Once upon a time in a land not very far from here lived a family who loved each other very much. Then one day the Father cast the son out, and caused the daughter to run away. This left him alone and miserable.

Lauren let out a sigh as she thought of that. It had been nearly three years since that had happened. But what she had done could no longer be fixed. Even if she went back things would never be the same. Her father had remarried and from what Lauren had heard she was a real bitch. Granted their family had never been perfect but she wagered that it would be better than their current situation. Her brother Sean had gone out on his own and earned himself a job in the “family business”. Technically they didn’t own the WWE but her father, uncle, and her uncle’s father all worked for them. At the current moment she was the only one of the actual family that didn’t. This had been Sean’s dream since her father had gotten into the then WWF as the Undertaker. Paul Bearer had stood by his side for six years before turning on them to bring in her Uncle Kane. Even though Kane held a strong dislike for her father he had seemingly set that aside when it came to her. He had told her that what happened between them was her father’s fault and not hers. They had both formed a very tight bond with each other over the years. Kane had almost become her surrogate father. Particularly when her father had started the ministry and tried to sacrifice both her and Sean to it. That was what caused her to run from it. Sean hadn’t been that smart and got sucked into it. After Sean finally pissed him off her father finally cast him out of their family. Her father had only let Sean stay due to the fact that both Lauren and Sean had the same mother. They were the only thing he had left of her. Sean could barely remember her, and Lauren had to go on the little bits that Sean offered up. The only thing that her father had ever told her about her mother was that she died in a car crash and was forced to deliver her on the crash site. Lauren stared at the night’s sky thinking of happier times. Kane was also the only one in the family who knew where she was, and he came to check on her every once in a while. Sean had been looking for her along with her father. Even if they managed to find her she doubted that they would recognize her. She had grown nearly a foot since she had left. Lauren had also cut her long hair up to her shoulder blades. She had also changed it from a strawberry blonde color to a dark auburn. Because she lived in the Keys her skin was darkened from the sun. Thunder clapped overhead making her go inside.  The only downfall to living in the Keys was all the storms that came through.

Kane sat back in the dressing room and watched his brother impatiently pace while the newest member of the family played with her hair out of pure boredom. Sara obviously didn’t care either way. She actually preferred it if Taker never found his missing daughter. It had been three years since she had left and had only contacted Kane. He was really the only one that knew where she was. Taker had thought she was kidding at first, after a month he realized she wasn’t coming back. That’s when hiring bounty hunters, detectives, started to try and find her. Lauren meant the world to her father even though he never actually told her so. He knew that everyone he had sent after her had found her but she had paid them off so they would leave her be. His brother was in a bad situation all together. Someone had begun stalking their family and he wanted to find Lauren before the other person did. On top of that Sean had been acting like a prick and had refused to put up with Sara’s antics any further. Kane didn’t blame him in the least. Both children had shown their mother’s sense of independence. Kane had met Beth once but she had kept him a secret and carried that secret to her grave. Lauren had inherited many of her mother’s traits, and had driven Taker insane for years. His brother’s voice snapped him back to reality.

“You swear that she hasn’t told you where she is.”

“If she had would we be standing here? Just let her be. She’ll come home when she’s ready.”

“It’s been three years. If she hasn’t come back by now she won’t come back at all.” Sara had stopped playing with her hair at the mention of Laurens name. It was obvious that Sara knew she would never be held on the same level of affection as Lauren. Kane was more fearful that Sara would try something as opposed to the Stalker. Kane watched as she once again claimed exhaustion and left to go back to the hotel. He sat there wondering what as up. Pretty much every night she had done that. Sean had brought it to Kane’s attention that Sara didn’t always go back to the hotel. Kane continued to watch his brother rant and rave. If there was one thing Lauren would love to see is her father squirm. He would definitely tell her about it when saw her next.

