Part 1; Set ups and Stings

Prologue; That infamous Montreal incident

"Shawn! Think about what you're asking me to do" Bret Hart tried again, hoping that the younger man would listen, so far it wasn't working and Bret had to resist the urge to just smack him in the face. Bret let out a breath, calming himself down, at least Shawn had stopped interrupting.

"Look Shawn, I think you deserve to be champion, you've worked really hard but you're telling me to lose in front of my friends, my family, my countrymen, C'mon Shawn would you wanna lose a title that way?"

Shawn remained quiet for a moment, he had worked so hard for this shot and he knew he deserved it, he hated to admit it but Bret was right, he couldn't let that black mark on either of their careers.

"All right, you're right, you win this one and I'll get it next time, deal?"

"Thank you Shawn" Bret really didn't mind dropping his title to Shawn, he was a little cocky for his liking but he couldn't deny the fact that Shawn had a natural talent for this business. The only thing he didn't like was the fact that his boss wanted him to lose in front of his own country and he wasn't listening to Bret's objections, that was why he asked Shawn to re-think the whole thing, now it seemed like he had Shawn agreed, at least for now.

"Actually, you have to lose"

Both men looked up, seemingly lost in their own conversation, in front of them was a young lady, tattoos covering her arms and a lone black hood over her hair. Bret, a happily married man, just glared at her for interrupting, Shawn however looked her up and down like a wolf stalking a rabbit.

"What?" Bret snapped at her, her silver orbs sliding over his face like she was storing it to memory.

"Firstly; which one of you is Shawn Michales?"

When neither of them said anything, she only spoke up "I know it's one of you, which one of you is Shawn Michales?"

Again they said nothing, they were taking her in, trying to figure out who she was and why she was talking to them.

"See, this is what I hate about Hu-mans, you ask a simple question and they just look at you like you're insane, which I'm not but there you go"

"I'm Shawn" He sidled a little closer, "And you are?"

She managed to put a little bit of space between them, but in a small locker room with two very big men the space was running out quickly. Instead she looked to Bret like he was the second coming, her silver eyes widening until he thought they would explode, he hoped not because he liked her eyes, they were pretty to look at.

"That means you're Bret Hart!"

"Yes" He still didn't like where this was going, something about her put un-ease into his system but almost at the same time, it was like her presence bought a calming peace, like everything would be all right now that she was there, and he still didn't know her name.

She let out a weird bow-curtsy thing, a smile on her round face. "I've been lookin for you for ages! I'm sorry but we need to talk, and it has to be now"

Bret wasn't sure how she managed it, but she was able to drag him to a corner of the room while Shawn apparently was meant to stay where he was, apparently the young lady needed to talk to him as well.

Shawn wanted to move but something about the girl made his feet stick to the floor, the odd thing was he couldn't hear them, he measured the convo by Bret's face, one moment it went rage red, Shawn guessed that's when she told him to lose. As she kept talking, the red seeped from his face, replaced by a deep smile that he had never seen from the man, it looked like whatever she said swam deep into his bones, calming him down enough to listen.

"I'm sorry Bret, but there is none other, you're it"

He let out the big breath he was holding, then he saw what she did, that un-earthly light surrounding Shawn, he knew the words she spoke were the truth. Which meant if she was telling the truth about himself, then he had something more important to do.

She touched his arm, giving it a squeeze in sympathy, she could see it in his face, not wanting to leave his career but as told him, there was none other. Bret Hart was the one she was looking for. He held more answers than he even knew, and soon he would put that knowledge to the test.

That was how Shawn found himself in the corner with the strange girl, it looked like time had slowed down, when Shawn looked at his watch, not much time had passed at all.

"So would you like my number?" Shawn winked at her, his fingers brushing over the tattoos on her arms. She wrenched it away like he was diseased.

"Seriously, it's creepy, stop it" She shuddered against her will, she wasn't told that Shawn would hit her, then again if he knew what she did he would have vomited.

She told him exactly what she told Bret, well most of it, she only told him what he wanted to hear, how this affected him. So far all he heard was the fact that tonight, one way or another he would be champion.

She looked at them both hoping that they listened, she had no idea what she was going to do if they didn't.

The adrenaline pumped hard and fast, the crowd shouting and screaming, not knowing of the choas she was about to release, not just in this world but also in her's. Whether she liked it or not, their worlds collided more than people knew. Fans kept screaming, their home-country hero was about to secure his gold, it was at this point Bret was forced to make a choice and he could only hope he had made the right one. Shawn got him back to the mat, locking the hero in his own finishing move, she was well aware on what was meant to happen, Bret was meant to reverse and grab Shawn in what they called a 'small package'

Instead the bell rung to end the match, despite the fact that no one had tapped, no one had been pinned, at that moment there was no loser, just as there was no winner, but thanks to her meddling, Bret Hart had just been screwed out of his championship, screwed out of his job, and now screwed right out of the business.

Of course according to the young girl, he had a better destiny in place, the one she gave him was going to turn out to be the best thing he ever did.

As Shawn celebrated his very tainted victory, he caught Bret's eyes, that peaceful calm written all over his face. Neither of them knowing just how much impact the Montreal Screw-job was going to have.