Later that night, after everyone had left, Lashana and Austin lay curled up in their bed wrapped in each others arms. Lashana had just dozed off to sleep when she heard someone calling her name.
~'Lashana?'
She looked around and realized that she was in the Vale that her mother, Purr'Sha frequented.‘Mother? Where are you?'
‘Right behind you dear' She turned around and saw her mother regain her human form from that of a Hawk on the branch of a tree. She smiled and walked over to help her down. They embraced and walked arm in arm over to a small grove of trees where they could sit and talk.
‘Ok Mother, what's up? You only bring me here when you have something to tell me.'
Purr'Sha smiled, ‘My darling you have come to know me so well, and you are right. I do have something to tell you. I have the feeling that something is going to happen soon, something big. You need to keep your eyes open, everything is not as it seems'.
Lashana looked at her mother, ‘Do you know how crazy it makes me when you talk in riddles! Can't you just tell me what's happening?'
‘I would tell you, if I knew, but this is not something that I have information on...this is more of a feeling than anything. I just wanted to warn you to be careful.'
Lashana reached over and hugged her mother, ‘I promise, I'll be careful. Now tell me what Father has been up to, I haven't seen him since after we took care of that nasty underling last year.'
‘Oh, you know your father, he's off trying to control all the events of the world. He did say the other day that you were doing well, so he is checking in on you from time to time. It wouldn't hurt for you to call him once in a while you know!'
She smiled, ‘You're right, I will do that soon, I promise!'
Purr'Sha hugged her daughter, enjoying the relationship that they had developed since they had been reintroduced, ‘Well, I've got to run my darling. I'll talk to you soon.'~
Lashana woke slowly from her dream state and lay there staring at the ceiling for quite awhile until Austin opened his eyes and looked at her. "Baby, you ok? How long have you been up?"
She smiled at him and ran her hand along his jaw line, it still amazed her that she had this man in her life and that she loved him as much as she did. "I'm fine, just been laying here thinking. Mom and I had a chat while I was sleeping...she said some strange things."
Steve smiled, "Your mother ALWAYS says some strange things...what did she say this time.?"
"Just that she felt like something big was going to happen, and that everything was not as it seemed. She told me to be careful."
Steve looked at her, concern in his eyes, "Did she say what to be careful of? This isn't another problem with that god...what's his name, is it?"
Lashana smiled, "Kordac'Nol, and no I don't think this has anything to do with him. Mom usually knows what's going on with him, and she said she didn't really have any information, just a feeling."
He rolled over so he had her pinned to the mattress and brushed the hair off her forehead, staring into her eyes, "Are you worried about this? Do you think we should say something to Kane and Taker?"
I shook my head, "No, not yet. I want to wait until I figure out what she was talking about before I upset Kane. You know how he gets when there's a problem he can't fix for one of us."
Austin kissed her and smiled, "Well, since we're not going to say anything to them about it right now, do you think there might be something else we can do to occupy our time this morning?"
Lashana wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her, "Oh, I think we can think of something."
Aidan woke up in her new bed in the Titan Complex apartments, shocked at how well she had slept. She figured that she would have at least a couple more restless nights before she was able to get a good nights sleep, but she had fallen asleep almost immediately and slept soundly the entire night.
She rolled out of bed, slipped on her jogging shorts and t-shirt and headed out of the building, planning to jog around the complex and get a better idea of her surroundings. She walked out the door turned the corner to the elevator and ran nose to chest into another wrestler. She looked up into the eyes of Edge and smiled. ~this is really going to take some getting used to!~ She thought at she looked up at him.
He smiled down at her, "Hi, you're the new girl in 503 aren't you? My name is Edge. My brother Christian and I share 505 right down the hall from you."
She took a step backwards so she no longer had to crane her neck back to look him in the eye and smiled, "My name is Aidan, it's nice to meet you." He shook her hand and smiled, "Well, I guess I'll see you around." She was still smiling when she got on the elevator. The weather was beautiful, and she enjoyed her jog around the complex immensely. It had been too long since she'd had the opportunity to do any real jogging and it was such a stress reliever to her that she had missed it. When she finally got back to her apartment, she grabbed a bottle of orange juice out of the refrigerator and sat down to check her email before she showered and dressed for her meeting with Vince and DX at nine.
