Carrie's eyes were bugging nearly out of her skull as she teetered the brink of hyperventilation. The entire left side of her head was now matted and wet with blood. 'It's not normal to bleed this much.' One shot to the head didn't usually lead to this much blood loss, Kane knew first hand. 'Unless you're flair.' Kane tried to think of reasons Carrie looked so poorly. "I said, what did you do to her?" Kane boxed The EMT who had been working on Carrie into a corner.
"I . . . nothing she's just becoming coherent . . . she shouldn't have been moved she'll-" The frightened man dropped the needle and sutures he had tried to start stitching Carrie up with.
"So it's my fault?" Kane could see tears flowing down Carrie's cheeks,on the one side snaking through caked on blood. They were tears of fear, something had scared her out of her mind. 'Does he think I'm stupid? She wasn't fine when I left but she wasn't terrified either. Is she afraid of needles?' He looked over at the tray of medical utensils next to the stretcher. "I asked you a question?" Kane's voice could almost be mistaken for a growl.
"Carrie! Carrie! Calm down before Kane kills someone!" Janet gave Carrie a strong shake, which only sent Carrie rocketing up into a sitting position, screaming louder.
"Get out! Get out! Nathan get out of this room!" Carrie screamed frantically looking from side to side it was unclear if Carrie knew where she was, who was around her.
"Nathan. The only thing keeping me from pummeling you into a puddle right now for whatever you did-" Kane began to lift the man by the collar. "Only thing . . ." He repeated to make sure his point was crystal clear.
"I didn't do anything! She started going postal-"
"Is that you'd be scooped up and shoveled onto the table next to her. Now I suggest you leave and send someone else in to fix her! Now!" Kane butted foreheads with his captive before releasing him.
"But my name isn't even-"
"Now!" Kane boomed again wedging himself in a position between Carrie and the quivering man.
"You should probably listen." Sidney surprisingly agreed with Kane and watched as not Nathan scurried out the room. 'Nathan? Why is she thinking about that old bum? We haven't seen him in a decade.' Sidney looked at his frightened friend with a puzzled gaze. Kane backed away from the table and walked to the door, peeking outside he checked the surroundings to make sure the EMT had gone to get more help.
"Carrie?" Sidney stroked his friend's back as he spoke calmly.
"Sidney? Where am I? Last thing I remember-"
"Last thing you remember is being an idiot and taking a money shot of metal to your face." Sidney tried and succeeded to get a laugh. "You're about to get stitches, no one is going to hurt you. Unless bully over here has any bright ideas." Sidney looked up at the Monster seeing if he had anything to add.
"Kane? Stitches I-" She put a hand to her head, pulling it back into frame she saw the blood. "Oh god!" Carrie gulped hard.
"It wasn't me! Trust me I'll get Edge back for what he did." Kane's teeth were grinding, he couldn't console Carrie like her friends were, he couldn't calm her like Sidney was but he could promise revenge. 'I'm a bully alright and with all these people around trying to take away the only friend I have, I'll throw around every ounce of my weight to keep them where they belong . . . out of my business.' It was as much a promise as it was a statement born from the principle of the matter.
"I know I know." Carrie gulped again a hiccup trailing behind, her world was spinning as she was coming back to terms with reality. "Sidney I think I'm going to-"
"I know that sound." Sidney cringed. "I got you-" Sidney grabbed a fist full of Carrie's hair helping her lean to her side as Carrie began to hurl. While the rest of the group looked away Janet brought up an equally unsettling thought.
"Maybe she's pregnant." Janet shrugged.
"What?" Was the collective shout popping out of everyone's mouth.
"Fucking hysterical mood swings. Vomiting, I'm just spitballing ideas here. I mean she has been staying in a single man's hotel room, lot of free time on their hands."