Sean sat in the bar waiting. He had gotten a bounty hunter of his own except he had given explicit instructions to only find Lauren. Sean would take care of the actual retrieval part. Because of the stalker the family had called a temporary truce. All had agreed that it would last till this person was dealt with. Sean found it odd that this person had chosen to focus on Sara rather than Taker or Kane. The whole situation seemed strange to him. The three of them had been very tight lipped about their plans yet this person always found them. No one else knew about their plans other than the four of them. Therefore the only person that could be blabbing would be one of them. The door opened causing him to look over. Who should step in but Sara. They had both left at the same time making him wonder. He was half expecting Taker or Kane to come in behind her but instead of them a disguised figure came in right behind her. This was the icing on the cake. Something was definitely up. He watched as they went to one of the booths and sat down together. The door opened again emitting the bounty hunter he had hired. The larger man walked over and sat down.

“Well?”

“You weren’t kidding when you said she would be hard to find.”

“But did you?”

“Yes” Three long years of searching were over.

A loud banging stirred Lauren out of her sleep. Se climbed down the stairs and looked out of the peephole. Kane nearly broke the door down when she opened it.

“They’re here.”

“Who?”

“Your father and Sean. I was able to get ahead of them so I could warn you. They’re about ten minutes away.”

“You’re kidding, please tell me that my worst nightmare is not about to come true.”

“It might be worse than your nightmare.” Both heard a Harley roar in the distance. Lauren slammed the door and threw the lock. She then ran out of the back door towards a dock. Kane was right behind her trying to stop her.

“Where do you think you’re going? He’s got you trapped.”

“I’m not going without a fight.” The Harley roared closer causing Lauren to run faster. Kane caught her in about three steps and forced her to look at him.

“Laurie it’s over, no matter where you go he’ll follow. Especially now that he knows where you’ll touch base.” She tried to pull away when she heard gravel crunch. Kane held on trying to stop her from angering her father any further. She would be lucky if he ever let her out of the house again. Both heard someone begin to kick and bang on the door. Kane tightened his grip refusing to let go of her. The door splintered into a thousand pieces sending shards all over the front of the house.

“ Why are you helping him? You swore that you would never tell!”

“ I didn’t. Sean found you and he told. I left before them so I could warn you. I’m trying to help you. If he finds you then he’ll be less pissed then if he doesn’t. He wants this to end Laurie. The stalker is getting worse and he’s afraid something will happen to you. He can’t afford for anything to happen to you.” As he finished speaking a very pissed off Taker stormed out of the house towards them. Kane had his back to his brother shielding Lauren from sight.

“ Where the fuck is she?”

“ She’s right here.” He pulled Lauren out into view. Takers expressions switched from rage to relief and then back to rage.

“ Give her here.”

“ Not till you promise that you’re not going to hurt her. She had every right to leave.”

“ The hell she did.” Sean came up and pushed his way past Taker. Sean stopped in his tracks when he saw the glare in her eyes.

“ I had to Lauren. We needed you.” Taker moved closer getting a better look at his daughter.

“ I sincerely doubt that you needed me Sean.” Her father finally spoke.

“ This is the only way we can protect you.”

“ Funny you weren’t to interested in protecting me three years ago.”

“ That was a mistake. I’m ready to make up for that now.”

“ How? By forcing me to go back with you. I’d rather take my chances with this psycho.” Even Kane winced at that.

“ What if she came to stay with me? You’ve got your hands full with Sara. Sean and I could look after Lauren till this is over.”

“ I don’t need looking after.” Taker stood there for a moment getting a good look at her.

“ Alright. But I will be coming by to see her.”

Kane made it a little easier for her by telling her that when this was over she could go back to her normal life. She still wasn’t talking to him or anyone else for that matter. He missed the conversations they used to have. He enjoyed having her around it reminded him of when she used to travel with her dad. Lauren would always find a way to sneak away and visit. She sat in the dressing room glaring at Sara. Taker, Kane, and Sean all felt the tension. Sara’s world had been perfect till Lauren came back. She seemed to be keeping an eye on the newest member of the family. Lauren and Taker were still on the rocks and the fact that Lauren and Sara didn’t get along wasn’t helping.

