Chapter 11

When Edge and Kat got back to the motel they found the rest of the guys outside waiting for them in the parking lot.

"Geez, we were about to send out a search party," Randy said. "Where were you guys?"

"We took a walk," Kat said shrugging. "So what's up?"

"We're going to go practice."

"Ohhh." She turned to head to Mark's room when Randy stopped her.

"You're not coming?" he asked.

"I thought you guys were going to practice. I don't want to get in the way."

"Don't be silly," Shawn said. "Of course you can come. Besides, somebody has to be our audience."

Kat smiled. "Then I'd love to come."

Just then Taker came walking out from the clerk's office. "I see we found the two missing people," he said looking at Kat and Edge. He faced Edge. "Where were you?"

"I saw her going for a walk, and I went with her," he said with a shrug.

Taker nodded. "Next time you decide to disappear, tell one of us. I was thinking we'd have to leave without you. I knew where she was, but we had no clue about you."

"Sorry Deadman. I didn't think we'd be gone that long."

"It's fine." He turned. "Alright, let's go."

They divided up and got into their respective trucks. Mark and John were driving. Shawn, Randy and Kat went with Taker.

Kat hopped into the front seat with Mark. "So where are we going?" she asked.

"The local high school," he answered. "Apparently they have a ring."

"Sounds good," Shawn said. "I feel all stiff."

Shawn and Randy quickly digressed into a conversation about a movie that they had both seen.

"So did you have a nice walk?" Mark asked Kat. "Or did our resident blonde idiot bother you?"

Kat gave him a half smile. "It was fine." She didn't mention what had happened in the field. She had a feeling it would make him get angry with Edge. She quickly changed the subject. "Has the mechanic called about the car or anything?"

Taker shook his head. "No, I haven't heard from him. Anxious to leave?"

"Not at all," she answered. "I left my phone and iPod in the glove compartment. I don't really need them, but it would be nice to have them back."

"If you want, we can head by the mechanic shop and get them out later."

"That would be perfect."

"Well here we are," Taker said pulling up in front of a high school.

The school seemed well taken care of on the outside. The building itself wasn't terribly large. It seemed like the right size for the town it was in.

He parked the truck and everyone got out. Cena pulled up alongside him and his truck emptied out too.

The group walked into the building and were met by the janitor. He was a man in his mid forties. Kat was reminded of the sheriff. This man had a tired look to him just like the sheriff had.

"Hi there," he said. "I'm Len, the school janitor. The gym's right through there. You all can stay as long as you want, just lock up the door behind you." That being said, he handed a key to Taker and walked off.

Edge looked after the man as he walked. "Well that was weird."

"No kidding," Cody said. "But at least we get to practice."

Taker walked into the gym. The gym was very large and spacious. There was a ring on the right side of it. Outside the ring, and through the rest of the gym, the floors were padded with mat. Obviously this high school supported wrestling and gymnastics, Kat thought to herself.

"Alright," Taker said. "Randy, I know you and John were scheduled to fight, so you two can use the ring. The rest of us can work on the mat."

Randy and John nodded and climbed into the ring. Both carefully checked the ropes and sturdiness of the structure before starting to practice. The two began working out how their match would progress. The rest of the guys in the meantime were stretching.

While they were doing that, Kat went looking around the gym. In the storage closet she found weights, medicine balls, jump ropes and other kinds of exercise equipment. Another door led to the showers, and the third door was locked. When she had finished her search, she came back to the guys and sat down on the bleachers watching.

"Why're you all the way over there?" Shawn asked. "Why don't you come sit here?"

Kat shrugged and walked over to him. She dropped herself down on the mat next to him and sat cross legged watching him stretch.

Once they were all done stretching, the guys paired off to practice. Ted paired with Cody, and Edge paired with Taker. Shawn looked around and pretended to pout.

"Well look, I'm all alone," he said in a sad voice. "Unless of course, you want to help me doll?" he asked, playfully batting his eyelashes.

"You're kidding?" Kat asked. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Ah relax, you don't have to do anything complicated. And besides, I wouldn't really hit you."

