Chapter 13

Lance was waiting for her, having taken a break from the medical center so he could greet Geneva at the airport. He leaned against a pillar, casually flirting with a woman who'd just gotten off a plane and was waiting for her boyfriend to show up. Who was he to make her pass the time in boredom?

Geneva walked through the terminal, grinning at the sight of her adopted brother and ran over, jumping in his arms, hugging him tightly around the neck as he spun her around in circles. "I got hired!" She cried out when he set her down, pulling out the check from her bra, shaking from head to toe, showing it to him. Laughing when his eyes bugged out just like hers nearly did when she first received it at Titan Towers. "Lance, this is it. This is the right road for me." Tears filled her eyes as she stared back at him, one sliding down her cheek. "Thank you for sending all of those recommendations and everything you did."

Lance smiled widely at Geneva's good fortune, hazel eyes twinkling. "You're welcome, but let's keep that between us, shall we? I wouldn't want the boss knowing I helped sell you down the river, if you know what I mean." He laughed, draping an arm over her shoulder, looking at the check again and whistled. "What the hell is this for? You sure it's real?"

"It's for car shopping. I'm going to be doing a lot of traveling so Mr. McMahon said that's for a car. A CAR, Lance!" Geneva squealed with excitement, leaning against him and snatched the check back, slipping it right back into her bra for safe keeping. "I have a lot to do. I'm giving my two weeks to Richard and I'm keeping my condo here. Seattle is still my home, just not USMC. I also have to call my Uncle Mick and let him know what's going on." She was out of breath by the time they arrived at Lance's car and slipped inside, her mind racing.

"I'm happy for you, Gen. That is one hell of a car budget. What's he expecting you to buy, a Cadillac Escalade?" Lance navigated the traffic easily with one hand, the other turning down the radio. "You sure you're going to have time to come home? Isn't that a traveling circus, so to speak?"

"I will make time." She stated, meaning it. "We travel a little over 280 days out of the year so there is SOME time that we get off. I'll be in Seattle for it." Geneva reached over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you again Lance, for everything you did." She couldn't say it enough.

The first stop they made was the bank and Lance had to go back to the medical center for work. Geneva decided to join him, going to Richard's office, and thanked him for the opportunity to do her internship there. Richard informed her she could come back anytime and wished her well, letting her know they would be paying her out the last two weeks, so she could use her vacation time to get things settled.

Geneva thanked him and then walked out of the University of Washington Medical Center, looking back at it, tears sliding down her cheeks at the memories that ran through her mind. Even with all the hell that place put her through, Geneva had a lot of good times with Lance, especially off the clock. She was going to miss it, hoping the WWF gave her a new peace of mind and a home. With one last glance over her shoulder, Geneva headed home to make some phone calls before going car shopping, the first being to her Uncle Mick.

Mick reached over and picked up his cell phone blaring on the nightstand, clearing his throat. "Hello?" He said softly, rubbing his blurry eyes.

"Uncle Mick?" It'd been a long time since Geneva heard his voice, at least a year and the guilt instantly made her stomach tighten when he gasped.

"My god, Gen?" Mick's eyes flew open as soon as he heard her voice, sitting up on the bed. "How the hell are you, sweetie?"

Geneva felt tears sting her eyes, fighting them back as hard as she could. "I'm good, really good actually…" Why was it so hard to tell her Uncle about working for the WWF? "I didn't wake you did I?"

"Yeah, but it's the best wakeup call I've had in a while." Mick replied, grinning and could tell something was on Geneva's mind or else she wouldn't have called. "What's on your mind, Gen?"

Chewing her bottom lip, Geneva stood up from the couch and walked over to stare out at the city, noticing some clouds rolling in for a potential rainstorm. "Well, first off, how come you didn't look me up when the WWF was in Seattle a few days ago?" She demanded, planting one hand on her hip. "I would've loved to see you, Uncle Mick."

