CHAPTER FIVE

Mark didn't seem out of his mind, mostly. River mused as she joined Alex outside for a break, leaving one of his assistants in charge. She frowned when he offered her a cigarette; a habit she had kicked a few years ago and shrugged, taking it.

Alex chuckled when she coughed, watching as River took a minute then tried again. "Don't smoke?"

"Not in some years."

"Then why are you starting now?"

"Because for some reason, nicotine sounds good right about now." She was having conflicted opinions on Mark's questionable sanity.

***

"Steph-"

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to ask!"

"No."

"Come on Stephie-"

"I said no, beat it Shawn. I'm busy."

Grumbling, he trudged out, seeing Mark was down the hall; busy talking on the phone with someone and raised an eyebrow before going to find his wife.

***

"So what the hell brings you to my house on your time off?" Steve demanded jokingly when Mark had arrived, automatically handing him a beer as he led the way into his house. "They foreclose on that shithole you call a ranch?" He noticed Mark was walking with a slight limp, arching an eyebrow. "When'd you become a gimp?"

"Long story. Knee is shot. Need surgery after Mania." Mark grunted, taking the beer, and downed it before crushing the can in his fist. "I came here to talk to you about River." He said once they were inside and sitting down, seeing Steve's blue eyes narrowed; clearing his throat awkwardly. "I think...I think she might be back, man…"

This was a touchy subject for Steve and Mark knew it. "Don't fuck with me, Mark." He growled, shaking his head. "She disappeared how long ago? No calls, no letters, River is probably dead." God he hated saying those words but he wasn't about to let his friend fill him with a false sense of hope either.

"I'm dead serious, man." Mark stated, the amount of seriousness in his eyes causing Steve to actually lose his breath. "She came back married to Shawn."

When Steve's blue eyes narrowed, Mark nodded; burying his head in his hands. "You know how hard it is for me to talk about her. I loved her, Steve. Truly loved her, even though ya couldn't stand me near her. I'm tellin' you. She's got strawberry blonde hair and those eyes... " He had to trail off, squeezing his eyes shut for a brief moment "It's her, I'm almost positive."

Steve looked over his shoulder at a picture on the wall, staring into those sky blue eyes and groaned, shaking his head. "You sure, Mark? You had best be DAMNED sure it's her. Cause if it's not, I'm gonna kill you for breakin' my heart all over again." He scowled, draining his beer and walked into the kitchen to throw away the can and get a new one, Mark trailing behind. "Why the hell would she be married to Michaels? Riv loved yer dumb ass. Don't make no sense. Maybe you got the wrong woman."

"That's what I'm tryin' to figure out." Mark said, dropping down at the kitchen table. "It even SOUNDS like her. She had a voice like no other, that soft roll…"

They hadn't mentioned River in nearly five years, the last time being when Steve thought he found her, only to mistake her for someone else

"Did she... say anythin' to you before she left that night? Anythin' at all?"

Steve could remember that night all too well, it was forever etched in his memory. "Not a thing, just said she was leavin' for the night. Gave me a kiss and left. I didn't think nothin' of it, she was perfectly fine and actin' normal. Rivvie didn't like Michaels, don't make sense, Mark. She thought he was one cocky sonbitch and barely tolerated him." That was the part he was having trouble with.

"That's why I think it's her." When Steve stared at him with fire ridden blue eyes, Mark actually became nervous. "Look, yer comin' on the road for Mania, right?" There was no question since his best friend was being inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame. "Why don't ya talk to Steph, see if ya can't get on the roster for a few appearances. That'll give us a chance to get a look at her and maybe even talk to her?"

"Yeah, I can do that. I'm sure Steph will be thrilled, more ratin's and all that." He said absentmindedly, unable to keep the spark of hope down, feeling it flaring within him. What if this really was River? He had so many questions. Where had she been all this time? Why hadn't she at least mailed him a letter telling him she was okay? A phone call, something! And WHY was she married to the man she intensely disliked?

Mark seen all the questions in Steve's eyes flare and nodded, knowing he was thinking the same ones Mark had been for the past few days, ever since he saw River again. Why had she left him high and dry? Did he do something to piss her off? Why would she leave and break her brother's heart the way she had? Steve loved River and was the most loving big brother he'd ever come across. Just seeing the hope in Steve's eyes sparked his own. His eyes were identical to River's and that wasn't an easy shade to double.

Now something else was nagging at Steve as he sat down at his kitchen table, memories of his sister flowing through his mind. "Mark, if it's River, wouldn't she have recognized you? Did you talk to her? She say anythin' bout where she's been or... ask about me at all?" He asked, trying to sound casual but this was his baby sister after all.

"That's the weirdest thing of all. She doesn't recognize me. Nothing. Not even a glimmer of recognition." Mark said quietly, hearing Steve curse, and sighed heavily. "Somethin' happened Steve, I can feel it. It's her! It has to be her! Do you know of any other strawberry blonde, blue eyed angels named River who had YOUR eye color? It's HER! It has to be!"

"You ain't someone to forget, Mark." Steve said flatly, debating on killing the man for getting his hopes up only to squash them. "Considerin' how much in love you two appeared to be, I don't see Riv forgettin' yer dumb ass." He sighed, looking down at his still untouched beer, cracking it then stared some more. "There ain't no way in hell she'd forget me. I'm her brother, we grew up together. You don't forget your siblings."

"Would it hurt to just... look at her? Talk to her?" Mark knew it was a long shot, but something in her eyes sparked familiarity and he couldn't forget about it. He had tried, but something inside him told him to pursue this. "She said she went to massage therapy school, know anythin' about that?"