"Do you honestly think Carrie would sleep with me?" Kane scowled. 'She's mocking me, this one too. They're all ganging up on me.' Kane wasn't sure how to approach this. They were Carrie's best friends so he couldn't pummel them into the ground like every fiber of his being was beckoning him to, but he also couldn't leave this open ended, he had to make it known that he would not take this mockery lying down.
"Maybe it wasn't con-" Sidney started.
"If you say I forced myself on her, nothing, or no one will save you from my fury." Kane's mind flickered to HHH's accusation that he had violated Katie.
"I don't know! Carrie has a thing for freaky tall guys. The bigger the better. Fun fact: she has as long as I've known her never dated or even hooked up with someone under 6"3." Janet both informed the group and tried to neutralize the situation that she had stirred up.
'Is that what happens? When those eyes of her's linger on me . . . is it lust?' Kane's rage subsided only for a second. 'Don't be crazy . . . there's nothing attractive about you . . . you're a freak . . . a monster . . . disfigured . . . she doesn't feel the same way, the same sensation.' He admitted to himself that he was attracted to Carrie, not only her skin, as a whole, as a woman. 'There's nothing you can offer her . . . there's not anything about you that'd she'd want. She, out of her kindness and naivety has befriended me . . . but nothing more.' He shook his head to shake the disillusions. Without another word he left the room for a second time.
As he walked out he couldn't help but lament on thoughts from long since past. 'She does . . . she does look at me like Katie did. And Katie, she . . . she loved me, scars and all. Is that where the flashbacks are coming from? To remind me that someone cared before, maybe someone could again . . . maybe Carrie could?' He stopped and gazed up at the ceiling a euphoric feeling of hope lingered for a few fleeting seconds. 'No she's nothing to me . . . a nuisance . . . she has to be, for the sake of both of us.' He punched a wall, the pain signaling through his fist was in it's own way soothing. 'Pain, women equal pain.' He left his fist resting against the wall for a moment. "Dammit!" His voice echoed through the empty hallway as he realized that the words he was force feeding himself weren't hitting home. Kane couldn't shake the hope, the lust, the emotions now tethered to Carrie. 'Don't fall for this again.' He squeezed his eyes shut and punched the wall more forcefully as memories of Lita tainted his mind. Kane had thought he found companionship with her, but it had all been a debilitating lie. 'You're a monster not a man. The monster never holds onto the woman for long, some hero will come swoop her up, save Carrie from me.' He let out an exasperated sigh as he pulled his fist away slowly from the wall and continued his walk.
"I look like a whore!" Carrie after a few stitches and some over the counter pain medicine had left the medical station. She had also out of necessity changed into a new set of clothes seeing as her previous garments were stained with unpleasant bodily fluids, vomit and blood. If one could call what barely covered her clothes, it was something Janet had snagged from the diva's locker room, a sequined eyesore, a tank top passing for a dress.
"It's not so bad. I mean yeah . . . you look like a whore, but top dollar, pretty woman pay grade." Sidney tried to boost her moral, he could see the uncomfortable and embarrassed look in Carrie's eyes and he hoped some light humor would shake it from his injured friend. 'Just bare it a little longer, we're almost out of here.' Carrie's meek defeated demeanor quickly turned to one of anger when she felt a hand where it did not belong.
"Janet I'm not in the mood! Get your hand off my-" Carrie was rubbing her banged forehead with one hand while brushing away the unwanted touch with the other.
"Not me! I didn't go there!" Janet announced. She was cheeky and had little to no sexual boundaries but she knew when it was uncalled for. Carrie spun around coming face to face with one of the lecherous wrestlers meandering about.
"Who in the hell are you?" Carrie questioned bluntly, she was beyond irritable and could not be bothered to think of the consequences of her actions.
"Introductions, very important indeed. I am surprised I'm the one who needs one. I'll indulge though, like the gentleman I am. Matt Striker is the name." He straightened his posture in an attempt to seem superior. "How are you this evening?" He asked with a smirk, knowing damn well the night had been less than kind to Carrie.
