Daughter of the Deadman III
Chapter 19: Changing in the Blink of an Eye
Seven months later, it was April. As a matter of fact, it was the SmackDown after Wrestlemania. Taker had won again, this time defeating CM Punk. John Cena had won the WWE Championship and then promptly turned heel and jumped on board with the Authority. The Shield, which consisted of Dean, Roman, Seth, Kristy and Angel, had wreaked havoc over the WWE since debuting in November at the Survivor Series Pay Per View. They had taken out Ryback, Kane, Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton, Big Show, Sheamus and others. Usually, Angel and Kristy would hang back and just let the guys do their thing, mostly because they felt uneasy about the idea of attacking people who had helped them out.
Things were going alright within the Shield. Seth had agreed that, although he didn't like them at all, he would at least be civil to Angel and Kristy. But what they didn't know was that he was planning something behind their backs that was going to bring them down and get rid of them. Or at least that was what he hoped would happen. It was due to start tonight. Dean was set to have a match with Taker and the other members of the Shield were going to be at ring side.
Dean had become great friends with Kristy and Angel and his feelings toward Kristy had grown into a lot more than he had bargained for, but he hadn't acted on them yet because he was worried about the effect that it would have on Wyatt if he jumped into a realationship with the boy's mother. He knew he would have to talk to the boy about it eventually, but right now they had other things to worry about.
Roman was feeling the same way with Angel. He had feelings, but nothing had come of it. Given Angel's past, which he had learned a lot more about over the last seven months, he was not about to force her to do something that she wasn't comfortable with. He didn't want her to wind up hurt like she had been so many times in the past—physically or otherwise.
Angel and Kristy were in the locker room with Dean, Roman, and Seth. All four of them couldn't help but wonder if Seth had something planned. They all knew Seth didn't like Angel and Kristy that much, although he was civil to the two of them. Out of all of them, Angel was the most nervous about going to ring side on the opposite side of her father, but Seth had insisted she be there.
"Remind me again why Kristy and I have to be out there, Mr. Bright Ideas." Angel said to Seth.
"Because we're a unit." Seth answered.
"Did you stop to consider how uncomfortable Kristy and Angel are with this?" Dean asked him.
"Yeah. I mean, that's Angel's Dad. And Kristy's Godfather. Did you think this through?" Roman asked.
"I thought it through, you two. Don't freak out. Everything will be fine as long as we stick to the plan." Seth said.
"Which is?" Kristy asked.
"The usual post match stuff." Seth said.
"Lovely." Angel said, rolling her eyes.
"Angel, is it normal to feel scared right before a match with your Dad?" Dean asked.
"I wouldn't know. I've never had the misfortune of standing across the ring from him and I don't want to. Best advice I can offer you is don't let Daddy get into your head too much because once he gets in there, you're screwed." Angel said.
"Great. Fat lot of good that's going to do me." Dean said.
"Sorry. But like I said, I've never had a match with Daddy. Except in training. And he's not nearly as scary when he's training." Angel told him.
"Dean, you've got an advantage here. No one knows what you're thinking at all when you get in the ring." Seth said.
"Sometimes I think he doesn't know what he's going to do half the time. He just does it on instinct." Roman said.
"That being said, if no one knows what you're thinking when you step in there, Daddy is going to have a hard time getting into your head." Angel said.
"Just one tip. Don't make Uncle Taker mad." Kristy said.
"Yeah. Don't do that. Then he'll become unpredictable himself and you'll lose the advantage." Angel said.
"Right." Dean said.
"Dean, don't worry about this. You'll do fine. You're a great wrestler. If you weren't, Daddy wouldn't have asked the nose for this match personally." Angel said.
"He asked Hunter personally?" Roman said.
"Yeah, he did. That doesn't mean he thinks Dean's more talented than you two. It just means that Daddy thinks Dean will be the biggest challenge for him." Angel said.