"Yeah, Riv had been checkin' into a school in Victoria for that shit." Steve said with a frown, now becoming drawn into this even more against his will. It was just too many coincidences. A woman named River, who looked and spoke like River had shown up, doing a profession that his River had expressed interest in. "I want to talk to Michaels." He said finally.

"No." Mark shook his head, holding his hand up before Steve could yell. "If he suspects anythin', he'll take her away. Steph told me he's been actin' weird and told me to watch what I say around him. We're gonna have to be sneaky about this man. Very sneaky and quiet."

"You think he's not goin' to notice if I suddenly come back on the road? Even with the hall of fame bit as an excuse?" Steve snorted. "Last I knew Shawn was a mite quicker than that, Mark. You and I both know he's one slick son of a bitch." He still could not wrap his mind around River and Shawn being MARRIED, oh dear god that was an appalling thought. "How long they been married?"

"Ten years." Mark said quietly. "I know this is hard, man, but there are too many coincidences for us not to investigate this. What if it is her? What if... what if somethin' happened…"

Steve let silence engulf them for maybe ten minutes before clearing his throat. "Mark... is she happy?" He asked quietly, seeing the look on Mark's face and knew his friend hadn't considered that. "If she's happy with him, then maybe interferin' ain't the best." Well... on Mark's part anyway. He was the brother, he was going to interfere so much she'd wished she'd moved across the world.

He clenched his fists in his hands, not wanting to answer that question, deciding it wouldn't hurt to lie a little. "She's not River. She's not the same." He answered, taking a few deep breaths to calm down, and closed his eyes painfully shut as the memories of how happy him and River were crashed over him. "I love her, Steve. I always will. I will NEVER stop loving her and if this is her, then I'm goin' to find out why the fuck she left me high and dry? I have just as MUCH to gain by this, if not more, than you!"

Steve was on his feet in an instant. "She is MY sister, Mark, don't be givin' me that shit! Maybe you two weren't supposed to work out, deal with it. But blood is blood damn it!" He ducked when a fist came flying, knowing he'd just provoked Mark a little too much.

"You don't KNOW what I've gone through these past ten years without her!" Mark growled, seeing Steve slowly backing up, his green eyes on fire. "If it's River, I have a right to know why she broke my fuckin' heart, you prick!" He lunged again, only for Steve to stop him, shaking with complete and utter rage. "I deserve an explanation as much as you do, Austin. And I'm gonna get it with or without yer help."

"I'm going with you because I want to know just as much as you do." Steve said with a heavy sigh, rubbing his bald head. "If this is River, I'll know. And then we're going to get some damn answers, one way or the other." He was still tempted to go knock Shawn Michael's teeth down his throat but would refrain, for now.

"Fine, but remember we can't let Michaels know that we know it's her." Mark wasn't even going to question it anymore unless it turned out it wasn't River. He would deal with the consequences then, having a sinking feeling this was a risk they both had to take. "When are ya gonna call Steph and ask her bout the angle?"

"Making the call right now." Steve murmured, walking out of the room. Getting punched, not on his list of things to do today. The call didn't take that long and when he hung up, he was smirking. He walked back out into the kitchen, somehow not surprised to see Mark still raiding his beer. "You're going to have to buy me a new case, son." He said, glancing in his fridge and shook his head. "Stephanie told me to come back as soon as possible, I could literally hear the cash registers going off."

Mark chuckled, not surprised in the slightest as he cracked open another beer. It took ALOT to get the man buzzed and shut the refrigerator door. "I'll buy ya a year's worth if it'll shut ya up, boy." He replied with a smirk, sitting down at the table, and took a long swig. "So how're we gonna get River alone and talk to her?"

"You said she was a massage therapist?" At Mark's nod Steve smirked. "Then she works under Alex. He can send her on house calls." At Mark's blank look he rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly. "She's part of the physical therapy crew, if someone needs her brand of therapy, Alex can send her to their hotel for sessions if they can't make it to the arena. You are really thick in the skull today."

"Oh shut the fuck up!" Mark growled angrily. "I've had a lot on my mind lately." That was the truth as he downed another beer, crushing the can and tossed it in the trash behind Steve. "Shawn isn't gonna let her come to my hotel room and, if this does turn out to be River, don't you think it'll be a little weird having her do a room call or whatever if Shawn knows it's really her?" He seen Steve's eyes narrow and stroked his goatee in thought.

"So we'll kidnap her, you've got experience in that."Steve smirked, chuckling at the raised eyebrow his friend shot him. "Face it Mark, if Shawn is tryin' to keep you away, that'll be the only thing we can do. Question is, when and where. Of course, not until AFTER I get a peek at her." He wasn't about to go to prison for kidnapping the wrong woman.

"You want me to kidnap River if it is her?" Mark sounded incredulous, though Steve had a point. If Shawn suspected anything with both of these men when it came to his... wife, then there would be problems. River would probably disappear again and this could be their only chance to have her back in their lives, or to at least get some answers. "Fine, but if she's traumatized, yer payin' for her therapy bills." He grunted, remembering how he had to pay four years of therapy for Stephanie during the Ministry days, shaking his head.

"I'm probably going to be paying for something anyways, might as well be her therapy. Though if it ain't River, yer paying your own goddamn hospital bills after I break every bone in your body." Steve said, his blue eyes ice though his smile was friendly.

"You got it, man. If it's not River, you can kill me. Hell, I'll probably kill myself.