"Fine and god damn dandy till you're wandering hand found it's way to may ass!" Carrie snapped, her cool calm and collected demeanor was cracking.
"Tsk Tsk Tsk. Did your parents not teach you manners? Don't take that tone with me." He waved a condescending finger in Carrie's face.
"Or what?" Her boldness increased by the second, her adrenalin pumping furiously she was seeing red by this time.
"Simple. I'll have to teach you a lesson. Nothing drastic a stern spanking will suffice."
"That's it!" Carrie went to slap him but Sidney yanked her hand backwards at the last minute, her extended hand still held perched in the air. "Sidney let the fuck go of me! I am not letting this asshole speak to me like that!" Breaking free from Sidney she attempted a second time only to be grabbed fully by Lizzie and Janet who were trying to hold her flailing back.
"With a foul mouth like that you must've been popular with the boys and a troublemaker with educational professionals like myself." Striker continued to taunt her.
"Ok Ok you can unleash your undying rage . . . just when we're not around. Cause I don't want to get my ass kicked and I can see that's where this is going." Sidney tried to talk some sense into the livid Carrie. He would have her back everyday of the week, but he was trying his best to avoid physical confrontation. The group struggled, as they did their best to drag Carrie away from the situation.
'I need to get the hell out of here.' Kane was feeling claustrophobic, his surroundings beings smothered with conflicting thoughts. He just wanted to get back to his dark, quiet and currently empty hotel room. He was almost at the garage when he was halted by the sight of a blur zooming through the hall. "Carrie?" He could barely make out the out of character looking woman weaving through the backstage traffic like a chicken with it's head cut off.
"Hey Kane! Can't talk now . . . gotta run." Carrie panted as she tried to bolt past him, her plan was abruptly thwarted. With little effort Kane grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her off her feet, cutting her forward momentum to a dead stop. "Oooor not. So . . . what have you been up to?"Carrie questioned as she attempted to catch her breath. Kane did not respond, simply staring at her with an annoyed and questioning look in his eyes.
"Carrie this is no time to bat eyelashes at tall pale and spooky, come on! You just had to slap him didn't you?" Janet plowed by the couple.
"What trouble did you get into now?" Kane's frown intensified. 'How many of her messes do I have to clean up? At this rate I'll end up fighting the whole roster.' His head tilted to one side as he continued to stare at her. "More trouble than you're worth." He sighed, unintentional stinging Carrie's ego.
"Um . . . well it's all Janet's fault! She picked this out . . . dressed me like a whore and . . . I really ought to go." She glanced behind her expecting Striker to round the corner at any minute. Kane slowly put her back on her feet, grabbing her wrist forcefully, he escorted her to his dressing room.
'Who knows what these animals have been thinking. Gawking and drooling.' He knew his coworkers had no shame in their catcalling and derogatory statements. He knew if he didn't fix the situation he'd end up knocking a handful of them on the spot. 'She's not meat.' Once in the room he handed her a pair of sweatpants. "Here. There's a bathroom over there." He pointed to the door in the far end of the room. "Go change before you flash someone." As much as Kane chastised his fellow wrestlers for gawking he could help but steal a glance at her as she disappeared to the bathroom. His pulse was heightened at the sight of her exposed flesh, he felt his muscles tighten, he ran a hand over his forehead trying to ignore and suppress his surging hormones.
Carrie couldn't help but laugh at herself as she tied knot after knot in the sweatpants to try and keep them up. Kane walked to the door, instinctively thinking she was laughing at his expense, perhaps she had seen the new look in his eyes and found it literally laughable. He pounded a single time on the door, enough for the wood to rattle. "What's so funny?" He could bore holes with the glare he was sending at the door. 'She's a moron if she thinks she can laugh at me and get away with it.' Kane came to a realization, he still had his wrath, and he was overcome with lust, not one more than the other, instead they were dangerously intertwined.
"They're huge!" To add to the comedic effect Carrie had pulled the oversized pants all the way up to her armpits as she waddled out the door. "How do I look?" Carrie could barely make out the words, she was cracking herself up.