“ I’m expecting you two to look after the other while we’re in the ring. The acolytes are on their way to make sure that nothing happens. Sara gave him a fake smile. Lauren never broke eye contact. Sara waited till they were gone before she spoke.

“ You just had to come back didn’t you?”

“ I wasn’t given a choice. Why the fuck do you care anyways. I’m not staying with you.”

“ He’s always over at his brothers trying to patch things up.”

“ From what I hear that shouldn’t bother you in the least.” Sara’s glare went hard. Lauren stood up and looked down on her stepmother. “ My father might be blind but everyone else see’s you for what you really are, and if you are behind all this shit then everyone in this family will make you sorry that you’re whore of a mother brought your skank ass into this world.”

“ I wouldn’t threaten me if I were you. I have your father wrapped around my finger.”

“ I’m not threatening, I’m promising.” She walked out the room feeling slightly better. Bradshaw walked up and gave her a smile.

“ Laurie long time no see!” She smiled for the first time in weeks.

“ Same to you. They’ve got you babysitting?”

“ I don’t know why. Half the time she goes back to the hotel.”

“ Really?”

“ Yeah, but at least we get to watch someone we like. Where in the hell did you run off to?”

“ I went to live with my mother’s family till I was eighteen, the I moved down to the keys.” Bradshaw noted a small Irish accent in her voice. He remembered the night she had left. Taker went nuts after that. Everyone thought that Lauren had been the only thing keeping him in check. He had soon become obsessed with finding her.

“ So your brother talked to you about his theory on the Stalker?”

“ I’m not exactly on speaking terms with anyone in my so called family right now.”

“ Laurie, sit down for a minute. I know what your dad did hurt ya, but running off like that hurt him more than you could ever know. Sweetie he cares a lot more than you think he does. He understands that he made a mistake. He really is remorseful for what happened. For a while there you were the only thing that kept him going. His little cheering section who would love him no matter what.”

“ What’s your point?”

“ My point is that you need to give him another chance. He’s really trying this time.”

“ I can’t, not now, not just yet.”

“ Why not?”

“ Because if I let him back in, if I open back up he’ll only hurt me again.” Sara came walking by trying to look sickly but was apparently overjoyed that she was leaving.

“ There she goes. How about you come back with us and help me cheat at cards.”

“  Only if I get a cut.”

“ We’ll see how much we win and decide from there.” Taker came backstage and began to search for his daughter and wife. He wandered deeper into the arena and stopped in the shadows when he heard Lauren laughing. At the moment she was fleecing the Acolytes for everything they had. He stepped out into the light. Her smile immediately fell.

“ You boys mind if I talk to her alone?”

“ No not at all.” Both men stood up and walked away.

“ Where’d Sara go?”

“ I don’t know. She wasn’t to keen on speaking to me.”

“ Yeah I kinda gathered that. I was wondering maybe you and I could spend a few days together. You know to get re-acquainted.”

“ Will it be just us or will Sara be there too?”

“ Just us, Sara’s going to go see her father for a few days. So what do you say?”

“ Ok, when do we start?”

“ A couple of days. I’ll have to arrange for you to fly down.”

“ Alright.”

Lauren sat in her hotel room brushing her hair. She ignored the door when someone started banging on it.

“ Laurie open the damn door! I need to speak with you.” She stood up and swung the door open.

“ What do you want Sean?” Her brother pushed his way past her and shut the door.

“ I need to talk to you about Sara.”

“ What about her?”

“ I think all this shit was her idea.”

“ Really? Have anything to support it Sherlock?”

“ She leaves pretty much every night.”

“ So, she really could be tired.”

“ She doesn’t always go back to the hotel.”

“ Maybe she wants a social life.”

“ Ok try this. When I was meeting with the guy I hired to find you. She came into the bar followed by a guy who wasn’t Kane, Taker, or a cop. Since you came back she’s had two other meetings with him. One of them was tonight. Your coming back has thrown a wrench in their plans. I have a feeling hat Sara’s not going to go see daddy dearest this weekend.”