"The fact that you two know Undertaker so well is slightly intimidating in itself." Roman said.
"Kristy grew up with him. I've gotten to know him better since we were reunited, but I've always found it easy to figure him out." Angel said with a shrug.
"Just one more thing though. When he goes for Old School or the Last Ride, say a prayer and hope to whatever you believe in up there that you land in a soft spot, otherwise you're dead." Kristy said.
"As in you might be out for a while and might need a trip to the ER if you land too hard. Believe me, the last thing you want to do is make Uncle Taker mad in the middle of a move. Otherwise, uh…just ask Kane what happens when Uncle Taker gets mad in the middle of a move." Kristy said.
"You mean like the time when he got pissed at Hunter and Tombstoned him on the steel steps at Wrestlemania last year and Shawn winced so bad he looked like he was going to cry?" Roman asked.
"Yep." Kristy said.
"OK, guys. We don't want to freak Dean out too much." Angel said.
"Sorry, Dean. Ang, are you OK?" Kristy said.
"I'm great. You know, other than having to go out and stand on the opposite side of the ring as my father and watch him possibly get hurt by Dean, Roman and Seth because Seth is a jerk and doesn't give a damn about us or our feelings." Angel said.
"OK. So that was a dumb question." Kristy said.
"Yeah. You think?" Seth snapped.
"Shut up, Seth. It's your damn fault that we have to do this in the first place." Kristy snapped back.
"You two will be fine." Seth said.
"Easy for you to say." Angel said.
"You don't know the first thing about Angel and I, you sorry excuse for a man." Kristy snapped.
Seth went quiet after that. He didn't have a lot to say to that. Everyone sat around waiting for the show to start. Kristy and Angel talked to Dean and Roman the whole time, but didn't say much to Seth. Before anyone knew it, it was time for Dean's match with Taker. The five members of the Shield walked to the ring, going through the crowd.
Angel was reluctant and as a result, stayed behind everyone else out of the way. Everyone could see it. Taker even noticed it when he made his way to the ring a few minutes later. He made eye contact with her briefly and could see that she was ready to burst into tears.
He became instantly furious with Seth Rollins. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew that he was the reason that Angel was even standing there with them. He took a deep breath and reminded himself not to take his anger toward Seth out on Dean. This wasn't Dean's fault.
The match was a complete blur for Angel. She had no idea how long it went on for, but before she knew it, Dean had tapped to Taker's Hell's Gate submission. Then Seth and Roman stepped forward. They surrounded two sides of the ring. Angel sighed, feeling a bit of relief. She was sure it was going to be the usual stuff: attack, triple power bomb and leaving Taker laying there.
Her relief didn't last long however as Seth pulled something from underneath the ring and asked for a microphone. He climbed into the ring with Dean and Roman. Angel and Kristy followed, hesitating slightly. They wondered what was going on now.
"You may have beat Dean fair and square, Deadman, but I'm going to have the last laugh in the end. Angel, come over here." Seth said.
Angel hesitantly walked over and stood next to Seth. She was a nervous wreck by now. Too late, she had realized that he had something more planned then he had let on. Kristy, Roman and Dean watched in shock as Seth handed her what he had pulled from the ring earlier. It was a lead pipe. Angel took it, still staring at him. She looked confused.
"Take this. And use it. You know what to do." Seth said.
Angel continued to stare at him. It took her a minute to piece together what he wanted her to do. Dean, Roman and Kristy all stared at Seth with their mouths open. They had realized it too. They asked for microphones.
"Seth, you can't be serious." Dean said.
"Are you kidding me right now?! You're crossing a line! A huge line! A line that should frankly, never be crossed!" Kristy said.
"Seth, don't make her do this." Roman said.
"Shut up, you three. Angel, if you don't do it, I'll do it. And trust me, if I have to take matters into my own hands, it will be more than a pipe that the old man gets." Seth threatened.
