A Light In the Dark
Chapter 2

Linda jerked awake from her fitful sleep. She wasn't exactly surprised to find out she was once again alone in bed. Vince had many problems sleeping since Shane died... For months, Linda dealt with Vince screaming during the night. Whether it was asking for help, cursing Paul or begging Shane to wake up. She comforted him as much as he would allow, but he was so far gone from the shock of his oldest child and only son dying in his arms.

Five months, one week and four days after Shane's death, Linda woke up alone in bed. She was concerned at first, running around the mansion and checking every room for her husband before she finally found him. After waking up alone for the forty-fourth time, Linda deemed the behavior as the "new normal" and rolled over to go back to sleep.

Normal behavior now, sure. But she just wanted to make sure Vince was okay. Linda got out of bed and made her way to Vince's current location: Shane's old bedroom.

Linda pushed the door open slowly, and her heart broke when she saw Vince curled in a ball on the bed, facing the wall. She could tell he was crying by his intake of breaths, and his hand was gently stroking one of the many pictures on the wall.

"Vince?"

The man in question looked over his shoulder at her. "Yes?"

"Are you alright?"

Vince narrowed his eyes, then looked back at the pictures on the wall. "Do I look alright to you, Linda?"

"There's a reason why I asked, you know."

Vince once again turned to look at his wife. "Our son is dead, Linda. He's gone. Won't ever see his boys growing up. Won't see his friends get married and have kids of their own. I think I have a right to not be okay. No parent should have to bury their child, no matter their age."

Linda sighed. "I buried him too, Vince. It'd do you good to remember you aren't the only one who lost a child."

Before Vince could stop her, Linda stormed out of the room with tears streaming down her face. He sighed... He'd have to make up for that later.

But, for now, Vince busied himself with looking at the pictures on the wall. The majority of the people were either current or former WWE employees, but there were some other friends and, of course, family members featured there.

One of Shane's favorite pictures in existence was the center of the collage: a picture featuring him, Vince, Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Paul Levesque, Owen Hart, Bret Hart, Dwayne Johnson and Brian Pillman. Vince didn't remember when the picture was taken, nor how they kept everyone from killing each other, but he was happy they did.

Now that he was looking at the pictures, he noticed Shawn was in a lot of them. Then again, Shane always liked Shawn, even when he was being a nasty little bastard... Besides, Shawn always treated Shane like a younger brother.

It made Vince miserable to think of how Shawn was handing the loss...

Then there was Randy Orton. It hurt to think about that, too.

Vince wished he could inflict damage on any of the pictures including Paul Levesque, but the fact Shane took time to put these photos on the wall, and leave them there after he moved out, made him stop himself. Shane wasn't the type to hold a grudge.

But, Vince thought, he would make an exception for this.

It still bothered everyone that Paul was behind it all. Shawn's kidnapping, rape and abuse... Shane's death... It was an endless cycle of emotions for everyone involved. Even WWE fans approached Vince with their deepest sympathies and expressions of hatred for Paul... It was bad enough that even members of TNA contacted Vince on a regular basis to see how he was doing.

For lack of better terms, the name 'Paul Levesque' had become a bit of a curse word in the WWE.

Vince sighed again. There was so much his son was going to miss out on... His boys growing up, graduating and getting married... His friends experiencing marriage and children... Not to mention, seeing Stephanie's children grow up...

Hell, Shane didn't even get to meet his newborn nephew, Liam Vaughn, who was born nine months after Shane died. Stephanie didn't even know she was pregnant while everything was going down... She didn't find out until Paul was on trial.

Vince was ecstatic to have a new grandchild, and Stephanie got the baby boy she wanted. They didn't notice it right away, but Liam closely resembled his late Uncle, except for the fact he had sparkling blue eyes.

"Maybe I should've named him Shane Brandon." Stephanie had remarked the day Linda showed Stephanie a picture of Shane at two and a half months old.

