Chapter 23

Steve was laughing, sharing a beer with Dwayne when he heard Jeff Hardy's irritating voice informing them Taker was back with Geneva. "What do you mean with?" He demanded, clenching the beer in his fist.

"As in he was holding her hand when they walked in." Jeff licked his lips nervously. "Excuse me, Steve." He bolted, not liking the fire that erupted in Steve's eyes.

Geneva was all smiles as she walked hand in hand with Taker down the hallway of the Civic Center in Omaha, Nebraska, wearing a pair of blue jeans with a black and purple tank top. After their night of lovemaking, Geneva finally had her talk with Taker, telling him she'd made a mistake by leaving him two years ago. Taker stopped her as soon as those words came out of her mouth, telling her she had to go back then because of her career and that was it. Nothing more was said.

"Go kick some ass." Geneva stated, staring up into his green eyes and walked inside the trainer's office.

Taker smirked, watching her go and then continued on his way in his normal all black, black shades and bandana, hair pulled back in a tight braid. "Hello boys." He greeted, seeing his Ministry and chuckled, listening as they filled him in on everything that had happened during his absence.

Country music filtered through the office as Geneva worked on Jeff, who did his famous rendition of getting nailed in the head with a ladder, courtesy of Bubba Ray Dudley –his real name was Mark LoMonaco. To keep the confusion to a minimal, everyone called him Bubba backstage. Geneva cleaned his wound and stitched him up, sending him on his way. When Jeff actually had the nerve to ask her if she was dating Taker, Geneva simply changed the subject, refusing to talk about it.

She would not answer any personal questions to anyone, no matter what. What happened between her and Taker would stay that way as far as she was concerned. Her next victim was a man named Peter –WWF fans knew him simply as Tazz-, snapping a finger back in place along with checking his broken nose from the week before. Geneva could not believe how many injuries were piling into her and the night wasn't halfway over yet!

"Get your ass in there, Austin." Dwayne snapped, shoving Steve through the office door. "Hey Doc. Steve," He pointed to the man's forehead. "Head needs checked to make sure it's healing alright."

"I'm gonna whoop your ass, son." Steve growled, finally looking at Geneva, his blue eyes almost pure ice except for just a hint of sadness hidden within their depths.

"Have a seat." Geneva replied evenly, staring back at him for a split second and snapped a pair of gloves on, proceeding to check out the wound. It looked like it'd been badly stitched up and possibly infected. Steve did it himself, the fool, as Geneva began her work on him silently, not knowing what to say. Wanting to be done with him as quickly as possible, Geneva didn't want to look into the cold blue eyes of the man that nearly ended Taker's life.

"Why'd you-" Steve stopped himself, clearing his throat. "Never mind."

"Hey Rocky." Mick Foley walked in, spotting his two friends and his niece, grinning. "Has he-" He'd kept tabs with Geneva throughout her time away with Taker, so he knew she'd be returning tonight.

"Not yet, he's working up to it apparently."

"I can hear ya both, fuckers."

"If this is about me staying with Taker, the answer is because he asked me to be his private in home physician throughout his recovery that you caused him to have in the first place." Geneva stated icily, finishing the stitching and stepped away from him. "Put ice on it and pain killers, you know the drill." He made her sick and reminded her of all the pain Taker went through in the past month because of him.

"I didn't lay a damn finger on him, Geneva!" Steve said angrily, standing up. He would have turned her around to look at him, but Dwayne and Mick grabbed him by the arms. "I wish I had, but it wasn't me, honey. Best be askin' him who the hell really messed him up."

"Calm down, Steve." Mick ordered once they were in the hallway and groaned when he got clocked, trying to protect his niece.

"Me and Taker are gonna have a chat." Steve growled, storming off.

Geneva shook her head, hitting the counter in frustration. Why couldn't she believe him? Granted, she'd slept with Taker, but also heard other witnesses say it was Steve who was the attacker, who beat Taker within an inch of his life backstage. She groaned, feeling a headache coming on, and knew she would have to talk to Taker about this sooner or later. When Trish came in with Test, Geneva stitched up his head from a wicked chair shot he'd taken during his match.