Angel just stared at him. Then she looked from Seth to her father and back again, tears forming in her eyes. She shook her head. She couldn't. There was no way she was going to hurt her father. She held out her hand and Kristy handed her the microphone.
"Seth….I can't. I can't do this. Not….not now…not ever. Not after everything he's done for me…I'm not going to hurt my father! You can go to hell!" Angel snapped, tears rolling down her face now.
"Well, well, it seems as though when Angel gave up her Dead Girl persona, she let go of her back bone too. Oh well. I warned you." Seth said.
He turned to Taker, who held up one hand, telling Seth to stop. He asked for a microphone too. Everyone stared at him. They were not prepared for what came out of his mouth.
"Baby girl, hit me." Taker said.
"I…can't do it!" Angel said.
"You listen to me, young lady. You're in the WWE. You do what you have to do! Understood? Now, hit me." Taker said.
"Daddy…I…I'm…really sorry….and…I love you…" Angel sobbed.
She swung the pipe at Taker's head with all the strength she could put behind it. It was enough to knock him onto his back, but he was still conscious. Angel dropped the pipe and got out of the ring. Then she ran to the back, openly sobbing. She couldn't believe what she had just done. She was sure that she had just become the single most hated person in WWE.
Angel wasn't even looking where she was going. She was just kind of letting her feet lead her. She soon found herself outside the locker room that, until a few months ago, she had shared with everyone else in her family. She opened the door and stepped in. No one said a word. Bret walked over and hugged her, making Angel sob even harder. Lea and Wyatt both walked over and hugged her too. Owen was pacing, feeling unusually livid.
"That dirty, rotten, low down, sneaky little piece of garbage!" he snapped nearly on the verge of shouting.
"I didn't…want to do that….I really didn't." Angel sobbed.
"We know, kiddo." Bret said.
"I can't believe Seth made me do it! I never…wanted to hurt Daddy! I can't believe he'd make me hurt my own father!" Angel sobbed.
"Angel…try and relax. We know you didn't want to do that. Even Taker knows you didn't want to." Bret said.
"I don't understand, Uncle Bret. Why would Daddy tell Angel to hit him if he knew she didn't want to?" Lea asked.
"Because LeLe, in the WWE you have to do whatever you're told. Even if you hate the idea because it's expected of you." Bret said.
"Bret, that wasn't part of the plan for tonight! Roman was supposed to spear Taker and then the three of them were supposed to put him through the announce table. This wasn't supposed to happen." Owen said.
"What?! Angel…did Seth go off the plan?" Bret said.
"Daddy…was supposed to get speared…and go through the table…I wasn't supposed to be involved in that at all…I was just supposed to watch…and then slap them and walk away…" Angel sobbed.
"So what in the hell happened?" Bret asked.
"Seth had other ideas obviously." Owen said.
"He was telling us about it in the locker room before the show started, but I had no idea he was going to do this." Angel admitted, starting to relax a bit.
"What did he say?" Bret asked.
"Just that Dean was going to have his match with Daddy and that afterward the guys were gonna do the usual. You know…post match attack thing. And that he wanted us all there because we're supposed to be a unit…" Angel whispered.
"That son of a bitch!" Owen said.
"Uncle Bret, can we go see if Daddy is OK? He should be in the trainer's room by now." Lea said.
Bret nodded. All of them headed to the trainer's room. Taker was sitting there, holding an ice pack to his temple where Angel had smacked him. Dean, Roman and Kristy were there too. As soon as Angel saw her father, she burst into tears all over again and ran to him, giving him a hug.
"Hey, I'm gonna be fine. Just a bump on the head. It's OK, baby girl." Taker said.
"Daddy…I didn't want to. I shouldn't have. I'm…really sorry." Angel said through her tears.
"It's alright, baby girl. Really. You were just doing what was expected of you." Taker said.
"No, I wasn't. That wasn't the plan…" Angel whispered.
"What does she mean?" Taker asked.