She had a message from David at the office telling her that he had read over the notes she sent him. He was sending her some equipment that he thought might be helpful, including a small pocket camera and a recording device that would fit inside her handbag. She had a few other messages from her mother in Louisville, asking if she had run across any information on her sister that had disappeared over a year ago. Aidan sat back on the bed, thinking about her big sister. Her disappearance was the whole reason she decided to become a PI, and her's was the only case Aidan hadn't been able to solve. It was as if she had vanished off the face of the earth. She responded to the message from David, and decided to call and talk to her mother later that afternoon about her sister.
She showed up at Titan Towers at about the same time as three of the members of DX and she felt four pairs of eyes on her as they road up the elevator. They walked into Vince's office and saw Hunter and Leah already seated. Vince walked over and put his arm around Aidan's shoulders.
"Everyone, this is Aidan. She's the new PA that I hired yesterday. Aidan this is Hunter, Xpac, Billy Gunn and Jesse James. The lovely young lady over there is Leah." Vince gestured to the woman sitting next to Hunter and Aidan nearly choked on the laugh she had to suppress at the look that Leah gave Vince.
"Aidan...that sounds like a man's name", Xpac blurted that out, earning him a swat to the back of the head from Leah. "Ouch, hey!"
Leah gave him a stern look, "Behave!"
Aidan shook her head and laughed, taking a seat in the empty chair across from Billy and Jesse. "Leah has their schedule and information on diskette, and has offered to give you any help that you need until you get situated. Billy and Jesse have promised to be on their best behavior." Aidan shook her head and smiled. "I don't think we'll have any problem, Vince." She smiled over at Billy and Jesse, "What do you two think?"
Billy smiled and winked at her, "I think that you and I are going to get along just fine..." he drawled causing Leah and Aidan to roll their eyes simultaneously. This, of course caused Xpac, Hunter and Jesse to erupt into fits of laughter.
Jesse hit Billy in the arm, "Man, why don't you let her get settled in before you start hitting on her!"
Billy looked at Jesse like he had wounded him, "Hey, you're just jealous cause I saw her first!"
Vince looked at the two of them and shook his head, "I'm sorry Aidan...you would think they never see women the way they carry on."
She shook her head at Vince, "Don't worry about it, I know two harmless flirts when I see them, I think I can handle it." Leah smiled at her, "Well, Aidan...if they get on your nerves, just let me know, I have some secrets up my sleeve to make them behave when they get out of line."
Both men groaned, and Aidan chuckled, "I'll keep that in mind." They all got ready to head out and Leah handed Aidan the disk. She couldn't help but wonder if this girl could possibly be Lashana's sister, but didn't want to ask. There was no resemblance, but considering the fact that they were not really related, that wasn't a surprise. She shook her head and they all walked out together. Billy and Jesse walking on either side of Aidan. Billy looked down at her and smiled.
"You really are a tiny little thing aren't you. Look Jesse, she's not much bigger than Alex!" She looked up at him and asked, "Who's Alex?"
Jesse answered her, "Oh, Alex is Jericho's PA, she's been around about six months. Little bitty slip of a girl, sweet though."
Aidan nodded, "The names are going to take a little getting used to I think, there are so many people. I'm not used to having to deal with so many people at one time."
As they rode the elevator down to the parking level, Hunter looked at her, "So what did you do before you came to work for the WWF?"
Aidan thought quickly, coming up with a plausible previous employment, "Actually I worked for a Travel Agency before I came to work here. That's part of the reason that Vince hired me...he liked the fact that I had previous travel experience."
Leah had noticed the pause before Aidan answered but didn't say anything, just logged it in the back of her memory. They got to their cars, and Billy stopped Aidan. "So where are you staying?"
"Vince set me up in one of the apartments in the Titan complex, 503. Why?"