"No Sweet Chin Music?" she asked with a grin.

"Not to you," he returned, grinning back.

She smiled. "Then I'll help. What do you want me to do?"

Shawn thought for a moment. "Let me practice reversals and pins on you. That way I don't have to hit, and you won't get hurt."

She nodded. "Okay. What should I do?"

He looked at her. "I want you to run at me like you're trying to knock me down."

She shrugged. "Okay." She did it, and as soon as she got within an arm's reach, Shawn grabbed her and flipped her over onto her back. Her back made a smacking sound as it hit the mat.

The rest of the guys stopped what they were doing and turned to look. Even Randy and John stopped and leaned on the ropes to see what was going on.

Shawn looked a little concerned. He wondered if he had flipped her too hard. She was a lot lighter than the guys were. Taker left Edge and walked over.

"You alright?" he asked kneeling beside her.

She sat up and started to laugh. "That was fun! Can we do it again?" she asked looking over Mark's shoulder at Shawn.

Taker shook his head and laughed. The rest of the guys did too and then went back to their practicing. Shawn sat down next to her. "You sure you're okay? That didn't hurt?"

"Are you kidding? That was so much fun. Can we do another one?"

Shawn shrugged and Taker looked at him. "Just take it easy on her Shawn. You don't want to break any of her little bones."

Kat looked at him. "Was that a short joke?" she asked and then stuck her tongue out at him.

Taker laughed again. "Maybe it was," he said wryly.

"That's not very nice you know," she said and poked his shoulder.

Taker looked at Shawn, amusement crossing his face. He turned back to Kat. "Are you going to beat me up for calling you short?" he asked. "I feel very threatened. Don't you Shawn?"

Shawn laughed in return. "I think there's too much size difference."

Kat shot him a look and turned back to Mark. "5'5 isn't short you know. We can't all be abnormal like you," she said and stuck her tongue out again.

Shawn laughed. "I think she just insulted you Deadman."

Taker nodded. "I think so. It's not very nice to insult people bigger than you," he said. "Or very smart."

Kat shrugged. "I'm not scared of you. And just to prove it, why don't you do a move on me?"

Taker looked at her. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? Shawn did and I'm fine."

"I'm not Shawn. I don't want to hurt you. You're small," he said.

"Again with the short jokes?" she asked and playfully shoved his shoulder.

Shawn started to laugh. "She's really messing with you."

"Ah shut up Shawn. She's not much threat to me anyway," he said and then smiled at Kat.

Kat looked at him and grinned in return. "Is that right?" She promptly turned her body and lunged at him. Just like she had done to Edge, she threw all her weight against him. It worked. She had caught him off guard and he fell backward. He landed flat on his back with her on top of him.

Mark was stunned. He hadn't expected that at all. The rest of the guys paused for a second. They were surprised. Had she seriously just pinned down the Deadman? Shawn was laughing uproariously at the surprised look on Taker's face.

Kat grinned down at him. "No threat huh?"

Mark smiled. "That wasn't bad. But if I had been ready, that wouldn't have happened." He studied the position they were in. "So can I get up now?"

She shook her head mischievously. "Nope sorry."

"Why do people always do this the hard way?" he asked. He put his hands on her waist and easily stood up holding her. He held her up off the floor, her feet dangling.

Kat looked down at the floor, and then at him. "Uh oh…You're not going to slam me or anything are you?"

He smiled. "No, I'm not. But this is why you shouldn't mess with people bigger than you. Do you want me to put you down now?"

She looked around. "Actually I feel tall up here. I kind of like it."

He laughed and then gently put her down. He looked and saw that Shawn had gone over to Edge. The two of them were practicing with each other now. "I lost my opponent," he said.

Kat looked and saw that Edge had Shawn in a headlock, which Shawn was working out of. "I could help you," she said.

Taker raised an eyebrow. "You think so?"

"Please? I promise I'll do what you tell me."

He studied her and then shrugged. "Ah why not. But if you're going to help, you should stretch out too. You might pull a muscle or something."

She nodded. "Okay."

"You do that. I'm going to go see what's in the storage room." He walked off leaving her to stretch.