“ Sean while this is fascinating stuff, there is no way in hell that you can’t prove any of it.”

“ If we tell Taker then maybe we can get him to call her on it.”

“ Have you completely lost your mind? I mean it’s not enough that he threw you out, now you want him to throw me out too? She’s right when she say’s that she’s got him wrapped around her little finger. Even if we try to warn him there is no way he’ll listen or even consider taking us seriously.”

“ What if we prove it?”

“ What is this we crap? I’m not getting involved. The only reason I’m here is because I’m being forced to be here. After this is all said and done I’m going home.”

“ Come on Laurie, help me out. It’ll be like we’re kids again.”

“ I’m not surprised seeing as you still are a kid.” A knock on the door disrupted them. “ If that’s my father I want you to keep your mouth shut.” She looked through the peephole to see a total stranger on the other side.

“ Who is it?”

“ I don’t know.”

“ Go hide around the corner. I’ll take care of it.” Sean waited till she was hidden before opening the door. “ Yes”

“ Um, I was looking for Lauren.”

“ Lauren who?”

“ Callaway”

“ Sorry no one by that name here.”

“ You know where she might be?”

“ Nope never heard of her before.” The stranger nodded and walked down the hall confused.

Sara glared at Page.

“ That bitch has fucked everything up. It’s taken everything I know to get Taker to not believe Sean. One word from Lauren on this one and we’re screwed.”

“ You said he’s spending the weekend with her right?”

“ Yeah, She’s going to met him back in Texas.”

“ Well we’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t get there to listen.”

“ What you want to abduct him? He comes here and see’s us together then he’ll know.”

“ But we’ll have him which means the rest of the family will be easier to control. Kane won’t do anything because Taker’s his brother. Lauren will keep Sean in line and force him to go along with it. That gives us three members of team WWF in our pocket. Plus if we time it right then we can destroy your husband on worldwide television making him useless to anyone. Particularly if he’s as crazy for you as you say he is.”

“ That sounds stupid.”

“ Think about it we would be the first people to ever to break the big bad Undertaker. Imagine the fame and bragging rights that went with that. Rather than him making us famous, we make ourselves famous by destroying him.” Sara got a sick smile on her face. “ Leave everything to me and the boy’s. I’ll only need you to lead him to us.”

Sara went back to her husband’s room to find it empty. Taker stood outside the hotel thinking. Kane walked up and spotted him.

“ Forget your key?”

“ No, just thinking about something Sean said to me. She really wouldn’t do that would she?”

“ Anyone is capable of anything. Jealousy is also a powerful motivator.”

“ What would she be jealous of?”

“ Lauren, everyone knows that Sara’s no where even near the level of affection that you give Lauren. Which is understandable. I mean she is your first born and Beth’s daughter.”

“ Sara was never happy that she was my second wife. She doesn’t see how I can still hold feelings for a woman who’s been dead for twenty years.”

“ Because you truly loved Beth. Just try not to think about it right now. You’re stressing yourself out more than you need to. Go up see your wife, and get some sleep.”

Mark woke up the next morning slightly disoriented. He was in a different room than he had started out in. Then everything came back in a rush. Someone had hit him from behind when he had walked into his hotel room. The first thought that crossed his mind was Lauren. He groaned when he thought of her standing outside of the house waiting for him. He tried to sit up but was kicked back down.

“ He’s awake!” He knew that voice.

“ It’s about fucking time.” He started placing voices as one’s that belonged to members of the Alliance. Including Shane McMahon’s. Vince’s only son knelt down in front of him and smiled at him through wrought iron.

“ Morning Taker.”

“ Where’s Sara?” Shane turned to Page who was standing next to him.

“ He doesn’t know?”

“ Nope, totally clueless.”

“ Where in the fuck is she?” As if on cue Sara walked out and smiled at him.

“ Morning sweetie. Did you sleep well?”

“ Why are you out there with them?”