The injured kept rolling in.

Taker wasn't too surprised when Steve found him, cornering him in the bathroom of all places. "Can I help you?" He asked, zipping up his fly and walking over to the sink to wash his hands, staring at Steve through the mirror, his green eyes cold and cruel.

"I don't know what game yer playin, Deadman, but you best not hurt her."

Taker just grinned, looking evil.

Geneva finally received a break halfway through the program and placed a sign on her door before shutting it, which said OUT – BE BACK IN 15. She stretched out on the examination table and closed her eyes, being put through the wringer tonight. Between hearing different stories about what happened that night to Taker and everybody asking her how Houston was, Geneva felt like her head would explode. She'd simply told them she was there to do a job, nothing more, nothing less. It was none of their business what happened! She growled when she heard her door open and close, flat out refusing to move.

"I am on a break, come back when the sign is down or go to Larry." The meeting with Larry had gone well and Geneva ended up in her own office. She did not want to see anyone right now, arm slung over her eyes to shield them.

"It's just me darlin', do I really need to go see Larry?" Taker asked, his smooth drawl playful and frowned when he noticed the look on her face, crossing over to take her in his arms. "Neva, what's wrong darlin'?" He asked, concern in his tone. "Did somethin' happen?" He gently tilted her head up to look into her worried eyes.

"No, nothing. I just have a small headache is all." Geneva lied smoothly, staring back into his green eyes and suddenly pulled away from him as Steve's words pierced through her mind, her back to Mark. Who the hell was she supposed to trust? "You're not the sick and demented type that would actually...hit yourself repeatedly with a crowbar, would you?" She felt nauseated asking him this and slammed her hands down on the counter, closing her eyes tightly shut. "Taker, please tell me...tell me Steve did it. Tell me he's the reason why I stayed with you in the hospital and in Houston." She pleaded, lowering her head, shaking a little from all the stories she'd heard from different Superstars during the night while they were apart.

Taker looked both shocked that she would ask him that and revolted. "Hell no, I wouldn't beat myself with a crowbar." He asserted sternly, making her look at him again. "Even I'm not that sick, Neva. I admit I do have issues, but self-mutilation is not one of them. And I don't know who attacked me. Austin and I were arguing and I turned my back on him. Next thing I knew I was coughing blood and writhing in pain. He probably did do it."

"So you don't know if he did it?" Now that Geneva thought about it, she never did ask him and felt stupid because she'd been so comfortable in their Houston bubble that it never crossed her mind, until now. "I'm sorry, Mark." She whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly to her, blinking back tears. "People are saying it was him and then others are saying it wasn't, but it doesn't matter. The only thing I care about is that you're better and you're back."

"It's okay, darlin'." Taker murmured, wrapping his arms around her. "You can ask me anything you want, whenever you want." He kissed the top of her head. "I don't know if he did it or not, but the evidence all points to him. But I'm not gonna fight with him anymore darlin', it isn't worth it anymore. I don't think it ever was."

"You're not?"

Geneva blinked in shock, not believing what she just heard. The last time she'd tried mentioning him giving up the feud with Steve, he bit her head off verbally. Her eyes lit up like stars when he nodded and Geneva kissed his lips softly, wrapping her arms around his neck, glad he was being the first one to step up and stop this. If he ended up in the hospital again, Geneva was sure her heart would give out because of how much she loved him.

"Thank god." She whispered against his ear, a smile on her face, every other thought vanishing.

Chuckling, Taker kissed her brow and stepped back. "I've got to go, darlin'." He murmured, tracing the curve of her jaw with his thumb. "I have a promo to cut." They were drawing out his return to the ring, using little promos to tease the audience and boost ratings for the upcoming pay-per-view. "I'll meet you after the show?" His piercing green eyes locked with hers, a faint smile on his lips, amused at how easy it was to please her.

"Of course."

Geneva leaned into his touch and sighed as he walked out of her office, feeling much better about this situation. What was it about Taker that made her insides quake and melt all at once? Her thoughts drifted to the night in front of the bonfire back in Houston, under the stars. He'd taken her to heights no man ever had, just like back in 1997, only it was intensified because of her deep feelings. His touch, lips, tongue…Geneva had to stop this and stood up, taking her sign back down to continue working.

