Part 11 of I've Lost My Smile

Note I: Sorry for the delay….hope you enjoy.

Note II: Disclaimers and Pairing: I think you get it by now if you've made it this far.

Note III: Shawn is not as he seems….just keep that in mind as you read this part. And thanks to all who have read and reviewed! You guys rock my world!

Shawn was still feeling angry as he made his way further down the hallway before bumping inadvertently bumping into Hunter.

"Hunter, oh hey," Shawn greeted sheepishly. Hunter smiled back in response.

"So, how is everything….if you catch my drift?" Shawn rolled his eyes before answering. He knew what the plan was from the beginning, and he had indeed followed through with it perfectly….only problem: he now had feelings for Bret; how to explain that to his best friend, that was the dilemma at hand.

"I guess it's going according to plan," he said, looking away from Hunter.

Hunter paused for a few seconds. "What do you mean, you guess? It either is or it isn't….there is no 'I guess'. So what is it? We still going through on the deal we made; or have you forgotten already?" Of course Shawn had remembered! How the hell could he forget that? The plan had been made right after Shawn had stormed out of Vince's office initially following the delivery of the news that had started this whole thing. Hunter continued to gaze wittingly into his eyes as he continued to think.

"Yea, I remembered. I mean that it IS going according to plan, Hunter, I just don't know if it is going to work or not, that's all."

"Shawn-you mean to tell me that YOU aren't sure? Come on, this is Bret we are talking about here! It's not like he's an intelligent man by any means! In fact, if he fell for you that easily-just imagine what ELSE he would fall for! I mean he has to unbelievably gullible for that act you pulled off-it is just an act, right?" Shawn suddenly found it hard to answer him honestly; he didn't know what was holding him back, but he just couldn't. He let his eyes fall to the floor below the both of them –allowing his thoughts to drift to that fateful night when the plan had been set.

Flashback: Late January of 1997-

Shawn: "No way, Vince…I WON'T DO IT! I hate him! And he hates me….what makes you think he is going to let me get it back?"

Vince: "Nothing, Michael…that's the problem," Vince had said, placing his glasses down upon the mahogany desk in front of him.

Shawn: "So I have to drop the belt to him-huh? Is that the thanks you're giving me for me busting my ass night in and night out for this company? HUH? Answer me that one!"

Vince: "I'm sorry, Shawn….but when making reservations for the hotel rooms tonight, well we ran into a problem. You see, we ran out of rooms to put wrestlers in; and uhh…..we had to put you two together-I'm sorry, I will make this up to you Shawn, I promise."

Shawn: "You know what……" …."…fine, you want to put us together…..that's your choice-just don't be surprised when you learn that tomorrow morning Bret is lying in a hospital bed-with all of his bones broken! Because if he does one small thing to piss me off-that is exactly what is going to happen!" Shawn had stormed out of Vince's office and had walked back to his hotel room to vent to Hunter.

Hunter: "Hey, Shawn-man you look really pissed, mind telling me what's wrong?"

Shawn: "Yea, that damn Vince has just told me I have to drop my damn title to Bret come Wrestle Mania 13! Not only that, but I have to room with that filthy bastard tonight!" Hunter had begun to laugh at him, assuming that what he had just heard was nothing more than a joke; but the laughing stopped once he found out that what Shawn had told him was in fact the truth.

Hunter: "You have GOT to be kidding me, right? You and Bret in the same hotel room? Oh man, Vince is out of his fucking mind if he thinks that is going to work! He just told you this?"

Shawn: "Yup! Just now, I just left his office. Hunter, what am I going to do? I don't want to drop the belt to someone who backstabs my family and me! He doesn't deserve this title! I worked too damn hard to earn this!" Hunter placed his hands on his shoulders and calmed him down.

Hunter: "It's ok, hey listen, I have a plan alright…..you don't want to drop the belt, then you don't have to."

Shawn: "What do you mean; I don't have to drop it? But Vince said-…"

Hunter: "I don't care what Vince said, Shawn, what I mean is, you get under the guy's skin, he will end up feeling so bad for you, that he won't want to take what means the most to you away from you-trust me! If what I've heard about Bret is true, then believe me, pulling this off, will be no problem at all….here is what I want you to do…" Shawn felt himself grinning delightfully as Hunter whispered the details of his slick plan in his ear. He wasn't going to have to drop the title after all-if everything worked out the way it was supposed to, that is. Once Hunter had finished going over his plan with Shawn, he separated himself from Shawn and looked him straight in the eye. "Ok? We have a deal-you pull this off, then I can almost guarantee you, that belt will be around your waist come the end of Wrestle Mania-got it?" Shawn gave him a nod in response before Hunter had left the locker room to attend other business matters; leaving Shawn all alone inside the locker room to rethink over the plan secretly to himself. This was going to be a peace of cake; he had reminded himself before walking out of the locker room to head to the hotel for the night.

