Like Old Times
11/15/04
Shawn and Paul sat back in their locker room. It was strangely silent and... Calm. They weren't running around trying to find someone. They weren't worried about someone coming to attack them. For the first time in a long time, everything was normal.
"Are we supposed to be this calm? I'm not used to this. Can we cause a ruckus to get things moving?" Shawn asked. Paul understood where he was coming from, but they deserved the rest. "Oosa, Shawn. Oosa. Just relax. I know it feels weird not to be doing anything, but just calm down. We need to relax." Paul replied, making Shawn nod his head.
"But its weird. We're not scheduled to do anything on the show. And we're not hiding from anyone. Or running to save someone. It's just... Odd." Shawn stated. Paul nodded his head in agreement. "Believe me, buddy. I know. But something is bound to happen. And we need to be ready for it. So just keep calm and collected and we'll be fine."
Neither man got up when Chyna walked in the room. It didn't make her angry. Hell, it was just like old times. She put her stuff down where it belonged, sat down and looked at them.
"Rough night?" She sarcastically asked, successfully making both men crack a smile. "Yeah. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. I have so much shit to do." Paul replied, stretching out his arms and cracking his knuckles. "That's disgusting." Shawn commented, inching away from his best friend.
Paul rolled his eyes at Shawn and felt the need to smack him upside the head. However, he held back on it. Shawn would have killed him if he so much as poked him in the head. What would Shawn do if Paul smacked him? He didn't want to find out.
"So I take it you're not scheduled for anything? It's been awhile since I've seen you guys this calm." Chyna stated. Paul looked over at her and smiled. "Yeah. We have the night off. We were just talking about how calm we are. But, you know the McMahon's. They always seem to start trouble. And our dearest little Shane always seems to be in the middle of it. So we have to keep our guards up, that way we can save him if need be." Paul replied.
Shawn turned to look at Paul with an eyebrow raised. "Do you have the hots for your brother in law or something," He asked. Paul looked at Shawn. "No. I don't. Why would you ask such a thing?" He shouted. "Because you called him 'our dearest little Shane.' Kinda hints that there's more that meets the eye... Not a cool nickname for him, ya know..." Shawn replied, smirking as he noticed Paul's face grow red with embarrassment.
Chyna rolled her eyes in amusement. She was really happy to know Shawn and Paul hadn't changed much since she last saw them hanging out together. They still cracked the most absurd, yet amusing, jokes on one another and never got pissed off. "Anything interesting going on, on the show tonight?" She asked, trying to ease the somewhat awkward tension in the air.
Shawn and Paul looked at her in unison. "Um... Shane is supposed to explain the whole situation regarding how he got Randy and Jay's jobs back. That's all we know for now." Shawn replied. "Yep. Hence why I said we have to keep our guards up. You never know what's going to happen. Especially now that Dave and Ric are in cahoots with Vince." Paul stated in disgust.
"Ugh. Don't remind me." Shawn stated and rolled his eyes. Chyna sighed and stared at the two members of D-X. The fact that Dave and Ric turned on them broke their hearts. She honestly didn't know if there was something she should say to them to assure them everything was going to be okay.
There was a knock on the door, so Paul got up to answer it. He saw Shane standing there, looking just like his old self. He wasn't holding onto the wall or swaying, and he didn't look glassy eyed. Paul smiled at him, so Shane returned the gesture. "Can I come in?" He finally asked.
Paul stepped to the side and allowed Shane access to the room, then closed the door. He turned around just in time to see Shawn jump up in glee and hug Shane. Shane looked confused at first, but he hugged the older man back. "I thought your demon for a father would keep you away from us til the end of time!" Shawn shouted.
Shane chuckled and pulled away from Shawn. "Don't worry, Shawn. Things happen. I'm actually a lot smarter than I look... So you should have a little more faith in me." He replied with a smile on his face. Paul sighed. "We do have faith in you, kid. Its just hard to keep it when we're watching you get your head pounded in." Paul stated matter of factly.
Shane turned to look at Paul and frowned. "Yeah, I understand. Believe me, I'd find it hard to keep the faith if I was watching that, too. But... It's me we're talking about. You never know what to expect." Shane replied with a smirk on his face. "...Right. So what are you doing here?" Paul asked.
"Okay. Two things. One, I came here to check up on you guys and make sure everything is going okay. I see you guys are calm, so I assume everything is going good. Two... I wanted to know if you guys would be willing to keep Randy and Jay in your sights tonight. I don't trust my dad at all. And I don't know what he's planning on doing after I tell him about the contracts." Shane explained.