Taker smirked as he walked down the hallway, the Acolytes flanking his steps, acid eyes taking in everything going on around him. He could literally see the question in everyone's minds. Did Stone Cold really attack him or was this just another one of his sick mind games? Oh, this was simply too delicious! He didn't have to do anything to get people on edge, it was already being done with accusations and questions, so Taker just had to sit back and let their own minds do it for them.

The remainder of the night went smoothly for Geneva as she patched up her final Superstar, Chris Irvine –the WWF fans knew him as 'Y2J' Chris Jericho-, having had to pop his bad knee back into place. He'd done the Lionsault off the top rope and landed wrong in the ring. After cleaning up, Geneva was ready to leave and grabbed her bag, walking out locking her door, heading for the exit to meet Taker.

It wasn't Mark waiting for her though, it was Steve. He leaned against the hallway wall, duffel bag in hand. "Can we talk?" He asked quietly, obviously much calmer than he had been earlier in the night. Steve had plenty of time to calm down, thanks to Mick and Dwayne sitting on him until he'd stopped ranting and raving.

Geneva sighed, knowing she probably shouldn't be doing this, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Sure, walk me outside while we talk." She requested, carrying her bag over her shoulder while they walked down the hallway.

Geneva knew Taker was going to be peeved when he found out she was talking to Steve, but didn't she owe him at least a moment to tell his side of the story? She still hadn't heard it and was still fond of him, in a purely platonic way. Taker owned everything else, but if Steve wasn't the attacker, then there was no point in shunning him.

"What happened that night, Steve?" She did not look at him, the question spilling out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Steve ran his free hand over his bald head, heaving a sigh. "Taker and I were in the back, arguing…" He said slowly, eyes crinkling as he frowned. "I was so damn pissed off I just walked away. Next thing I know, I'm bein' arrested for bustin' his ass." He snorted at that because, if he'd been the one to attack him, Taker wouldn't have recovered as quickly as he did.

"Then who would attack him if you didn't?" Geneva wondered aloud, furrowing her eyebrows, not understanding what was going on. "Steve, he was nearly beaten to death. He had to have emergency surgery for severe abdominal and internal bleeding. Not to mention one of his kidneys ruptured and had to be taken out." She explained, wondering why she was because it was none of his business. "If it wasn't you, then why would they arrest you and why did the witnesses say it was you?"

"Because honey, for one: I was the last person seen with him. Two: everyone knows how much we hate each other, it wouldn't be the first time we'd gone out of our way to ambush the other." Steve explained patiently, keeping his voice even. "They're putting two and two together and coming out with five."

It made sense the more Geneva thought it over. "Okay, say it wasn't you. Who else hates Mark almost as much as you do?" She asked, trying to figure this out, brainstorming and ignored the disdainful look he shot her when she used Taker's real name instead of his wrestling persona. "If you didn't do it, then you should be fighting harder to clear your name."

"Who else hates Taker? Let me see, almost everyone." Steve shot back, grunting. "I told you before, he really does subscribe to that dark side shit. But clearin' my name ain't that easy, honey. I've been tryin' ever since I was arraigned, I'm the one who gains the most if he's taken out. See my problem here? Hell, knowin' him, he probably did it his damn self."

"I asked him if he did while looking him dead in the eye and he got defensive, rightfully so. He even admitted he has issues, but he would never self-mutilate himself." Geneva reiterated her conversation with Taker, stopping and turned to stare up into Steve's baby blues. "You didn't do it, right?" When he nodded, she sighed and lowered her head, closing her eyes. "I believe you, Steve. I just wish we knew who did."

"Don't we all?" Taker drawled, leaning against their rental car. "I said I'd meet you, darlin', didn't realize you'd be bringing company." He stared coldly at Austin. "Question of the moment, isn't it? Who tried to take out the Deadman?"

Steve smiled grimly. "If it were me, Taker, you'd know it because you wouldn't be standin' there flappin' yer gums."