He and Jesse smiled, "We're in the complex too...down on the fourth floor - 402 and 404. Just wanted to know where I could find you if I need you ." Aidan reached into her handbag and pulled out two pieces of paper, handing one to each man. "Here you go, my cell phone number and my pager. If you need me, all you need to do is dial." They both slid the numbers into their back pockets and jumped into their cars. "See you back at the complex Aidan."
The next afternoon Aidan had rounded up the New Age Outlaws and they had all headed to the airport to fly to Chicago. They were due to be on the road for the next several weeks. She had not yet met the other PA's or most of the other wrestlers, but she figured she would have plenty of time. She sent them along to get themselves settled on the plane before while she checked her bags. She knew she would have to show her PI license and her gun license before they would clear her bag, where she had packed her handgun. She never left home with out it and didn't want to have to explain to the outlaws why she was carrying a weapon.
She sat on the plane, sandwiched between Billy and Jesse and watched the other passengers board. She watched Christian walk down the aisle, recognizing him from TV. Edge was behind him. He smiled and waved when he saw her and she smiled back.
Billy looked at her, "Hey, where do you know him from?"
Aidan chuckled, "Oh, Edge? He and I are old friends...ever since he nearly flattened me in the hallway at the complex yesterday. Apparently he and Christian live down the hall from me. Why?"
He shrugged, "No reason, I just didn't think you had met anyone else yet."
Jesse chuckled, "Actually, Aidan, I think he was jealous, just didn't want to admit it."
"Bull sh*t, man...I ought to knock your da*n head off for that!" Billy started to reach over her head, until she grabbed a hold of his arm with one hand and Jesse's with the other. "If you two don't behave..."
Chris Jericho boarded the plane shortly after that, and behind him followed the tiniest woman she had ever seen. "Hey baby girl! I didn't know you were on this flight!" The woman turned and smiled at Jesse. As Jericho went to find their seats, she stopped and chatted with Billy and Jesse.
"Hi guys, what's up!"
She looked at Aidan, "You must be the new PA. My name is Alex...its nice to meet you."
Aidan chuckled, "Boy news sure does travel fast around here. I've only been her for one day, and already everyone seems to know about me."
Alex smiled, "You'll get used to it, eventually." She turned when she heard Jericho calling her, "Girl, you planning on riding all the way to Chi Town standing up or are you going to join me back here?"
"I guess I'd better go sit down before he gets really huffy about it. I'll talk to you later Aidan, if you need anything, just holler."
"Thanks Alex, it's nice to meet you too."
They landed in Chicago a short time later and once they had deplaned, grabbed their luggage and picked up the rental car, they headed to the hotel. Aidan had arranged to have two rooms on the same floor, across the hall from each other so she wouldn't be too far from her charges while they were traveling. She settled in her room, pulled her gun out of the suit case and after checking to be sure the safety was still on, she tucked it safely in her handbag. She also checked the small camera that had arrived late last night and slipped it into her bag. She didn't know whether she would find anything at the show, but she wanted to be prepared just in case.
She ran a brush through her hair and checked the time. They were due at the arena in twenty minutes, so she grabbed her bag and walked across the hall. The outlaws opened the door just as she was about to knock and she jumped.
"Damn, what where you two doing? Watching through the peep hole waiting for me to knock on the door?"
Billy chuckled and draped his arm around her shoulder, "Nope, just good timing I guess." She gave him an exasperated look and they all walked down the hallway toward the elevators. They ran into the Undertaker and Kane on the way down the Hall. She smiled at them, and then at the women behind them. Storm introduced her to Jakx and the Undertaker and they all climbed onto the elevator together.
The women gathered at the back of the elevator and chatted on the way down, "So Aidan, how are you getting along with the outlaws? Are the behaving themselves?" Aidan looked at Jakx, and smiled, "as well as can be expected I guess." Causing Billy to turn around and wink at her.
"I can't seem to get him to understand that I don't mix business with pleasure." Storm and Jakx both laughed at that.