"WWF was in Seattle?" Mick hadn't known, looking over his shoulder at Colette. "I'm sorry sweetie, I took a few days off to come home, but I'm heading back on the road tomorrow morning. If I would've known…"

"No worries." Geneva smiled, rubbing the back of her neck and felt the jetlag setting in from that redeye flight from Connecticut. "There is a reason I called and…I'm not sure how to say this." Now her nerves kicked up a notch, her stomach clenching tightly. "This is so hard…"

Now Mick was more alert, not liking the sound of this and stood from the bed, having been napping with Colette. "What is it, Geneva?" He shut the bedroom door quietly and padded downstairs, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "Whatever it is, we can figure it out."

"You sure about that?" Geneva laughed shakily.

"Yes, now talk." Mick ordered, pulling a water out of the fridge and leaned against the counter, unscrewing the cap.

"I got a new job." Geneva blurted out, then cursed because she didn't want to tell him this way.

Mick raised a brow, taking a swallow of his water and tried not to let the panic set in yet. "I thought you were doing an internship at the hospital in Seattle?" Now he was confused.

"Yeah well, that didn't exactly pan out the way I wanted, so I decided to apply for another job where I can use my medical degree." Geneva didn't want it going to waste, especially with all the time she put into acquiring it.

"So out with it then, where are you working now?" Mick tried to keep the demand out of his tone, but Geneva beating around the bush wasn't normal. She was normally straightforward when it came to him. "Tell me, Gen."

Geneva heaved a sigh, shutting her eyes briefly. "Do you remember when I first told you that I wanted to go to medical school?" Her voice lowered a little with her nervousness.

"Yeah." Mick chuckled, remembering she'd been a senior in high school and wanted to help people. "You were so excited about it, I'll never forget the sparkle in your eyes…" Then something occurred to Mick, his eyes widening with realization. "Geneva…"

"Do you remember the first thing you said to me when I told you?" Her voice remained the same tone and level, almost hearing the light bulb in Uncle's Mick's head click over the phone.

Mick swallowed hard, crushing the bottle of water in his hand. "I made a joke about you working for the WWF so you could take care of me…" His stomach tightened slightly, trying to keep calm and heard padded footsteps sound behind him. It was Colette.

"Surprise." Geneva whispered, feeling a few tears slide down her cheeks and gave Uncle Mick a few minutes to digest this.

Mick didn't say a word for five straight minutes, his heavy breathing being the only sound coming through the phone into Geneva's ear. His niece…his precious Geneva…was going to work for the same company as him? Did he hear her correctly? He remembered her helping Larry two years ago for two weeks while she was on the road with him, before her internship started. Still, Geneva had wanted to be a doctor –a surgeon- all of her life and now she was suddenly tossing it away for a mediocre job in sport's medicine with the WWF.

"Uncle Mick…"

"I'm here." His voice was low and gruff, nodding at Colette when she shot him a worried look. "Just…how the hell did this come about? Don't get me wrong, sweetheart, I'm happy for you whatever you decide, but…you've always wanted to be a surgeon. What changed your mind?" If Vince had anything to do with this, he would personally ring the boss's neck.

He didn't sound happy or mad, which was a good thing because that's what Geneva had worried about most. Uncle Mick didn't get mad often, but when he did, it was downright frightening. The last thing Geneva wanted to do was upset her Uncle that she hadn't seen in a year, but at the same time she had to tell him about being on the road. Showing up out of the blue and announcing she'd gotten a job with his company was out of the question.

"Well…"

Geneva proceeded to tell Mick about her patient, Steve Williams, who Mick instantly knew as Austin. Apparently that was the man's nickname in the WWF. She explained about being his doctor, how she took care of him and then received a phone call from Gerald Briscoe with a job offer. Geneva told him the sum they offered, which was much more than UWMC currently paid her. Including the trip to Stamford, Connecticut to meet with the head honcho, Geneva finally stopped talking after telling him about the check Vince gave her for car shopping.