“ Because they’re my co-workers. We figured what a better way to make ourselves famous and take down the WWF then to destroy you? The best part is that after you stand Lauren up she’ll never want to see you again, and that way you can go back to the way I found you, alone and miserable.” He felt like he had been kicked in the stomach and had a hot knife plunged into his chest. He wouldn’t lose Lauren again, not after everything he had gone through the first time.

Lauren paced the living room waiting for her father to show up. Kane and Sean both watched her.

“ Something’s wrong.”

“ Maybe his flight got delayed.”

“ He would have called.” The phone rang making them all jump for it. Kane picked it up.

“ Hello?”

“ Yes this is the Cutless Hotel in Chicago. We were wonder when Mr. Callaway was going to come back to check out and claim his bag.”

“ He hasn’t checked out yet?”

“No sir, we saw Mrs. Callaway leave early this morning but we’ve seen no sign of her husband.” 

“Um can I call you back with his credit card number?”

“ Certainly, what about his bag?” 

“ Would you please send it to a Vince McMahon, at Titan Towers in Stanford Connecticut?”

“ Of course.” He wrote down the phone number and hung up.

“ He’s gone.”

“ What do you mean he’s gone? He can’t have up and vanished.”

“ That was his hotel. They said that they saw Sara leave early this morning but there was no sign of him. All they found of him was his bag. Do either one of you know where he keep’s his credit statements?”

“ The tea canister, at least that’s where he used to keep them.” Kane moved into the Kitchen and found what he was looking for. Right where Lauren said it would be. He called the hotel back and gave them the number and expiration date. After that he sat down on the couch peeling his mask off and tossing it on the table.

“ This is not good. I know he was looking forward to this weekend, that’s why I can’t figure out why he would disappear like this.”

“ I don’t care about the why, all I want to know is the where. If we can find Sara I bet we can find him.”

“ There’s just one problem, someone has to tell Vince. If Taker’s missing then that puts him in a pretty bad pickle. The WWF can’t afford any more mishaps against the Alliance. We lose him we’re pretty much screwed.”

“ Why would you all be screwed?”

“ Takers our team captain. Plus seeing as two of us are related to him it kinda screws us over if they use him against us. That gets rid of three team members.”

“ I’m sure he would want you guys to keep on fighting, even if he’s not there. Something tells me that team WWF is the furthest thing from his mind.”

“ Well I say we call Vince…” Before Kane was finished the phone rang. “ Hello?”

“ Please tell me the note I got from my son is a joke.”

“ Depends what does it say?”

“ That the Alliance has Taker.”

“ Um… yeah it’s kinda true. We’ve been racking our brains trying to figure what in the hell is going on. Did they say where he was?”

“ If you think I knew that that I’d be calling?!”

“ What about the police?”

“ They just laughed at me. Thought it was some kind of publicity stunt.”

“ Well what if they got a call from his daughter. I’m sure they’d have to believe it then.” Kane tossed Lauren his cell and got the number of the Chicago P.D. from Vince. They all waited with baited breath.

“ Chicago P.D., how may I help you?”

“ I’d like to report a kidnapping please.”

“ Alright do you know the person’s name?”

“ Yes, Mark Callaway he’s my father. It’s imperative that we find him.”

“ Alright do you know where he was last seen at?”

“ Last night at the Cutless hotel. They called this morning and said that they found his room empty and his bag there and no sign of him.”

“ He could just be doing some sight seeing ma’am.”

“ No, his wife left early this morning with her stuff and no one has seen him since. His boss has already received a ransom note.” Lauren remained perfectly calm throughout the entire conversation. When they called Vince about the note they were once again accused of pulling a stunt but Lauren assured them otherwise. Kane hung up with Vince and waited for Lauren to finish talking with the police. He sat down on the couch and started rubbing his eyes. Thing’s couldn’t get any worse for them.