"Well, everything about the match itself went the way it was supposed to…" Dean said.
"But after the match, I was supposed to spear you and then Dean, Seth and I were supposed to put you through the announce table." Roman said.
"And then Angel was supposed to get pissed at them and slap the three of them across the face and then leave angrily." Kristy said.
"Only Seth had other ideas." Bret said.
"Did Vince know about this?" Owen asked.
"Seth did this all on his own. Even we didn't know about it. Believe us, Taker if we had, we never would have let it happen." Dean said.
"There's something fishy about this…" Bret said.
"Uncle Bret, we don't have proof." Kristy said.
"Seth has been very weird lately. Since the girls joined up." Roman said.
"He doesn't like us. That's why." Angel said.
"He's been nothing but a jackass since we joined up with you guys." Kristy said.
"Look, I know he's a jackass and everything, but would he really set me up like that?" Angel asked.
"You'd be surprised what Seth can do. He's not exactly known for playing by the rules." Dean said.
"Could you two do us a huge favor? Can you possibly find a way to get proof that he set this up? He'll tell the two of you anything." Taker said to Dean and Roman.
"We will do what we can, Deadman." Roman said.
"Yeah. Count on us. We'll make him sing like the chicken he is." Dean said.
"Great. Thanks guys. Good luck." Taker said.
Dean and Roman walked out of the trainer's room, saying that they would meet them back in their locker room later. They headed off to go and figure out what was going on with Seth. They found him outside, talking on the phone. They waited for him to hang up before they walked over. Roman was glaring at him. He had promised himself that he was going to stay calm, but it wasn't working.
"What the hell was that?!" he snapped.
"What are you talking about?" Seth asked.
"What in the hell made you make Angel attack her own father?! You know how much Taker means to her. For God's sake, Seth, what the hell was that about?" Dean asked.
"I was testing her." Seth said.
"That wasn't a test! That was her worst nightmare come true! Now, you're gonna tell us what the hell is up! What the hell made you make her do that? And tell the truth!" Roman snapped.
"Alright. Fine. I've been in touch with someone. I…really don't want the girls in the Shield, but you two are so blinded that you can't see it. So, I talked to someone to find out how to bring them down. They told me that making Angel hurt Taker would do it." Seth said.
"I'm almost afraid to ask this…but who the hell did you talk to?" Roman asked.
"I talked to Diana Hart-Smith." Seth admitted.
"WHAT?!" Roman shouted.
"Kristy's Mother?! Are you kidding?! That woman tried to kill Kristy! And she's done nothing but hurt the girls! You are crazy for even talking to that woman!" Dean said.
"Diana is the only person who knows how to take them down. I mean, we don't really need them in the Shield anyway." Seth said.
"I don't believe you!" Roman snapped.
"Do you know how hard that was for Angel to do?!" Dean asked.
"Who cares? She did what she was told." Seth said.
"Newsflash: She did not do it because you told her to. She did what she did out there tonight because Taker told her to do it!" Roman said.
"She would never do something that you told her to do!" Dean snapped.
"And neither will Kristy. So you might as well scrap whatever little plan you have for her for next week because there's no way in hell she'd hurt any of her family! And before you open your mouth, Taker, Angel and Lea count as her family, so don't try and make it one of them that gets attacked because Hell would have to freeze over before Kristy harmed them in any way!" Roman snapped at him.
"Especially if it's Angel you're thinking of using. I mean, Kristy refuses to fight her. She won't even train with Angel for fear of hurting her in some way." Dean said.
"Funny really. Her mother said the same thing." Seth said with a laugh.
"I can't believe you're this jealous and petty, Seth. Why don't you be a man and confront them about it?" Roman asked.
"Uh, Roman, that might be because he has yet to grow a set!" Dean told him.
"I have more of a set than you two do. I mean, at least I'm not blind to them the way you two are." Seth said.
"Really? Dean, do you think we've missed anything when it comes to Angel and Kristy?" Roman asked.