"Like an idiot." Kane stated flatly but a smirk found it's way to his face.
"Like my mom used to say: If it walks like a duck . . . and talks like a duck . . . then it's probably an idiot." Carrie shrugged.
"That's not . . . nevermind" Kane shook his head at the goofy woman. "Come on, lets go before you slap someone else." Kane scoffed as he took into focus the level of which Carrie was simply swimming in his workout pants, her legs were completely lost in the sea of fabric.
"Take a picture it will last longer!" Carrie waved a hand in front of Kane's face, snapping him from his elongated stare. Being caught Kane didn't know what to do, what to say.
'Is she mad?' Kane assumed Carrie was upset by his looming gaze, he always assumed the worst of people's opinions. Carrie was simply smiling up at the big man but that meant nothing, an ever present grin did not help Kane gauge how she was feeling. "I wasn't . . ." He didn't know how to finish that sentence. "You just look . . ."
"Relax it's just a phrase." As Carrie's smile grew it brought a sense of ease to Kane who had begun to panic, this smile looked more genuine. "I was just saying don't worry there will be plenty more opportunities for me to look like an idiot."
"I shouldn't have called you that." Kane gave the closest thing to an apology as he had in years, but followed it up with an aloof shrug.
"It's no biggie a little name calling here and there never-"
"It starts as name calling Carrie!" Kane snapped, sometimes he truly was unhinged, changing emotions in the matter of seconds. He recalled how cruel people had been to him after the fire, all the names, all the looks. Before he grew into a behemoth people were relentlessly awful both vocally and physically. "You don't take care of yourself!" Kane tried to figure out how to word what he wanted to say.
"Huh?"
"You let people talk down to you, you're just going to get hurt. You have to stick up for yourself, defend yourself. I won't always be around to protect you and if you get hurt..." He trailed off, a look of guilt on his face as his eyes connected with Carrie's fresh stitches.
"Looks worse than it is." Carrie caught on to what had derailed the monster. "I got a thick skull trust me." Carrie knocked a fist against her skull to prove her point.
Closing the gap between the two of them Kane approached Carrie. Tenitively he raised his hand up, with all the delicateness the brute could muster he trailed his fingers up and down Carrie's stitches. "Kane." Carrie's eyes flickered with a sense of awe. 'I knew it! I knew you had this in you Kane! You're not just the monster you keep trying to convince me you are!' With each graze of his touch it became clearer and clearer to her that Janet had been right. 'I do have a thing for big guys I guess.' She was beginning to see Kane in a new light. 'You must be this tall to ride this ride.' She chuckled to herself. 'Idiot just because we're not at each other's throats now doesn't mean that pursuing Kane is anything less than a train wreck waiting to happen.' Carrie's grin receded slightly and Kane took notice.
"Did I hurt you?" He pulled his hand back and took two steps backwards, his stomach sank as he figured he had ruined their brief moment.
"No no that's not it!" She shook her head vehemently. "I just . . . I should go. See if my friends stuck around."
"You can't go by yourself!" Kane stated with authority. "He's out there somewhere." Kane's body tensed, every muscle preparing for battle. He was concerned not about Striker, seeing as Kane didn't even know or ask who Carrie had slapped. Kane's mind was on his newly acquired stalker. 'Take out his competition, he's coming for Carrie.' Kane neglected to inform Carrie of the danger she was in.
"What happened to sticking up for myself? Defending myself? You were literally just telling me that-"
"I said I won't always BE around. With me beside you only two kinds of people would bother messing with you. Those way too big for you to take on by yourself and those too crazy to realize I'm no one to mess with. Just worry about when your alone, I've got it covered the rest of the time." Kane was protective to a fault, once someone overcame the daunting task of befriending the monster, Kane would use every ounce of strength in his arsenal to keep them out of harms way. He would throw his body to the wolves if it meant keeping a friend safe. Kane's loyalty once earned was beyond compare.