End of Flashback-

"Shawn-SHAWN!" He heard Hunter repeating to him over and over again. Shawn snapped back to attention as Hunter began snapping his fingers in front of his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Shawn-this is just an act right? You don't really have feelings for the guy." Shawn didn't know what to say, so he just nodded in response. "Ok, good, keep it that way. Now, I just bumped into Bret a few minutes ago, and he said that he had heard our conversation on the phone the other night-mind telling me how he found out it was me?" Shawn's eyes narrowed for an instant-that wasn't supposed to happen!

"Hunter, I can explain, really-he must have been awake when I was talking to you-and well, he had the volume on high in the phone's speaker for a reason I suppose…" He told Hunter. "So, what all did he say?"

"He told me that if I came near you," Hunter managed to say while holding back some laughter, "that he would have to deal with me PERSONALLY. You believe that? This guy actually thinks you are in love with him or something! How sad is that? Hell, the trick you've pulled, is the oldest trick in the book-what AN IDIOT!" Shawn then had to admit, the plan was working. Maybe Hunter had been right after all-Bret had to be a simpleton to fall for Shawn's sleazy maneuvers-perhaps Bret didn't know him as well as he thought he did. Who knew? One thing was now obvious though-Shawn was beginning to have second thoughts on the past week. Shawn was so much better than Bret could EVER dream of being-no matter what anyone else said. So what if Shawn had manipulated Bret's emotions and feelings-as long as it would benefit the Heart Break Kid, that is all that mattered, right? Shawn continued to stare at Hunter as he saw the guy practically fall on the ground from laughing so hard. Suddenly, Shawn found himself laughing as well, probably because Hunter's laughter had been so contagious. Before he knew it, they were both laughing so hard they were practically in tears. After several minutes, they regained their composure before the conversation took an unexpected turn.

"Yea, I cannot believe that," Shawn finally answered. "Bret-actually fell for it, I can't believe that!"

"I know, but hey, at least it works out for you right? Hell Shawn, if I were you, I wouldn't worry about Bret-hell he's probably using you anyway. Why let that bastard have all the fun, right? He is going to run over you if you let him," Hunter's expression grew deadly serious as he spoke, "you don't want that, now do you?" Shawn shook his head before speaking.

"No, of course not! No one messes around with the Heart Break Kid and gets away with it! He is going to learn not to mess with me, and he CERTAINLY is not getting this belt from me if I have ANYTHING to say about it!" He said, feeling himself grow cockier with every second.

"That's what I'm talking about….now just keep this in between you and I for now….and just keep doing what you're doing now, you are doing great! Couldn't be better." Hunter gave Shawn a pat across the back before acknowledging his best friend's injury. "So, how is it?"

"How is what?" Shawn questioned, dumbfounded.

"The knee, didn't you say it was hurting you the other night or something?"

"Oh, yea, that, it's not doing so good….the doctor told me I should stop wrestling….what am I gonna do?" Shawn felt his throat tighten with deep emotion as he muttered those last few words. He didn't want to leave this place-and now he was even having regrets as to how it happened. What would Hunter think? To his disbelief-he didn't have to wait long for Hunter to ask that question.

"How exactly did that happen-you were fine last week….?"

"Hunter, it happened while, while I….while Bret and me….uh…" Hunter seemed to catch his drift; he didn't need to say anymore.

"Ok, ok…I got it…hey; it'll be our secret, alright? No one has to know."

"Promise?" Shawn pleaded.

"Promise….hey I have to get going to the ring for some practice, alright? You will be ok, right?"

"Oh, uh yea," Shawn told him. "I'll be fine…go on ahead, I will see you later."

"Ok. Later." Hunter said, before walking toward the stage entrance area. Shawn wasn't quite sure how Hunter had managed to bring Shawn's guilty feelings back from the brink, but somehow he had done it. Shawn quietly let out an evil snicker before making his way back to his locker room to prep for the show later that night. No one was going to ever know about their plan, absolutely no one! At least, that is what Shawn had assumed. However, as soon as both men had cleared from the scene, Owen Hart crept around the nearest corner to go tell Bret the news; he had just overheard the entire conversation; and he'd be darned if Bret was going to be fooled so easily.

A/N: Ok that is the end of Part 11. Had you fooled, didn't I? Just when you were beginning to feel sorry for poor little Shawn…ha-ha-ha! Got to love it! Anyways, now that you have finished reading what I have up here so far, let me know what you think. Thank you!