Listening intently to everything his niece said, Mick quickly came to the conclusion that Steve had to be the one to get her this job. He was the only one she'd had contact with, to his knowledge anyway, and that didn't set well with Mick at all. Granted, he was happy that Geneva would be working on the road with him because she had a knack for this medical profession, but something told him there were motives behind her being hired. Him and Steve would be having a talk as soon as Mick went back on the road. Wanting to make it crystal clear his niece was OFF LIMITS, or else Mick would ram a barbed wire bat up the man's ass.

"So, have you gone car shopping yet?" Mick asked, hearing a sigh of relief from his niece and decided he wouldn't let her know how he really felt about this sudden turn of events.

"Not yet, I'm going tomorrow. Was supposed to go today, but…the flight wore me down and it's getting late. Besides, I have two weeks until I'm due on the road and the medical center is paying me the rest of my vacation." Geneva had to go shopping for clothes because most of what she owned was a little to dressy for the WWF. "I can't wait to see you, Uncle Mick. It's been too long…"

"That it has, sweetheart. I can't wait to see you either." Mick smiled more genuinely, feeling Colette's arm wrap around his waist and kissed the top of her head.

They proceeded to talk a little while later about how everything was going with the kids, Mick promising to bring the family on the road as soon as he could so Geneva could see them again.

"Yes, she's comin'." Steve said when Dwayne went to ask him.

"Good thing too, you look like shit. Who did it?"

"'Taker." Steve's blue eyes narrowed. "Jackass caught me outside the arena last night."

"You two might be getting a little too personal, don't you think?"

"It ain't my damn fault he thinks he IS the Undertaker."

Taker overheard the conversation outside of the locker room, stroking his black goatee thoughtfully. Who was Austin talking about? He'd been walking around trying to get a meeting with Vince for the past couple days after being released from the medical center in Seattle. Taker had tried figuring out what it was about, but nobody talked.

Then he'd overheard a previous conversation with Austin and Rock, eyes narrowing when he mentioned the beautiful doctor. Honestly, Taker had been so engrossed in screwing with Austin that he'd only briefly glanced at the doctor, not paying her much mind. He would definitely have to rectify that, an evil chuckle floating from his mouth as he made his way down the hallway, his mind already spinning with all the possibilities to add more fuel this proverbial feud fire.

His first task was to use this beautiful doctor against Austin.

The next day, all smiles, Geneva went car shopping and decided to stick to something gas efficient. The amount on the check would more than cover a Mustang or Charger, but it wasn't practical. The WWF would be in Portland, Oregon when her first night started, so she had to make the short 3 hour drive there. Then from there she would be heading across country to Chicago, IL, which meant she'd have to leave her car at the airport in Portland and Lance would be picking it up for her.

He was such a great friend.

Geneva ended up choosing a silver Honda Insight, having done research the previous night after her phone call with Uncle Mick. It was a four door and had an interesting shape, which in her eyes made it unique. Handing over the cash in full, along with signing her life away practically, Geneva drove off the lot with her new car 5 hours later. She made sure to add a few things to it like a CD player and whatnot, knowing she would be putting a lot of miles on this bad boy.

Her thoughts turned to Undertaker suddenly while she drove, stopping at a red light and frowned thoughtfully. What the hell was she going to say to him when they ran into each other again? Turning the AC on full blast, Geneva hated how heated she became every time the man entered her mind. As excited as she was about this new job and seeing Uncle Mick, Geneva had reservations about Taker.

He seemed not to recognize her while she treated Steve at the medical center, almost look straight through her. She hadn't changed that much, her hair the same crazy curly mess she's always had. Geneva was a little paler and had a little crow's-feet around her eyes, but that came with the daunting task of getting older. She'd looked directly at him too…Geneva sighed, not understanding it and pushed Taker in the back of her mind, pulling into the local JCPenney's parking lot.

It was time to shop for her new job.