Taker just started laughing.

**********

"What are we doing here?" Ashley demanded edgily, watching as Alexander pulled into a motel parking lot.

"I'm tired." Alex said simply, cutting the ignition. He turned in his seat to look at her, arching an eyebrow. "Believe it or not but I do need to sleep on occasion."

Ashley didn't reply, not knowing what to say.

Alex smiled humorlessly. "You're more than welcome to come in and get some sleep with me, or you can stay out here in the car." He shrugged, sliding out the open door, leaning down to look at her. "But from personal experience, it's not all that comfortable."

Ashley watched as he walked into the office before coming out and disappearing into one of the rooms. "I'll take the car Mr. Blackheart." She muttered, feeling irrational anger at him and snuggled down into the seat.

After several unsuccessful attempts at falling asleep, she finally conceded defeat, there was no way she could sleep in this damn car.

**********

Ashley woke up to the smell of smoke. Frowning she opened her eyes only to start blinking, her eyes stinging. "ALEX!" She screamed, realizing the room was on fire and rolled out of bed.

Alex, however, wasn't there.

Cursing, Ashley darted for the door, crying in pain when she felt how hot the doorknob was to the touch and backed away, looking for another escape route. She tried the window, shying away when she seen flames licking the pane.

"Oh god, I'm gonna die." She whispered, crouching down in a corner, pulling the comforter off the bed and covering herself with it.

**********

Alex had gone out to get himself his morning Cherry Coke and Salem fix, fresh out almost as soon as he woke up. His eyes narrowed when he seen black smoke rising in the air from directly over the motel, sighing as he lit a cigarette. "Never seem to catch a break." He muttered, pulling his corvette to the side of the road, not about to get it blown up.

**********

"Come on out Ashley!" Kane roared, fire raging from the palms of his hands, watching as his inferno began to rage almost out of control, almost.

"Do you mind? I was hoping to get the deposit back."

Kane spun around, the fire dying, his attention firmly fastened on the cocky son of a bitch who had TRIED to kill him. "You ready for round two boy?"

"I should've remembered." Alex said conversationally, a throwing dagger in each hand, shaking his head at himself. "Don't worry Smokey, this time, you're NOT coming back."

**********

It was getting hard to breathe. Ashley had lowered herself on her belly, hoping to find refuge from the smoke and flames that surrounded her, sucking in the last few breaths of air left in the room, knowing she was going to die in this shit-hole motel.

Just as the edges of merciful unconsciousness were beginning to seep into her vision, she heard coughing that wasn't her own. Right before she faded, she could have sworn she was being lifted up.

**********

When Ashley came too, she was in the corvette, sweet wind was whipping her hair about her face. She looked over to find Alexander driving, a cigarette dangling precariously from his lower lip, his face black from soot. "What happened?" She asked in a raspy voice, coughing to clear her lungs.

"I made a mistake." Alex grunted, not looking at her. "I'd forgotten one little fact about your twice-dead husband."

"Twice-dead? You mean, Kane was… he was back?"

"Was there a doubt in your mind?"

"What did you forget?" Ashley demanded, ignoring his sarcasm.

Alex smiled sardonically, his eyes remaining cold as he spared her a look. "He was a Demon. Demons can resurrect themselves if not taken care of properly."

"I'm lost."

"I expected half as much."

"Do you have to be so damn insulting?"

Alex blinked, looking mildly surprised before inhaling, blowing out a smoke ring. "Fire Demons, after being incapacitated, have to be paced in something to make sure they don't come back, following me?"

Ashley nodded, shifting in her seat to stare at him. "What though?"

"Water." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Nature's way of balancing things out, that or she's got a seriously twisted sense of humor." Alex held up a small vial of black water. "Needless to say, you can now officially consider yourself a widow."

**********

The next few days were spent in mutual silence, both apparently coming down off of what had happened. Finally Ashley couldn't handle the quiet anymore.

"What happened to make you like this?" She asked curiously. "How do you KNOW all this shit about the Undertaker? About Demons?"

"I met a guy in Gary, Indiana some months back, a Demon hunter, warlock, all that good shit. He taught me what he thought I needed to know." Alex sounded amused again. "The ironic thing: the sonbitch died while crossing the street, didn't look both ways apparently."

Ashley frowned, digesting this. He didn't say WHY he was doing all this though.

**********

"Get back here you fucker!"

Jeff Hardy shrieked as he leaped over the barbed wire that served as a property line, throwing himself face first into the dirt when he heard a gun go off. "I SURRENDER!"

Another gunshot, this time not more then a foot from his head.

Jeff yelped, dirt hitting him. "I said I SURRENDER!"

"Good, now get up and put your hands in the air."

Slowly, Jeff did as he was told, not turning around.

"Scared boy?"

Jeff nodded, his blue and purple hair whipping about his face.

"Jeffrey Nero Hardy, you got to be the most chicken shit sonbitch I ever met. I'm almost ashamed to call you my brother."

"MATTIE?"