"I don't know. Let's think about it for a second, you've got Kristy who is kind, intelligent funny, fiercely loyal, and a great Mom and friend. And then there's Angel…who has been to hell and back and despite that is still kind, intelligent, gentle, and loyal. Not to mention protective. Especially of Lea. Neither one let people get close, but if you're lucky enough to pull it off, you're there for life. Doesn't look like we've missed anything to me." Dean said.
"Oh, come on. You two can't see that they're not worth anything to anyone!" Seth said.
"Why don't you stop being prejudice toward them for a second and take a look at the Deadman? Or Bret and Owen? Or Nattie and Ty? Or Lea and Wyatt? They seem to think Angel and Kristy are worth an awful lot!" Roman said.
"So what you're saying is that they're not worth anything to you!" Dean snapped.
"Exactly. They'll never be worth anything to me." Seth said.
"Why because one is deaf and one is blind and they've both had more than their fair share of hell thrown at them?" Dean asked.
"Or is it because despite the fact that they're both handicapped in some way, they can kick your sorry ass?" Roman asked.
"That has nothing to do with it!" Seth snapped.
"Really? Then what is it exactly about Angel and Kristy that makes them worthless, huh?" Dean asked.
"Angel is blind! Not to mention she's a freak with those powers of hers! And she's psychotic! I've heard things." Seth said.
"You take that back!" Roman snapped, grabbing Seth by the front of his shirt.
"Easy, Ro." Dean said, even though he looked like he wanted to punch Seth in the mouth.
"Psychotic? You wanna talk psychotic? What about the man who kicked her ass around for fourteen years?! What about the moron who ran into Taker's car while he was driving home with his girls and caused Angel to be blind?! What about the vindictive Grandmother who couldn't stand her and tried to kill her on more than one occasion?! What about the fact that said Grandmother kept Angel away from Taker out of spite?! What about the mother of the asshole who tried to take her away from Taker?! That's psychotic! Angel is strong if you ask me. Anyone else but her and they would be dead or in a mental institution, but here she stands! She's not perfect by any means, but damn is she strong! And those powers of hers that make her a freak in your eyes have been known to save her ass more than once! Not to mention save her friends on more than one occasion! Angel is just fine the way she is!" Roman snapped.
"And don't even start on Kristy! She's one of the strongest people I have ever met in my life. She had to be in order to survive and help Angel get through the hell she was trapped in! As for the deafness…well, frankly, I don't care if she can hear or not! I like her just the way she is!" Dean snapped before Seth could speak.
Roman let go of him and the two of them stormed off. They headed back to the locker room where everyone was waiting. When they walked in, everyone looked up. Roman noticed that Angel had calmed down a lot, although tears were still pouring down her face and she was still hugging Taker. Everyone was trying in vain to get her to say something but she just shook her head. Both Roman and Dean noticed that she was shaking, pale and wide eyed.
"What happened? Is she alright?" Roman asked.
"Kane came in while you were gone. He blew up at her for what happened tonight. I tried to tell him that I had allowed her to do it because I thought at the time that it was part of the plan, but he wouldn't listen." Taker said.
"What did he say to her? She looks awfully scared." Dean said.
"You don't want to know. It's too horrible to retell." Owen said.
"Taker? What did he tell her?" Roman asked.
"Not now, Roman. I'm close to beating the living hell out of my brother." Taker growled.
"Will one of you please just tell us?" Dean said.
"They can't." Lea said.
"And why not?" Dean asked.
"Because it was really really mean." Wyatt said.
"Besides that, it's not what he said that's got her freaked out. It's the fact that he yelled at the top of his lungs…and was about to put his hands on her when Taker stepped in." Owen said.
"That doesn't sound like Kane." Roman said.
"Yeah, well, he did it. If Uncle Taker hadn't been here…I don't even wanna think about it." Kristy said, speaking for the first time.