"No. Liam is just fine. It suits him." Linda stated, smiling at her baby grandson.

"Yeah, I don't want the DNA of the bastard who murdered my son to be the father of the child named after him."

To say that was the end of the discussion was definitely an understatement. A day or so later, Stephanie had announced she was in talks with a lawyer to divorce Paul and get an order of protection banning him from the kids, and, once the divorce goes through, she was changing their last names to 'McMahon.'

Yes, Vince thought, I like the sound of that.

Vince sighed once again. Stephanie had moved back in with the kids after Paul was sent to prison. He was very grateful for it, especially because Stephanie needed the extra help once she found out she was pregnant with Liam.

He only wished Marissa would move in with Declan and Kenney... He made a promise to Shane to look after those boys, and Marissa was making it difficult by deciding to stay in New York City.

There was a soft knock on the door and Vince gulped. He wasn't ready to apologize to Linda for making her cry just yet, so he pretended to be asleep. He knew Linda wouldn't disturb him if he was sleeping...

"Daddy?"

Vince groaned. It was Stephanie, and she knew he was awake... Now he had to say something. "Yes?"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure," Vince shifted so he could face Stephanie when she sat down on the edge of the bed. "What's on your mind, sweetheart?"

Stephanie sighed. "A lot of things. My kids... Shane..."

Vince patted her hand. "Aurora and Liam will be fine, honey."

"I know. It just worries me that all of your grandchildren are going to be growing up without their fathers."

"Shit happens."

"Does it bother you that the father of two of your-"

"You're damn right it bothers me. My son deserved more than that, dammit. Your bastard of a husband turned out to be such a coward in the end. What kind of man tries to murder his best friend with a horse tranquilizer and then strikes his brother-in-law in the chest with a pipe?"

Stephanie looked away from her father, blinking away the tears. "I wish Paul didn't do it, daddy."

"I wish a lot of things about that night, Stephanie. I wish I listened to Shane. I wish I brought Shawn back to our hotel room with us. I wish..," Vince paused to let out a frustrated sigh. "I wish your brother was still alive."

"Me too, daddy... But we can't change the past... Only learn from it," When Vince didn't respond, Stephanie sighed and continued. "Shane wouldn't want us to be like this, daddy."

"Yeah? Well, Shane is dead. He can't speak for himself."

"Dad!" Stephanie shouted.

The tone of voice Stephanie used was very similar to the one Shane used to be stern with Vince, and that alone made the older man cringe.

"I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. You're right. He wouldn't want us to hold a grudge... But I think he'd make an exception for this."

Stephanie remained silent for a few moments. "You and I both know he wouldn't."

Vince narrowed his eyes angrily at his daughter. "If this situation happened to Shane's friends, you'd bet your ass he'd hold a grudge."

Stephanie returned the look she was on the receiving end of. "I guess you knew him better than I did, huh? Is that what you're trying to say? I don't know my brother?"

"Stephanie, that's-"

"Don't try to bullshit me! That's exactly what you're trying to say. Well, guess what, dad? We all knew him. He was kind and funny and smart and loyal to his friends and he loved his family and friends to death. And that's what happened that night. He died trying to protect one of his friends. That explains everything about him, dad. The fact he got shot and eventually died trying to protect someone he loved shows the kind of person he was. He was brave. That's the man I knew my brother as. And you know what else, dad..? You need to stop. Your son may have died in your arms, but you aren't the only one who lost him. Mom lost her son. I lost my brother. My kids lost their Uncle. Marissa lost her husband and those poor little boys lost their father. They'll never get to know him at all and the only thing you care about is who knew him best? Grow up, dad. This is reality, not kindergarten."

Stephanie stormed out of the room before Vince had the thought to stop her. He knew she was right, but he needed time. He didn't exactly know what he needed time for, but he'd figure it out when he got to it.

What he did know was he was screwed when it came to dealing with both Linda and Stephanie during the day.

...This is definitely one of those times when he missed having Shane around to help...