Kat thought for a moment, and then eased herself into a yoga position. She hadn't done yoga in a while, but she still remembered all the poses she had learned. She closed her eyes and started. She slowly stretched out her arms and legs, and then she began to stretch out her back and core muscles. She had just pushed herself up into a bridge, when Mark came back over to her.

He tilted his head sideways and looked at her. "Very interesting," he said.

Her eyes opened and she eased herself back down to the mat and looked at him. She sat up. "Okay, I'm all stretched out."

"You do yoga?" he asked.

"I used to. I haven't done it in a while, but you really don't forget. Have you ever done it?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I can do a lot of things, and I can probably manage most of those poses. I'm not too sure about that last one though. I don't think I'm that flexible."

Kat smiled. "You never know until you try."

"I think I'll pass," he said.

She shrugged. "So what do you want me to do?"

He thought for a moment. "You can help me with reversals, like what you started with Shawn."

"So you want me to grab you?"

"Pretty much."

She nodded. "This is going to be ridiculous though," she said with a laugh. She grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back. She noticed he wasn't resisting her, and that he let her do it. He glanced over his shoulder at her.

"Ready?" he asked.

"I think?"

He nodded and promptly reversed her hold and put her in one of his own. He had both her arms and was holding them behind her back. He did it so quickly that Kat barely had time to blink.

"Whoa!" she exclaimed. "That was fast!"

He smiled and let go of her arms. "That was too easy. Hmmm…" He thought for a minute and then sat down on the mat. "Maybe it would help if I wasn't towering over you."

She frowned playfully. "Another short joke?"

He grinned. "Call it motivation for your attack."

She smiled wickedly. "That works." She went around behind him, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You really are a wrestling fan aren't you? Putting me in a chokehold," he said with a laugh.

"I've got a feeling this isn't going to end well for me," she said, readying herself for his reversal.

She was right. He reached around and grabbed her waist. He leaned forward, flipped her over his head, and planted her down flat on the mat.

Kat lay flat on her back looking at him upside down. He titled his head and looked at her. "You okay?"

She laughed. "That one was fun too. It's fun being flipped over like that."

Taker shook his head with a laugh. "You'd be a funny opponent, laughing at every move."

She shrugged. "I have a feeling you did that very softly though."

He nodded. "Like I said, we don't need you to break your little bones."

Kat was plotting her next move when Randy called to Taker from the ring.

"Hey Deadman, can you come here a second?" he asked.

Taker rose and walked over, Kat following behind him. "What is it?" he asked.

"Does this look alright?" Randy asked. "Or does it look weird?" He then proceeded to do a complicated move set on John, who took all of it without a single groan.

"It looks good. You'll have the fans going for sure," Taker answered.

"I'm gonna go get us some water," John said sliding out of the ring. "I'll be back."

Taker climbed into the ring with Randy, and gestured for Kat to come in with him. Once she got in, she hopped up and down.

"It's bouncier than I thought," she said. She moved over to a corner, and watched as Mark and Randy tried out different moves, talking to each other the whole time.

She watched for a while, then John came back with water bottles for all the guys. He passed them out and then jumped back into the ring.

"There's water for you guys on the bleachers," he said, and then went over to Kat in the corner.

He smiled playfully. "Do you wanna help me beat up Randy?"

She smiled. "I dunno about that. I don't need to get RKO'd."

Randy heard her and walked over. "I thought the RKO was your favorite move? You don't want to see it first hand?" he asked with a grin.

"Seeing it and experiencing it are two different things," she said. "And the RKO is my favorite finisher, not my favorite move."

"So what's your favorite move?" John asked.

"Old school," she said grinning at Mark, who smiled in return.

"You should show it to her Deadman," Randy said.

Taker shrugged. "If you want," he said turning to Kat, "I can show you."

"Are you kidding? I'd love it!" she said excitedly.

Taker laughed. "Alright, calm down. Now watch." He gestured for Randy to come toward him. He took Randy's hand and proceeded to do the move slowly so she could watch. "Most of this move is about balance. Holding your opponent's hand is part of the move, but it also helps to keep you steady on the rope." He released Randy and stepped toward Kat.