Taker sat behind the bars watching his so called captors celebrating their victory. He felt like breaking through and beating on every single one. Page and Sara were surprisingly absent and soon the rest left him until he was alone wondering what was next. They had fitted a T.V. into the opposite wall so he could watch the downfall of the company he had worked so hard to save. A video popped up showing three figures he knew Kane, Sean and Lauren all sitting in his living room waiting. Lauren was on a cell phone talking to someone. She looked more worried than angry. Something he hoped would play in his favor. She hung up the phone and handed it back to Kane. They started speaking but there was no sound. All he wanted to do was yell where he was in hopes that any of them would come. He sighed when he thought about missing a weekend that he had hoped would fix the last of his problems. She had seemingly warmed up to him but she could have been doing that to simply get him to back off. He felt like the worst parent in the world alienating his only child and causing her to run away. Sara stood in the shadows and watched him sit in misery. For the past two years she had had to compete with a person who wanted nothing to with them. Lauren was all Taker had ever talked about. She had smiled, nodded, and cooed making him think she was sympathetic, and wanted Lauren to come home as much as he did. Truth was her world was perfect till he had found Lauren and brought her home. Sara would enjoy destroying his daughter while he watched.

Kane watched Lauren pace.

“ We need a plan of action.”

“ The only thing we can do is wait. But I do think it would be safe if both of you came to stay with me, right now we can’t afford to lose anyone else to these people.”

“ What’ll happen if we don’t find him?”

“ We’ll find him, he won’t do anything without a fight. For right now lets keep things low key and act as if everything’s fine. Lauren when we’re at the arenas I want you to stay as far away from the cameras as possible. If Sean and I aren’t around then try to find someone you know we can trust. Also be on the look out for Page, Sara, or your dad. I’m betting they’d be stupid enough to bring him along. Sean I want you checking on and taking care of security, no one in the back needs to know what happened. If they ask just say he’s sick and he’ll be back in a few days. Same with you Lauren no one needs to know. If they ask about the weekend just say that your dad came down with something and you spent it taking care of him. I’ll talk to Vince and get everything squared away with him. Lets get the house locked up and then get out of here.” They were soon on another plane heading towards Tennessee. Laurens spirit kept sinking lower, what if that night was the last time she every saw him. She didn’t think that she could live with the fact that her fathers dying thoughts of her were that she hated him. Kane gripped her hand to stop her from crying.

“ It’ll be alright, I promise. All of us have been through worse shit than this.”

“ But it’s usually his fault. I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to him."

“ Nothing is going to happen to him. We will find out who did this, and I promise they’re going to get what’s coming to them.”

“ Is this what he went through when I left?”

“ No, he didn’t figure out you were serious till a month later. Then he started to panic. He told me he could picture Beth yelling at him for losing you.” Lauren saw her uncle’s eyes sparkle at the mention of her mother’s name.

“ Did you ever meet her?”

“ Once, right after she met Taker. She came to Paul’s funeral Parlor looking for Taker. Instead she found me.”

“ What was she like?”

“ She was the sweetest lady I think I’ve ever met. Never once said anything cruel or mean. She sat with me for two hours that day just talking with me, acting as if I was totally normal.”

“ Did you ever see what she looked like?”

“ Yeah, She had the same strawberry blonde hair you used to have, with slight curls, freckles all around her nose, big grey eye’s that made her seem almost too innocent. I wish you could’ve met her.”

“ Why?”

“ Because she’d be proud of you. I’m surprised your Aunt Christine never showed any pictures.”

“ She said that it wasn’t good to dwell on the past.”

“ Sounds like her.”

“ You know her?”

“ She and Taker have had their share of battles over the years.”

“ Why?”

“ Mainly over you, Christine wanted you to come live with her but Taker refused. You wouldn’t believe how shocked he was when she called him to tell him that you had gone to live with her.”

“ What did he do?”

“ Started hiring people to bring you back. He thought you had lost your mind.”

“ Wouldn’t be first person in this family to do that.”