Paul and Shawn eyed one another, then looked back at Shane in confusion. "You want us to babysit Randy and Jay? What about you?" Shawn asked. Shane shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah. I need you guys to watch them. And I don't care about me. You have to make sure they stay safe. Because, as we established, you never know with my dad..,"
Paul rolled his eyes. "Jesus Christ, you are one thick-headed kid! Don't you realize that your dad is pissed at you and not at Randy and Jay?" He asked. Shane snickered in response. "Listen, I realize you guys are ticked at me for not asking for backup and obviously not caring about my own well being. But my dad isn't going to want to hurt me tonight. Not with the surprise I have in store for him." He replied.
The look on his face made Shawn and Paul ease up. There was another knock on the door, so Paul reached over and opened it without looking. Randy and Jay walked in. "You guys can chill here tonight, okay?" Shane asked. Both men nodded their heads as Paul finally acknowledged them and closed the door. "How'd you know Shane was here?" Paul asked. "We figured this was the first place he'd visit before the show… And Arn Anderson told us to tell him he's due at the gorilla." Jay replied. Shane sighed and smiled at everyone, assuring them it would be okay. He left the room without another word.
"This oughta be good..." Shawn mumbled.
Shane made his way down to the ring to a cheering crowd. He smirked. He knew the crowd would forgive him for being a douche. They always did, no matter how horrible he was in the past. He slid into the ring and smiled sweetly at Lillian Garcia as she handed him the microphone. "I wanted to come out here tonight to continue the conversation with my father… To give him a rather undeserved explanation as to how Randy Orton and Christian were able to get new contracts without him knowing… So, if you would be as of so kind as to join me in the ring, dad… Let's get this show rolling,"
He waited semi-patiently for his father to come down to the ring. When a few moments went by with no reaction, Shane started getting angry. "If there's one thing I'm NOT known for, dad… It's my patience. And it's starting to wear thin, just like your hair." He growled, making the fans 'oooooooh' and laugh. Vince came out with Tyson Tomko right behind him, and both men weren't happy in the slightest. They got in the ring and faced Shane.
"Listen here, you disrespectful little..," Vince went to continue, but Shane interrupted him. "Is that the way to start a conversation with me, old man? I have the information you want and not only did you make me wait longer than I had to, but you also were about to insult me. That's not very nice, is it?" Shane asked. Vince closed his eyes and sighed in frustration. Tyson went to charge at Shane, but Vince held up an arm to stop him. "Okay, Shane. I think I understand where you're going with this… You want me to play by your game… What do you want?" Vince asked.
Shane raised an eyebrow. "What do I want..? I don't want anything, dad. I just want to see you get what's coming to you. I want to sit back and enjoy watching you get humiliated. I want to watch you suffer, just like you've made D-X, Randy Orton, Christian and, of course, myself suffer," Shane paused to get in Vince's face. Vince had to look away in shame. His son still had several scars and bruises that refused to fade on his face from Tomko's beating. "Shall we get down to business?" Shane asked, once he felt he had put his point across. Vince rolled his eyes. "Yes."
"This all started the night you wanted to suspend Christian without pay and break up D-Generation X. If you remember correctly, you'll know that was the night I aligned myself with you in attempts to save their careers… You most definitely lied about your intentions with Christian, because you fired him the next day… And the next week, after Randy Orton refused to side with you, you fired him. Since I refreshed the memory in your goldfish brain... I'll get on with my point. I looked into the fine print at the bottom of both of their contracts and noticed something."
Vince was seething at his son. "What the hell are you talking about?" He shouted. "Well," Shane paused to take a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. "It states, and I quote 'termination of this contract before the aforementioned date of expiration by the chairman of the board can be overruled by at least two major stock holders and/or company executives.' That's right, dad. I might have had some help in the matter, but I'm responsible for Christian and Randy getting rehired."
The fans started cheering, which only made Vince that much angrier. "What the hell are you talking about? You're supposed to be on my side here, Shane. That was the deal." Vince responded. Shane smirked at his father. "Dad… If there's one thing you taught me, it's always have a back up plan. I'm glad I had one this time. When you told me you were firing Christian and Orton for no reason, I knew I had to step in and do something… So, I did the one thing I knew I could successfully do without you finding out… And that is going over your head."
"That's one thing you've always been good at, you little disrespectful bastard. Who did you get to co-sign on that with you? Huh?" Vince asked through gritted teeth. Shane's smirk got wider. "I thought you'd never ask."
Linda McMahon's ever so annoying yet super distinguishable entrance song started playing. Vince put on his best deer in the headlights face as he turned to watch her walk down to the ring. Shane was kind enough to hold the rope down for her, then handed her his microphone and took a step away to enjoy the verbal abuse his father was about to go through… As he warned Vince about earlier.