"That was awesome," she said.

Mark smiled at her. "Yeah? Do you want to try it for yourself?"

"That would be fun, but…" She looked at the rope and then looked at the height of the ring from the floor. "What if I fall?" she asked.

"You have the three of us here," John said. "We won't let you hit the floor."

"Then I'll try," she said. John slid out of the ring and stood on the floor waiting to catch her if she fell. Randy went to the corner and held the rope steady. Kat went to the corner and climbed up. She sat on the turnbuckle unsure of how to balance herself.

"Stand up," Taker said. She carefully stood on the second turnbuckle and waited.

"Good," Taker said. He came close and took her hand. "Now climb to the top."

Kat was afraid she would fall, but Taker had a firm grip on her hand, so she shakily stepped up to the top.

"Very good," he said. "Now step away from the corner and onto the rope."

She took a deep breath and took a tiny step forward. The rope moved beneath her, and Randy quickly tightened his hold to steady it. She took another step and was standing on the rope.

Taker looked at her. "You're not bad at this," he said. "You've got a pretty decent sense of balance."

Kat knew her ability to stand on the rope was only half of her own skill. The other half was Mark's tight grip on her hand that prevented her from falling. He was just trying to make her relax.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Walk forward a few steps, then jump down and hit me," he said. "You know what Old School looks like."

She swallowed hard. She was starting to rethink her idea of trying the move, but it was too late to chicken out now. She took three more careful steps, all equally shaky, and then jumped down, her hand barely catching Mark on the shoulder.

She landed on her feet, breathed a sigh of relief, and was surprised to see Mark laughing. "You did good," he said. "That wasn't bad for a first shot."

"Yea," said Randy. "That was pretty good."

She smiled. "It was a lot of fun, even though I was absolutely terrified."

"Your face didn't show it," John said, climbing back in. "You just looked focused."

"Alright, you did it to me. Now I want to see you do that to Randy," Taker said.

Randy and Kat both turned. "What?" they said simultaneously.

"I want to see if she did it right," he said. "I can't watch if she's doing it to me. So you're up Randy. Let her do the move to you. Besides, it's always easier the second time."

Randy shrugged. "I'm fine, as long as she doesn't try to kill me," he said with a grin.

Kat laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it." She went back to the corner and climbed the turnbuckle. She took Randy's hand and stepped onto the rope. John steadied it and she stepped out. She had taken two steps, and was about to take a third, when she began to lose her balance. Randy tried and failed to steady her, and she fell backwards out of the ring.

Expecting to hit the floor, she was very surprised when Mark caught her. She had been so focused on keeping her balance that she hadn't noticed him get out of the ring.

He caught her like a baby and held her. "You okay?"

She sighed in relief. "I thought I was about to hit the floor. Thanks."

He smiled. "Anytime." He put her down gently on the floor.

"You okay?" Randy asked from the ring.

"I'm fine," she said looking up at him.

"You two go back to each other," Taker said. "I'll deal with our little falling angel."

Randy and John laughed and then turned back to work with each other. Kat turned and looked at Mark.

"You're really turning into my rescuer aren't you?" she said with a smile. "That's the second time you saved me from a crash."

He shrugged. "Like I said, no need for you to hurt those little bones."

She smiled up at him. "I think I've had my fill of being up on the ropes," she said. "I think I'll stay on the ground."

Taker laughed. "It gets easier with practice."

"Yea? How many times did you fall off when you were learning?"

"Loads," he said. "I used to be black and blue all over when I first started. After a while, you learn how to balance. And of course, you learn how to fall so you don't hurt yourself."

She laughed. "I just can't picture you tumbling out of the ring like that."

"Trust me, it happens more often than you think."

"Either way, I'll be staying on the floor. I think I'll just watch."

Taker nodded. "I'm going to get some weights from the closet. Why don't you see what the other guys are doing?"

She nodded. "Okay." He walked off across the gym, and Kat made her way over to the other guys.

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Author's Note: Hope you liked this chapter. Please review! I'll have more coming soon. Let me know what you guys think. =)