“ Hey now, we’re all normal it’s everyone else that’s the freaks.” She started to laugh. To him it sounded like a thousand bells. He looked over to Sean who was sound asleep. Across the way he saw someone looking at them, which struck him as odd. For a second he thought that the guy was watching them. He shrugged it off and went back to keeping his niece distracted.

Over the next couple of weeks Kane, Lauren, and Sean were able to keep up the illusion that Taker was sick and highly contagious hence the fact that he was missing. But even that fell through when they were sitting in a meeting and someone finally posed a question as to where he was.

“ Come on you guys it’s been weeks now.”

“ The truth is, is that we don’t know where he is. The only thing we do know is that the alliance has him and the won’t let him go until they win.”

“ What about the Police?”

“ They have no idea. The room was cleaned before we called the police so any clues that were there are long gone. The only thing we can do is sit and wait.” None of them noticed Lauren sneak out of the room. She crept down the hallway towards the Alliance locker room. When she got there she snuck in and hid behind a screen that was set up there. Shortly after she got there they all came in laughing and howling.

“ I can not believe that we pulled this off! With Taker as our trump card we will be unstoppable.”

“ You should have seen the three of them on the plane, it’s was fucking pathetic. I thought his daughter was going to start bawling right there.”

“ Like he’s any better. You should’ve seen the way he was looking at that screen when they were on it.” Lauren wanted to burst out from her hiding place and rip them to shreds but her gut told her to stay put. Kane was probably going to kill her for sneaking away let alone spying on the enemy.

“ Are we all going to met up tonight to have a little more fun with him?”

“ Oh yeah, we’ll meet up after the show. Shane’s arranged for a limo.” They moved on to their own matches. When she was sure they had left she snuck out of her hiding place and made a break for the door.

Page walked out to see Lauren come out of hiding. He walked up behind her and lifted her off the floor causing her to scream.

“ Well, well looks like I caught a spy. How much did you hear?”

“ Nothing of any real importance.”

“ I find that hard to believe.”

“ It’s true, all I heard was you guys talking about your matches, speaking of which don’t you have one right now?” He carried her out of the dressing room and down the hall. Stopping at a space enclosed in chain-link he opened the door tossed her in and locked it shut taking the key with him.

“ I’ll finish with you later.”  Kane saw Page walk down the hall and waited for him to disappear before going to see whom he had locked up. He let out a groan when he saw Lauren.

“ Surprise”

“ What happened?”

“ I kinda snuck into the Alliance locker room to find out where dad was. I thought it was empty, but I guess I was wrong.” Kane was able to pull the door off of the hinges and helped her out. He waited to get the whole story from her in their locker room. That way he could make sure the walls didn’t have ears.

“ Spill”

“ They’ve been following us. That guy on the plane that was watching us was one of them. Apparently they’ve bugged your house or dad’s house because he saw us after he was kidnapped. They said that Shane had arranged for a limo to take them to dad. If we can tail that limo we’ll be able to find him.”

“ Correction, you are going to back to the hotel. Your brother and I will follow them.”

“ Like hell, I’m coming with you.”

“ It’s to risky, one of us has to stay behind in case something happens to the other two. I will call you on my phone and I will give you exact directions incase something happens.   

“ But…”

“ No but’s. It’s too dangerous. You were lucky that I found you when I did. If they catch you again then things will get worse. They can use you to control your father. Now stay put.”

“ What if they break in here?”

“ Then we’ll see you. Now stay here and don’t move.” He walked out locking the door behind him.  Kane and Sean waited for the limo to leave when it did they began to follow it. Sean was on the phone to Lauren giving her the directions and making sure she wrote them down. When they got there Kane parked the car a few blocks away so they wouldn’t raise suspicion. They walked up to the house checking it as they went. Sean spotted a basement window. He knelt down to look in.

“ I don’t see him… oh fuck.”

“ What?”

“ Lauren.”

“ They’ve got her?”

“ They bugged her room. They know she’s alone. We need to get back.” Kane pushed his way past Sean so he could look for himself. Before either man could react they were struck across the back of the head rendering them unconscious.