"Well, there's your problem." Aidan looked at Storm, perplexed by that statement, "What they do for a living isn't business to them...it is pleasure. So, flirting with you is not mixing business with pleasure for him." Billy winked at her again and she had to laugh, he was like an incorrigible little boy that wouldn't quit.
They drove to the arena in separate cars, but walked in together. Once they had their assigned dressing rooms they split up and headed down the hallways. She wandered through the hallway with Billy and Jesse, mentally keeping track of her surroundings. So far the people she had met gave her no cause to think they would be sabotaging the WWF productions, but she had learned long ago that things weren't always what they seemed. The reached the DX Dressing room, and ran into Leah, Hunter and Xpac.
The guys headed into the room, and after turning down and invitation from Billy for Aidan to help him dress the girls headed back down the hall to the sitting area arranged for the women wrestlers and valet's. They walked into the room and Aidan took immediate stock of the occupants. Terri sat off to the side, primping in the mirror. She turned around and flounced over to Aidan and Leah.
"Well, well...what have we here? Who might you be?"
Aidan held her hand out to the woman, "My name is Aidan...I'm the New Age Outlaws new PA. It's nice to meet you." Terri seemed a little surprised at her response, and smiled in return, "It's nice to meet you too, my name is Terri. I have to fly, my boys and I are due in the ring in a couple of minutes for a pre-show interview."
She headed out of the room and they turned to the rest of the women. Leah introduced her to Lita, Chyna, Trish, the Kat and Tori. Of all the women, she really liked Chyna and Lita the best, they seemed to be the most genuine. Tori struck her as the vindictive type and she made a mental note to keep an eye on her. The Kat and Trish were similar to Terri, in that they were more interested in how they looked than just about anything else.
Storm and Jakx came looking for them, and they wandered back out into the hallway. She saw the Hardy's coming back up the ramp with Terri and noticed that Jeff seemed to be looking for someone. Aidan followed his line of site and saw a woman standing off to the side. When Jeff spotted her, he left Terri's side and wrapped his arms around the woman. ~Well, I guess they're together. I wonder how many more relationships are going on back here...and if that might be part of the problem that Vince is having with sabotage.~ She made mental note to talk to Vince about it and see what he thought. When Storm and Jakx saw the woman in Jeff's arms they both squealed, and ran to her side.
"Rip, I didn't know you were going to make this show! What have you been up to?" Storm apparently knew this woman well, and they seemed almost like sisters. Aidan thought once more of the sister that she once had, wondering if she would ever see her again. Storm waved at Aidan and motioned to her to come over. When she walked up, she was introduced to Jeff Hardy and Rip. They, like so many other people she had met, welcomed her eagerly and seemed genuinly happy to meet her.
Lashana and Austin walked into the Arena, arm in arm. She smiled at Icey and Jim as they stood talking about the security arrangements for the night. They headed to Austin's dressing room and she kissed him lightly as she left him to change for his match that evening. She wanted to find her sisters and catch up. Storm had let her know that Rip was in town as soon as she saw her, and Lashana couldn't wait to catch up with her. She bumped into Alex when she passed Jericho's dressing room and saw the blush that rushed to her cheeks when she saw Lashana standing there.
"Well, Alex...are things going well with you and Chris then??"
Alex chuckled, "Why I don't know what you're talking about Lashana!"
"Uh huh...that's why you turned beet red when you saw me standing here." They laughed together and headed for the open area where the other girls were standing and talking. They walked around the corner, and Lashana stopped cold. She turned around almost immediatly and headed back down the hallway, with Alex hot on her heels.
"Lashana? What's the matter?"
~Kane, Taker...I've got a big problem. Meet me in Steve's dressing room asap, please! ~
Steve met her at the door, and Kane and Taker had taken off out of their dressing rooms the minute they got my message. They were there in a matter of moments.
~Lashana, do you need us too?~ The other brides had heard Lashana's message, and she responded to Storms question quickly.
