Chapter 17

Grace arrived at the hotel ten minutes later and rushed inside, trying to slow her racing heartbeat. She couldn't believe she was actually doing this. Were Steve and Glen out of their minds? What if this didn't work? Even though Mark still thought she was his sister, their earlier conversation couldn't be ignored and she knew this. Groaning inwardly, Grace walked to her hotel room and slid the keycard in before closing the door behind her, looking up to find nobody there. A huge sigh of relief escaped her as she threw her keys and keycard on the table along with her wallet, running a hand through her hair, and sat down on the bed. So much had happened, Grace's head was spinning as she put it in her hands, closing her eyes.

~!~

Steve and Glen had rented out two rooms, and paid a hell of a lot to get them too. One directly across from Grace's -where she was now and by herself it seemed- and one across from 'Taker's. "Think he'll go to her?"

"If not maybe she'll go to him?"

"Not fuckin' likely."

~!~

Pulling out the picture from her pocket, Grace felt the tears swell in her eyes and ran her fingertips over Mark's face, sniffling. He was alive. He wasn't gone and even though he didn't remember her, Grace couldn't stop the happiness from flooding her body. She missed him, Glen too. She had her boys in her life again and that's all she ever wanted. Placing the picture on the nightstand, Grace stood up and walked inside the bathroom to get some toilet paper since there was no tissue in the room at the moment, wiping her eyes.

He came in through the balcony, it was all too easy to slide open the patio door as the maid had left it unlocked when airing out the room. He heard Grace in the bathroom and rolled his eyes, smirking as he leaned against the wall, waiting for her to come out. After that stunt she had pulled earlier, shooting off at the mouth, he owed her.

A few minutes later, Grace emerged from the bathroom, the makeup off of her face and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of Mark. 'Oh shit!' She thought, rolling on the bed when he went to grab her. "Now Undertaker, wait a minute..." She was holding her hands up in surrender, swallowing hard. So much for the seduction part, there was pure green fire in his eyes and silently cursed when her back hit the wall, knowing she was trapped like a rat. "Look you can hurt me if you want, but..." She had not the foggiest idea what to do, what to say, and locked eyes with him. "Marcus, please don't do this..."

His fist came flying, punching a hole through the wall mere inches from her head. A cruel smirk graced his lips when she let out a shriek. "We need to talk, sis." He said calmly, danger in his eyes though at the mention of 'Marcus.'

"Alright..." She whispered, trembling slightly, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "I'm not sorry for what I said though. You're better than this, Mark." She flinched when he let out a growl, refusing to back down though. "I know who you really are. I know this monster isn't you, Marcus. I can't believe you're here, you and Glen. Don't you remember it? Don't you remember us? You were my best friend and I thought you were dead..." Tears filled her eyes at the memory of that night with her father, how he had told her the boys had died in the fire along with their parents. "Marcus please..."

"Marcus please..." He mimicked her voice nastily. "Who the HELL do you think you are? You know NOTHING about me, Grace. If you DID, you'd of run in the other direction the minute you seen me." His eyes trailed down her body. "So...I'm taking it this means we're not related? How pleasant." He grabbed her arms, pinning them over her head. "Are we or aren't we? And for your sake, don't lie."

"No, we're not." There was no point in lying now, but she wasn't going to give into him. "I know who you are and I can't fathom how much pain you've been in all these years." Tears trickled down her cheeks as Grace closed her eyes, that memory from the dream sweeping her away. "God I remember the last time we saw each other." She started laughing quietly. "You challenged me to go down to your parent's basement where they kept the dead bodies and dared me to touch one." She shook her head. "I will never forget that. And you absolutely LOATHED when I called you Marcus, always threatening to spit on me. And I always had to defend Glen against you because you instigated him constantly, which that hasn't changed." She opened her eyes and stared into his green pools. "Marcus it's me. It's Gracie. You have to remember me, you don't forget your best friend!"

"Call me Marcus again and I will choke the life right out of you." 'Taker threatened angrily, not looking moved in the slightest by her pleas. He could feel that pressure building up in his head again and growled, backing away from her. It was all to easy to see the connection between her and the migraine from hell.

It was working, she could see the pain in his eyes and kept going with the memories. "You used to beat up anyone who touched me in school. You were known as the school bully, but I always thought of you as my protector. You used to walk me to the school bus after school and we would ride home together talking about baseball. That was your favorite sport and we would play together." She sat on the bed, staring at him, hope shining in her amber eyes. "My father lied to me. He told me you and Glen died in that fire. He told me you were dead! He told me my boys were DEAD and lied to me about being your sister, about us being siblings! He did this, Mark. He's betrayed us all. I'm so glad you're alive though, I'm so glad you're standing in front of me and not scattered ashes in the wind. Mark please, try to remember me. Try to remember how it used to be..."

'Taker knew exactly how to cure this pain, this unbearable pressure in his head. Kill her.

~!~

Steve and Glen were standing in the hallway, listening. They were both mildly curious what she had done to make him listen to her though the next second they exchanged confused looks when they heard 'Taker bellow in pain. "Should we?"

"She knows to call for help if she needs it."