"You're not my body guard Kane." Carrie could see the determined look in his eyes.
"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck..." Kane tussled Carrie's hair with his big palm. 'Hell I let myself get burned during an inferno match for that weasel X-Pac if I was willing to do that, protecting you is not even worth discussing.' Kane looked down at Carrie, he wouldn't let them hurt her, he wouldn't let happiness be ripped from him again. 'Women equal pain.' His eyes jolted when he felt Carrie take the hand that had perched atop her head and wove it with her own. 'For now it's worth it.' Kane knew that he was being unrealistic, that in his world happiness was always short lived, constantly slipping through his grasp but he chose for the moment to be blissfully ignorant and enjoy it while it lasted.
"Come on then, chaperone." Carrie tugged at his hand motioning him to move. Kane followed quietly behind as they left the arena, ever so often glancing around in anticipation for an ambush. Eventually he pulled his hand back. 'Just because I can't see him, doesn't mean he can't see me.'
"Kane everything ok?" Carrie was puzzled by his abrupt recoil.
"I'm parked over there." Kane pointed over at the large rental across the lot, ignoring Carrie's question.
As they rode off into the night Carrie began to squirm in her seat, the medication she had taken was wearing off and her head was beginning to throb again. Kane glanced over at her clutching the steering wheel tight, exhaling sharply, it was eating him up that Carrie was in pain. 'Why'd she have to go put her nose where it didn't belong. I didn't need her help. Now she's all busted up and-'
"Kane?" Carrie asked with a groan to her voice.
"What? We're almost back Carrie, you'll sleep it off and be fine in the morning."
"Can we stop at 7-11?" She turned her head to face him, a puppy dog eyed look on her face.
"Woman you are going to turn into a slurpee." Kane scoffed but relented as he turned off the major road.
"A risk I am willing to take." Carrie chuckled, trying not to laugh too hard and possibly make her headache worse.
"Is food all you think about?"
"Not food . . . just slurpees . . . and waffles . . . and skittles. I have a sweet tooth so sue me! Kane you're seven feet tall three hundred some pounds, you can't tell me you don't have a few favorite foods that cross your mind now and again."
"Pizza." Kane shrugged as they pulled into the convince store's lot. "And burgers . . . and hotdogs . . . and Chef boyardee."
"Well you're in luck 7-11 has the finest eight hour old hotdogs money can buy." Carrie laughed as they walked through the door. Again Kane followed slowly behind, looking over his shoulder as he walked, to see if they had been followed.
"Can you please hurry up." Kane's voice was muffled as he took another bite of his second hot dog. In the time it was taking Carrie to figure out the perfect slurpee flavor ratio Kane had already made his purchases and had begun to eat them.
"Keep your pants on what's the rush?" Carrie began to pour slowly. As she switched from one nozzel to the next she paused to look up at Kane who had a frustrated look across his face. "Kane what's wrong?"
"Nothing." Kane crumpled up the food wrapper and threw it out, contemplating weather to open another. "I'll wait out in the car." Kane began to walk away.
"Wait I don't get it. Are you mad at me? What happened?" Carrie called out to Kane but he didn't turn around his shoulders hunched as he continued to walk. "Did I miss something?" She looked at the cashier for validation and only then realized what had annoyed Kane. "That's really fucking rude you know?!" She shouted, abandoning her drink she walked over to a group huddled over by the chips, the whole store had been staring at Kane, she saw stares, she saw finger pointing, she saw the snickering everywhere she looked.
'She must be out of her mind.' Kane stopped in his tracks turning to see where this was going.
"What?" One of the patrons finally questioned once Carrie was face to face with the group.
"To stare like that! It's rude to stare. Kane's a person too you know. He's got feelings! And he'll accept his apology now." Carrie stood arms crossed as she stared at the young woman who she had seen pointing at Kane.
"I'm sorry but-"
"No, just sorry. Sorry but means I'm not sorry and here's why. Just sorry, simple as that, just say sorry." Carrie cut her off.