"…Linda…? What are you doing…?" Vince was barely able to speak full sentences. Linda held up a hand to silence him. "I don't care about whatever it is you want to say, Vince. What you've been doing on Raw these passed couple of weeks is wrong. As if it wasn't enough for you to want to suspend Christian and ban both members of D-Generation X from talking to one another… You let one of your lackeys pound on your only son," Linda turned to gesture to Shane. "Look at what you did to his face, Vince. That's all on you, and I'm never going to forgive you for it."
"What…?" Vince muttered. Linda narrowed her eyes angrily at him. "I'll continue speaking in a way I know you can understand, Vince. Shane called me not so long after you fired both Christian and Randy Orton and asked for my help. I gave it to him without a second thought, even though it meant going over your head. We didn't care because we knew it was the right thing to do. You can't fire your employees for no reason and without warning. It's in your contract as the chairman. Shane and I used that to our advantage. We don't care about the consequences, Vince. Because, frankly, there are none. Our word is superior to yours, and it's mentioned in that contract Shane just read out loud. There's nothing you can do in the matter but accept it and call it a day." Linda stated.
Vince went from looking shocked to looking very angry in a matter of seconds. He got in Linda's face, making Shane approach them and get defensive. "If you hit her, I swear to God, I'll kill you." He growled, making Vince look at him briefly. He backed away slightly from his wife. "You think I'm just going to accept what you two did? If it weren't for me, there'd be no World Wrestling Entertainment. You," Vince gestured angrily at Linda. "Would be working at some shitty law firm in Washington D.C. And you," Vince glared at Shane. "Wouldn't be worth a damn thing..," Vince paused to look back at Linda. "I'll make the two of you regret what you've done."
He dropped the microphone without another word and grabbed a hold of his wife, making Shane jump at Vince to get him off of her. However, Shane jumped right into a spear from Tyson Tomko. Tyson straddled Shane and pounded on his face with his huge fists. Shane tried to get Tomko off of him, but the bigger man was just that: a whole lot bigger. It kind of felt like getting beat in the face with an aluminum baseball bat. What made the feeling a whole lot more awkward was the warm blood rushing down Shane's face.
"Get him away from him! Shane!" Linda shouted. Vince shook her roughly. "You want to screw with me, you ungrateful bitch? You and that damn demonic bastard we call a son? And now you expect me to stop Tyson Tomko from showing Shane a lesson? You must be out of your mind!" Vince shouted.
Linda had the feeling he would have continued if D-X's theme song hadn't started playing over the loud speakers. Paul walked down the ramp at a speed that wasn't acceptable for the situation unfolding in the ring. However, it did its job of making Vince and Tyson stop what they were doing. Vince unhanded Linda and stepped away, and Tyson stood up to face the ramp. Paul reached the ring but didn't get in it.
"Where's your little friends, Triple H?" Tyson shouted at him. Paul replied by gesturing for Tomko to look around. When he did, he noticed Shawn standing in the front row near the center of the camera side, Randy standing in front of the commentating booth, and Christian standing opposite of Shawn. Vince took the microphone out of Linda's hand. "And… Dare I ask what the hell the four of you want?" He asked.
Randy reached over and grabbed a microphone from Jerry Lawler. "I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure that one out, Vince. Have your gorilla over there back away from Shane, get away from your wife, leave them alone and we'll be on our way… Taking them with us, of course." He replied. Vince turned to glare at Randy. "And what makes you think I'm going to listen to you?" He shouted.
Paul chuckled, making Vince look back at him. "I think you should take a look at this." He stated and gestured to the TitanTron. A video of Dave and Ric tied up in the showers started playing. Vince closed his eyes and sighed in frustration, then turned to look at Tomko. He gave a slight nod, making Tomko back fully away from Shane. Vince took the moment to back away from Linda. "Let us leave and you can have what you want."
Vince and Tomko exited the ring and carefully approached the ramp, where Paul was still standing and glaring at them. They walked by without causing any trouble, so Paul took that as his opportunity to slide into the ring. Linda was already kneeling near Shane, who was trying to sit up and wince away the pain in his head. Randy slid into the ring and helped ease Shane into a sitting position. Shawn and Christian jumped the barricades and slid into the ring, but mostly concentrated on making sure there would be no sneak attacks.
Paul knelt down next to Shane. "You okay, kiddo?" He asked. Shane looked up at him angrily. "Do I look like I'm okay, Paul? Jesus Christ, I feel like I have no face," Shane winced again and tried to wipe blood away from his eyes. Paul couldn't really tell where it was coming from. "And… God help me, if you tell me 'I told you so,' I will hurt you… Got it?" He asked. Randy chuckled at him. "Now, now, Shane-O… We're here to help you, not kick you while you're down… Come on, let's get you up and backstage for some help. Mark is going to have a ball fixing you up."