~!~

Grace didn't move to touch him this time as she backed up on the bed until her back hit the headboard, seeing him clutching his head tightly, knowing the memories were trying to break through. All the time, all the pain, everything they had gone through lead up to this moment and she wasn't backing down. "Mark, it's Gracie." She wanted to reach out and touch him, to take away that pain, but knew he had to go through this in order to remember her. She snatched the picture from the nightstand and walked over, against her better judgment, holding it up to him. "This is you, Mark. You, me and Glen. This is who you are, man or not. Whatever Paul told you..." Grace couldn't believe she'd called her father by his name. "It's all lies. He lied to all of us. Remember me damn it!"

He was on his knees, the agony ripping through him, letting out an actual scream as the dam burst, memories flooding him.

~!~

"So...if he does get his memories back...do you think he'll be different?"

"No. Mark was a cruel child." Glen said bluntly. "Grace is biased of her opinion because she cares for him."

"So he's always been outta his mind, not good."

~!~

Tears streamed down her cheeks as Grace dropped to her knees beside him, pressing her forehead against the side of his head, holding onto him for dear life. She'd never, in all her life, heard Mark scream that loudly and felt her heart break, knowing she had caused him this pain. It was for a good purpose though, she hoped. She felt the silent tears fall down her pale cheeks and closed her eyes tightly shut, not releasing the picture and not releasing her long lost best friend.

At the scream, Glen had broken down the door, him and Steve both halting in their tracks to stare down at the sight before them. The Undertaker was hunched over on his knees, forehead pressed against the carpet while Grace held him. Glen was fairly certain he could see tears on his brother's face, cocking his head to the side.

"Is he okay?"

"Shhh…" She soothed, rubbing his back up and down, trying to get him to calm down. She didn't even care if Steve and Glen were in the room, all her focus was on Mark. Grace kissed his forehead, letting him know everything was going to be alright, and ran her fingers through his hair, comforting him the only way she knew how. She was crying so hard, still not able to believe Mark was here in front of her. Her father was going to pay for all of the pain he caused all three of them and sniffled, not worried how she looked at the moment. "Mark..." She whispered softly, almost sounding relieved.

The only person who was surprised when he suddenly pushed her away from him was Grace. 'Taker stumbled to his face, blinking the tears out of his eyes, staring down at her like she was some sort of alien, something foreign to him. "Stay away from me." He growled, shoving past Steve and Glen.

"Mark?"

A grunt was the only answer he got.

Glen flinched when he heard a soft 'see ya soon, Glenie'.

Her heart shattered in her chest and Grace held her hand up when Steve went to console her. "Please leave." She whispered, wanting to be alone, and slowly got to her feet, wiping her tears away. "Please." She was begging them both, knowing as soon as they left she was going to have a breakdown. She didn't want to do it in front of them and was holding it in.

As soon as the door closed, Grace collapsed on the bed and curled up in a tight ball, her tears soaking the pillow, her entire body shuddering from head to toe. He hadn't assaulted her, he told her to stay away from him, and she would. It didn't hurt any less though and Grace wondered if resurfacing his memories had been the right thing to do. Yes, they were. She couldn't deny him for her own selfish reasons. Mark deserved to know the truth, regardless of how he treated her from here on out. When Grace could no longer move, she passed out, the tears still falling even afterwards.

~!~

Mark watched out of narrowed eyes as Grace ran, her glove outstretched to catch the baseball he had thrown. "C'mon you squirt, jump!" He yelled, hooting when she did.

"Marcus, stop throwing them so high!"

'Taker gripped his head, growling as he lay in his bed. His head still hurt a little, a million memories lined up for him to sort through. What had she done to him?

~!~

Nobody saw Grace for three days after that night, refusing to come out of her hotel rooms. Larry had told her to take them off, knowing the woman had been through quite the emotional ordeal as of late. Vince understood and he wasn't going to punish her for having personal issues. He was a lot nicer than people portrayed him to be. Though now it was time to go back to work. Grace had her cry, her heart break was over with.

Her eyes looked up at the arena and took a deep breath before walking inside. She was wearing a deep blue V shaped neckline dress shirt with a denim skirt, white Skechers on her feet. She left her hair down, though had a ponytail holder and headed inside, walking down the hallway, knowing Glen and Steve were probably worried sick about her.

Grace had decided she wasn't going to bother Mark anymore, knowing he hated her for forcing him to remember the past. Remembering them. It hurt her, but she would get over it. At least she still had one of her boys in Glen and she was going to be there for him.

Paul was back early and regretting every minute of it. He had been drilled mercilessly by the Undertaker about the past, gathering somehow Grace had managed to unlock his memories, not a good thing. So on top of worrying if he was going to die or not, he also had to worry about his precious little girl, no doubt she now hated him.

As far as Grace was concerned, she had no father. He had lied to her repeatedly, took Mark and Glen away from her, twisted and manipulated her thinking and feelings. She hated him, truly, and never thought that was possible. It was no wonder Mark was so fucked up. Paul had probably filled his head with lie after lie for years and transformed him into the monster he was now. She shook her head and walked inside the trainer's room, seeing Larry was cleaning up, apparently just finishing sewing someone up.