"Kristy, are you OK?" Dean asked.
"I'll be fine." Kristy said.
Dean nodded. Roman walked over and knelt down in front of Angel. She looked up for a second and then buried her face in Taker's shoulder again. Roman looked worried.
"Angel, what did Kane say?" he asked gently.
"That…I was a traitorous little bitch and stupid for joining up with you guys and…I had no right to put my hands on my father like that and that doing that made me nothing but a low down, no good, sneaky piece of shit. Then he said that he was going to make me pay for it. He tried to grab me by the throat…but Daddy stepped in." Angel said, so quietly that Roman could barely hear.
"He said what?!" Roman roared.
"OK, now Kane has gone too far!" Dean said.
"Way too far. Kane is lucky Taker was here otherwise Kristy would have stepped in and Kane knows what Kristy will do when it comes to Angel." Owen told them.
"I wouldn't call him lucky. Taker is livid beyond livid. If there's even such a thing." Bret said.
"You mean he's livid beyond words, Bret." Owen said.
"Yeah." Bret said.
"So what are we going to do?" Dean asked.
"Nothing. It's fine." Angel said, standing up.
"Angel…" Taker said.
"It's fine, Daddy. Really. I'm going to take a walk." Angel said.
She left the locker room, closing the door behind her. Dean and Roman looked at each other confused. Everyone else was worried.
"Is this normal?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. She likes to take off by herself a lot." Taker said.
"If you can't find her, she'll probably be in a stairwell or in a pool. It depends." Bret said.
"Mommy, how come you didn't go after her?" Wyatt asked.
"Because. Aunt Angel needs to be alone right now." Kristy said.
"Oh, OK." Wyatt said.
"But….trouble always finds Angel when she leaves." Lea reminded them.
"I'll go see if I can find her." Bret offered.
"Better let me go, Hitman. I'm sure Bethy wants a chance to scream at me for what Kane said." Taker told his friend.
"Why would Beth be screaming at you? It wasn't your fault." Roman said.
"Aunt Beth doesn't like it when anyone hurts Angel. Even if Uncle Taker didn't do it. She tends to find it easier to scream at him because they can both blow off steam." Kristy said.
"Oh. Alright then." Dean said.
"I'll be back." Taker said.
He walked out of the room and closed the door. He started to walk around and looked around all the stairwells. Finally, he found her in the very last one, which was an emergency exit onto the roof. He walked up to the top of the stairs and saw Angel hugging Beth and sobbing. He sighed and walked over and joined in.
"Hi, Daddy…" Angel whispered.
"Hey, baby girl." Taker said.
"Kristy worried?" Angel asked.
"No. Roman and Dean are worried." Taker said.
"Our Kristy not worried. Hm." Beth said.
"Well, it's not that. It's just that she's used to this by now. She knows that when you leave and head for a stairwell that you need alone time. It was the kids that sent me. They reminded me that trouble tends to find you when this happens. Not to mention I think Dean and Roman are worried and confused." Taker said.
"I like those two. They both have good heads on their shoulders. Not to mention good men. Dean is good for Kristy. After all, he's going to…never mind I shouldn't say anything else." Beth said.
"OK." Taker said with a chuckle, "Bethy, about what happened with Kane earlier, I…"
"It's not your fault, Mark. Kane lost his head and he feels guilty. I talked to him about snapping at Angel already." Beth said.
"Oh. Good." Taker said.
"I can't believe that he tried to hurt me." Angel said.
"Oh, I yelled at him for that." Beth said.
"Well, my brother doesn't understand that the girls didn't want to join The Shield." Taker said.
"We weren't supposed to join them. It was supposed to be a temporary arrangement where they were supposed to protect us, but….we kinda did it for Dean and Roman. We became really good friends…and..." Angel started.
"And both you and Kristy have more than just friendly feelings for them, don't you baby girl?" Taker asked.