"Look chill, I mean no offense dude but . . . look at you, you're like a real life Frankenstein." One of the woman's friends tried in the worst way possible to help her.
"Carrie lets go." Kane spoke through clenched teeth trying his best not to attack a civilian.
"No, not till they apologize."
"Now!" Kane's voice startled the occupants of the store.
"No! I'll wait, I'll wait all day. I have a slurpee to fill up." Carrie walked back over to the drink machine. "We're not leaving till those idiots apologize." Carrie stated calmly as she resumed her pour.
"Alright Alright we're sorry ok? Can we go now?" The woman tried to appease Carrie, who by this point was paying for her beverage.
"I'm not a cop, you can leave whenever you want." Carrie rolled her eyes. "Side note: I don't believe you, but I feel that's the best I'm going to get out of you jerks so just make like a tree and get the fuck out of here. I can only hope you learned your lesson, staring is rude!" Carrie ended her rant and watched the group scurry out of the door, doing their best not to make eye contact with Kane as they left.
"The hell was that all about?" Kane slammed the door behind him as they got back in the car.
"Why should you have to leave just because the store was filled with a bunch of tools? Remember? Sticking up for yourself? I was just backing you up."
"I don't need any back up, and I can't go around chokeslaming everyone who thinks I'm freak." For a period time, a very long duration if one actually measured it, that is exactly what Kane had done. Anyone who looked at Kane wrong met with violent consequences. It took him years to realize that it didn't change anything, it didn't make anything better, it simply made him more of a spectacle than he already was. He had finally learned just to suppress the resentment and anger, saving it to unleash on those he was paid to destroy.
"I didn't chokeslam anyone, I just forcefully demanded an apology. I know you don't need backup but I need you to know you're not an island."
"Huh?"
"You got me!"
"What?" Kane still didn't understand, more importantly he felt that Carrie didn't understand, he didn't need anyone's help.
"Friends, not just for threatening bodily harm anymore. I want you to know that I have your back just as much as you have mine! Oh I get by with a little help from my friends, gonna try with a little help from my friends-"
"Are you singing?" Kane had a bothered look on his face as he listened to her crude interpretation of the Beatles song.
"Do you need anybody?" She pointed over at Kane to take the next line, he simply put on the radio in attempt to drown her out. Carrie laughed appreciating Kane's passive aggressive shut down.
'Not her calling.' They rode in silence for another ten minutes or so before an impromptu boost in Carrie's confidence spurred her into action.
"Kane?"
"Hmm?" He hadn't taken his eyes off the road, his profile being highlighted by the street lights. Carrie prepared herself for Kane to recoil but she went through with her plan anyway, she leaned to her side letting her head fall into a resting spot against Kane's arm.
"Does your head still hurt?" Kane felt himself getting nervous, being so close to her it caused his blood to pump furiously through his body. "There's some Tylenol back at the hotel." He looked over at Carrie, his demeanor as aggressive as always though there was a slight inquisitiveness and interest this time around. Part of him truly did think she genuinely wanted to be close to him. He let out a heavy breath as he felt her nuzzle against him, her curly brown hair tickling his skin.
"Not really. A little sore but I'll live." She paused contemplating what to say next. "You can trust me you know?" Her eyes locked with his momentarily. She was right against him, but by the haunted look on his face he seemed miles away behind wall after double enforced wall. Kane sped up, eyes now glued to the road, wanting to get to get back to the hotel, wanting to create some space between the two of them before he did something he would regret.
"Maybe." He gave a short reply after another block of silence and contemplation. As he pulled into a parking spot he looked down at Carrie again. This time it wasn't there, he didn't see Katie, no mirages of his past, he simply saw Carrie. 'Does this change anything?'
"I'll take maybe." Carrie replied with a yawn as they got out of the car. Little did they know, all the trust in the world wouldn't save them from the danger looming in the shadows.