Shane rolled his eyes in disgust. "Oh God… That's not something I look forward to right now," He stated, making Randy laugh. "No one does, buddy. Come on, lean on me," Randy put Shane's arm around his shoulders and pulled him up. Shane swayed unsteadily, but Randy held him still for a moment so he was able to shake the cobwebs loose. "When did you guys get a hold of Dave and Ric?" He asked, putting his head as close to Randy's ear as possible. "Right after you left. We had a feeling Vince was going to try something. It's a good thing we acted on it, too." He replied.
Randy and Shane took a step forward, however, Shane's knee buckled. He would have fell to the ground if Randy weren't keeping a firm hold on him. "Fuck," Shane grumbled, trying to regain himself. Randy rolled his eyes. "You are probably one of the most stubborn people I've ever met in my life. I told you to lean on me. If you don't do as I tell you, I'm going to make Paul grab a hold of your other arm so you have no choice in the matter. Do you understand me?" Randy asked. Shane chuckled. "You love being the dominant one, don't you?" He replied.
Randy tried to figure out whether or not he should answer Shane's question. Or, rather, how he would be able to answer it. He was able to get Shane out of the ring and backstage without any trouble, but noticed Shawn at his side at all times in case he needed anything. Randy headed straight for Mark Eaton's room until he felt a tug on his shirt.
"Do not go to Eaton's. Go to someone's locker room. Much safer that way." Shane whispered. Randy nodded in agreement and changed directions, making Shawn, Paul, Jay and Linda extremely confused. They walked into D-X's locker room and shut the door, locking it behind them just in case of anything.
"Okay. Now what?" Shawn asked. Paul handed his brother in law a towel and directed his mother in law to sit on the couch. Shane took a seat on the floor, as did Randy and Jay. Shawn was standing with his hand on the TV, as if he was deep in thought about something. Paul didn't want to bother him, so he left him alone.
"We obviously have to get a medic for Mr. Broken Nose over here," Jay stated as he gestured to Shane. Shane narrowed his eyes angrily at Jay from behind the towel as he once again ran it down his face. "It's not only my nose. I think my eyelid was split open," Shane replied, dabbing the towel gently where he thought there was a cut. "At least he knows to close his eyes when fists are rocketing at his face…" Jay stated with a shrug of his shoulders, making Randy and Paul chuckle. "I obviously can't look at myself… So… Where am I cut, guys?" Shane asked, turning to Randy and Jay for help.
Randy sighed and took the towel from Shane, then rubbed especially hard on areas that were split open, making Shane wince. "You certainly know how to ruin a calm night." Paul stated, making Shane look over at him. "Yeah… I do. I'm not known to be calm." Shane replied, glaring at Randy whenever he rubbed too hard. Linda sighed. "Shane... Things would've been fine out there if you didn't have such a temper."
Shane jumped up, making Randy drop the towel he was holding. "Are you serious, mom? If I didn't jump to try and get dad away from you, he probably would've hit you! You should know how bad his temper is… Jesus, you act as if I didn't get my temper from him." He shouted. Paul, Jay, Randy and Linda stared at him with wide eyes. "Are you insinuating that, if you didn't get your face pounded in, Vince would've hit Linda?" Jay asked. Paul rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone insist on asking stupid questions? He wouldn't have said it if he didn't mean it."
"Can everyone just shut the hell up for a little while!" Shawn's voice echoed in the room, returning back to his ears a little too harsh for his pounding headache to stand. He put a hand to his head and leaned a little more onto the TV. His vision was starting to go blurry and he was dizzy as hell.
The room went silent for a mere moment.
As if the TV falling over wasn't a loud enough noise to make everyone look up, Shawn groaned and fell to the side, successfully hitting both the wall and the TV on the way down.
"Holy shit! Shawn," Paul shouted and scrambled over to Shawn, kneeling at his side to see if he was okay. Randy and Shane were at his side in seconds. "Fuck. He's knocked out." Paul sat down and put a hand to his head, rubbing it in frustration.
Shane and Randy looked up at Paul. "What do we do? There's no way we can stay here… He could've given himself a concussion." Randy stated, making Paul stand up and pace a little. Leave it to Shawn to knock himself unconscious on the one damn day they didn't have anything to do. Paul looked down at Shawn and rubbed his head, then sighed and knelt down again. "We should probably take him to the hospital, just to be safe."
A/N: I was going to continue this chapter, but I decided it was long enough already. I think this is going to be coming to an end soon… It's not going to be anywhere as long as 'Dark Reflections' is, that's for sure. There's only so much I can do with a super concussed Shawn. It'll have a bittersweet ending, like all of my fics do. LOL.
I want to wish everyone a great holiday season. I might update again before the New Year, but if I don't… Have a great night.