~No, actually I need to to stay there with Aidan, keep her occupied, I can't see her right now.~
~Lashana, are you telling me what I think you're telling me?~
~Yes, Storm, She's my sister.~
Lashana paced the length of Austin's dressing room, while Kane, Taker, Alex, and Steve watched. "How in the hell could something like this happen? I mean really, what are the odds! Vince gets close to a hundred resumes and letters a week, and hires maybe 10 people a month. How on earth did Aidan end up one of those people?!?"
Steve stood and walked over behind her, "Baby, you've got to calm down and stop pacing, your wearing a hole in the floor, besides its not doing anything but making Taker and Kane dizzy!" Lashana stopped and Steve wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back against him and shook her head. "What am I going to do? Just being here puts her in danger, but the fact that I can't avoid her, and I'm sure she'll recognize me, is just going to increase the potential problems."
~There is something that can be done, but I'm not sure you'll agree to it.~
Lashana turned, looking directly at Kane, "What, you're not sure I'll agree to what?"
Taker looked at his brother, then back at Lashana, "There is a way, if Kane and I get into her mind, to block her memory of you, she won't recognize you that way, but the problem is that she might also not recognize the rest of her family."
"Absolutely NOT!" The force of her response stunned the occupants of the room. Austin led her over to the couch and they sat down, "I can't allow you two to alter her mind without her knowledge, especially if it means she might lose the rest of her family. There has to be another way to deal with this."
Alex sat and quietly watched the goings on, she had only recently joined Kane and the rest of the brides, and although she had a vague knowledge of the stories of the others, she wasn't sure that her suggestion would be taken well. She was pondering the idea when she felt the emerald green eyes of Taker on her.
"Little girl, what are you thinking?" She shook her head at him and smiled,
"You know I hate it when you do that." He winked at her and leaned back on the couch waiting for her to bring voice to the idea that he knew was roaming around in her head.
"Well, ok, here it is. Lashana, you know that Aidan is in danger as long as she is here, there's nothing you can do to remove that danger. So we need to figure out how to protect her. I think we need to let her see you, let her know you're here. That way you can keep a closer eye on her, as can the rest of us. If Kordac'Nol tries anything, then the odds of one of us being there to help her is greater. Besides, there is NO way you can hide from her for long, you know that already."
Austin looked at Lashana, watching her face as he listed to Alex's suggestion, "Baby, what are you thinking?"
Lashana smiled at him, knowing that it bothered him when she blocked her thoughts from him, nearly as much as it bothered Kane, "I'm sorry Steve, I just have so much going on in my head, I'm not sure what to do. What Alex said, it makes sense. If she's going to be around, then the closer I can keep her to me, the safer she'll be. I just don't know how she's going to react to seeing me after all this time."
~There is only one way to find out, Lashana…you will need to see her and talk to her. ~
She sat for a few more minutes, pondering her options, which weren't really options in the first place. She was bound to run into Aidan eventually, wouldn't it be better to see her again under a controlled circumstance, rather than by accident. "Ok, Alex is right, I need to talk to Aidan." She called to Icewolf in her head, knowing that she was the only bride in the building that was not currently with Aidan.
~Icey, are you busy?~
~Just doing some security checks, Lashana, what do you need?~
~Well, I assume you heard about Aidan being my sister? She is with Storm, Jakx and Rip at the moment, and I need to have her brought to Steve's dressing room. I can't just have the girls bring her, because she'll wonder why they did it, but if you go to them and tell them that they are needed here, I can avoid some of the questions that I can't answer.~
~Sure thing, Lashana, do you know where they are?~
Storm answered Icewolf' question almost before the thought was completed. ~We're in the women's lounge Icey. Lashana, I assume that you don't want her to know about the Brides?~
~No, Storm, I just don't think it's a good idea. She's going to have too much to deal with as it is, adding the fact that her sister is not completely human might just send her over the edge.~
The occupants of the room chuckled at Lashana's ability to laugh at herself, even during the worst times in her life. Kane smiled under his mask, enjoying the comfort that Lashana had developed in the last year with her new life, ~Storm, when you bring the girl, tell her nothing, just that she is needed in Austin's dressing room. Her questions should be answered by Lashana, however the presence of her sisters will give Lashana the support she needs to get through this.~