"I…well, a bit. Roman is…I don't know how to explain it really. But I'm not jumping into anything." Angel said quietly.
"We understand, baby girl." Taker said.
"Mark, I think we need to talk to Kristy about Dean. She seems to be having doubts." Beth said.
"Let me guess. It's got something to do with Wyatt." Taker said.
"She doesn't want to put the little guy through anything else." Beth said.
"OK. We'll talk to her." Taker said.
"No. Don't." Angel said.
"Baby girl?" Taker asked.
"Why do we always have to talk to Kristy about things? Can't we just let her work stuff out for herself? I mean, Dean knows that Wyatt is part of it too. Just let them do what they want. If it's meant to be then it'll happen." Angel said.
"Angel Baby, have you ever noticed what Kristy does when she can't figure it out on her own?" Beth said.
"I know. I know. She comes to us. But…still, she's more grown up than you guys think." Angel said.
"We know she is. Kristy has to be a grown up. She had to be old enough to look after herself." Taker said.
"I just don't like intruding into her love life like that. Dean's not stupid. Like Mom said, he's got a good head on his shoulders. He'll do what's right by Kristy and Wyatt too." Angel said.
"Alright, fine. But if Kristy comes to us for help, then we're going to help her." Taker said.
"Of course." Angel said.
"Now what about you and Roman, Angel Baby?" Beth said.
"Well, he's different than David. That's for sure." Angel said.
"And?" Taker asked.
"He's a good man and he seems to really care about me. And he's a good friend to Kristy." Angel said.
"And how do you think he feels about you?" Beth asked.
"I wish I knew, but I don't." Angel said.
"Well, maybe you should talk to him and ask him how he feels about you, sweetheart." Beth said.
"I don't know…." Angel said.
"Baby girl, I know you don't want to rush anything, but I see the way Roman looks at you." Taker said.
"We all do, Angel Baby." Beth said.
"But…he's…" Angel said.
"What, Baby Girl?" Taker asked.
"Roman is Samoan. What about his family? They're not going to accept me." Angel said.
"Oh, boy." Beth said.
"Baby girl, you know that the Rock's father isn't Samoan right?" Taker asked.
"I know. But…I don't want to upset his family or anything. And then there's….I just…I'm scared too. What if something goes wrong?" Angel admitted.
"You won't know if you don't do anything about it, sweetheart." Beth said.
"Your Mom is right, baby girl. You won't know if you don't try." Taker said.
"I know. I am not doing anything as long as stupid Seth Rollins is around! He doesn't like me already. If I get with Roman he'll kill me and Roman too." Angel said.
"That must be what's bothering Kristy too. She's worried about Dean getting hurt because of her." Beth said.
"That makes sense." Angel said.
"That kid is really meddlesome." Taker said.
Angel nodded. They stood up. Angel hugged Beth and left. Taker followed her lead. They headed back to the locker room. When they walked in, Wyatt was play wrestling with Dean and Lea was play wrestling with Roman and it was really cute. Taker laughed.
"You guys are goofy." Angel said, chuckling.
"Did you two find anything out by the way?" Taker asked.
"Yeah. Seth and Diana were in on this. He apparently doesn't want the girls in the Shield so he went to her for advice on how to bring them down. It was her idea for Angel to attack you. Something is planned for Kristy next week too, but he wouldn't tell us what." Roman said.
"Whatever it is, I'm not doing it!" Kristy said.
"I wish there was a way to figure out what the hell it was. Then we could come up with a plan of our own." Angel said.
"Maybe we could. We know he's going to make me attack the family." Kristy said.
"Well, I'm going out there next week to explain myself. The fans aren't stupid. They know that's not like me to do something like that, so maybe we can work with that?" Angel asked.
"True." Taker said.
"But they heard what was said." Bret said.
"That doesn't matter, Bret! The fans know that what I did out there tonight is not in my nature! I don't attack my family! And somehow Daddy telling me to doesn't justify it!" Angel told him.
"Angel…" Bret said.
"No I have to! What if people start saying that I did it to Daddy on purpose?!" Angel asked.
"That's actually a good point, you know, Bret." Owen said.
"OK, Angel you got me there, but I'm going to cover our bases a bit here. Taker, make a phone call would you please? You've got the best relationship with Vince out of anyone here." Bret said.
"What am I telling him now?" Taker asked.
"That if that little twerp goes off script next week, then we will all do it too. And if Vince has a problem, he can take it up with me. Also, remind him to tell Hunter or else Hunter will stick his big nose in our business." Bret said.
"Can I go talk to him, Uncle Taker? I think I know who he might be targeting and he's the only one who can back me besides you guys." Kristy said.
"Go ahead, Kristy." Taker said.
Kristy left the room. Everyone turned and looked at Angel having seen the look of realization cross her face. She had just figured out who it was that Seth would try and make Kristy attack. Angel growled under her breath.
"Did we miss something?" Dean asked.
"Well, Seth is all about bringing us down, so we'll leave the Shield…right?" Angel asked.
"Looks like it." Roman said.
"And there's one person in this room who's been there for Kristy literally from the moment she took her first breath." Angel said.
"And that would be…?" Dean asked.
"That would be me." Owen said.
"You? Why you Owen?" Roman asked, confused.
"Like Angel said, I've been there for Kristy from the moment her took her first breath." Owen said.
"They even have the same birthday. May seventh." Angel said.
"No one can explain it, but there's something special between Kristy and Owen." Taker said.
"Not only that, but Diana has motives of her own for this next thing. She's jealous." Bret said.
"She's always been jealous of the way Owen and Martha have treated Kristy like their own child." Taker explained.
"Not to mention that other than Daddy and Davey, Owen is the only one who knows when something is really wrong with Kristy when she takes her hearing aids out and won't talk." Angel said.
"Does that happen much?" Dean asked.
"Only if she's upset about something. Last time it happened was when you first met us. Seth upset her remember?" Angel said.
"Oh. So that was a normal reaction." Dean said.
"Yeah. It was. Speaking of Seth, what are you two going to do? Isn't working with him going to be hard?" Angel asked.
"No more than it usually is, given that he's an idiot." Roman said.
"Fair point." Angel said.
"Angel, what's on your mind? You look lost in thought." Bret said.
"I'm never going to get over this." Angel said.
"Which part? Hurting your Dad or Kane coming in here and trying to hurt you?" Owen said.
"Both. Although, hitting Daddy will be the easier one to get over. Uncle trying to hurt me…not so much." Angel said.
"True. But remember, Baby Girl, it wasn't your fault you hit me. It was all that bastard's." Taker said.
"I know, Daddy." Angel said.
"Oh, yeah, I've been meaning to ask, why did you tell Angel to hit you anyway?" Roman asked.
"One, I thought it was part of the plan and two, I didn't want Angel and Kristy to see the alternative." Taker said.
"Tell me you're not scared of Rollins, Daddy." Angel said.
"I'm not scared of Rollins, but I watched him pretty closely the day we came to visit you and Kristy in NXT." Taker said.
"And? Did you find anything out?" Angel asked.
"He's dangerous." Taker said.
"Very dangerous." Bret added.
"Because he doesn't care how he wins as long as he wins?" Lea asked.
"Bingo, Little One." Taker said.
"Sounds like someone else I know." Owen said.
"Huh? Who?" Wyatt asked.
"Just someone you never knew, Little Bulldog." Owen said.
Wyatt nodded. Just then, Kristy came back. She was smiling. She told them that Vince had seen what had happened that night and was not impressed by what Rollins had done, although he was impressed with everyone else's ability to improvise at a moment's notice. Then she told them that they were allowed to do that when it was necessary from now on.
She didn't tell them what they had talked about concerning the next week and no one pressed her, but they were all kind of dreading it as they left the arena.