Lauren sat most of the night waiting. When it was well past midnight she began to worry. Bradshaw and Farooq had come down to sit with her after a few hours to keep her safe. Both men finally convinced her to get some sleep. When they weren’t back the next morning Lauren knew something was wrong. After they had breakfast Lauren, Farooq, and Bradshaw all walked down to see Vince. When they walked in Vince looked like he was about to faint. Without a word he extended the note he had in his hand to her. She took it from his now trembling hand and read it.

Now you see the power of we. The brothers three are now with me. The time to fight has come and where will they be? Locked in my basement watching most unjoyiously.

Vince finally spoke when she looked at him horrified.

“ The pay per view is two days away.”

“ We’ll get them back by then.”

“ I can’t let you go after them. It’s to big of a risk.”

“ You’re not getting a choice. This is my family that makes it my problem. I’m going to have to make a few phone calls first.” Vince watched her pull out Kane’s cell phone and begin to call different people. When the three of them left Lauren saw the guy that had been watching them on the plane. She spent the remainder of the afternoon packing, making them think she was heading back to Kane’s. She tripped them up at the airport allowing her to get on a plane bound for Key West.

Shane slammed his fist onto the table glaring at Stasiak, and Morris.

“ How could you lose her?”

“ We thought she was heading to Tennessee.”

“ Where did she go?”

“ Key West.”

“ You said she was in Vince’s office for an hour?”

“ Yeah with the Acolytes.”

“ She’s up to something.”

“ Maybe she took her chance to get away. I mean Taker did have to bring her back by force.”

“ I grew up with her, believe me when I say she’s up to something.”

“ What do you want us to do?”

“ I want you to go down to Key West, find her and bring her back. The pay per view is in two days. I don’t want this to be fucked over because a twenty-two year old girl outsmarted us.” Sean Taker and Kane all listened. When Shane left Shane began to laugh. Morris took offence and walked up to the door glaring at him.

“ What’s so damn funny?”

“ You all actually thinking you’ll catch her. Even if you do find her house in the Key’s she’ll be long gone by the time you get there.”

“ She can’t hide for forever.”

“ Oh yes she can. If she can hide from her own father and outwit some of the best bounty hunters in this country for three straight years then I think she can hide from you two. Shane might have grown up with her, but he has no clue as to who he’s fucking with.” Kane smiled behind his mask.

Daniel sat in the armchair in Laurens bedroom watching her pack. He had been her neighbor for three years and had never once seen her this rushed.

“ You’re sure you want to do this?”

“ Yes, now if they show up looking for me…”

“ Yeah yeah I know standard drill. You’ve gone to visit your Aunt in Ireland. Now if you want to get on your plane before it leaves the gate then we need to leave now.” She slammed the suitcase shut and looked at him.

“ Lets go.”  They walked to they car and headed back up to the airport. Lauren rode laying down in the backseat to insure that no one saw her.

Paul Bearer rushed to his front door wondering what all the fuss was about. He opened the to see a young woman standing behind it.

“ Who are you and what do you want?”

“ Paul its Lauren, Taker’s kid?”

“ Laurie? Where in the hell have you been? Do you realize that you have driven this family nuts for years now?”

“ I’ve been a little bit of everywhere. I need your help.” He thought about it for a moment before letting her in.

“ What do you need?”

“ Dad, Kane, and Sean have been kidnapped by the Alliance and we only have two days to get them back.”

“ Kidnapped? Sweetheart it would be a little hard to kidnap your dad and uncle.” She pulled out the note and handed it to him. After he read it he looked at her again. “ I stand corrected. Do you at least have a plan?”

“ Yeah but I’m going to need a little distraction.”

“ Well there’s no one better at that than me.”

Paul stood in the hotel room placing the finishing touches on his suit. Being a door-to-door mortician would be a challenge but he knew he could easily pull it off. Lauren was finishing packing her bag of tricks. One of many illegal arts the boys had helped her master was breaking and entering.

“ Do we have a signal?”

“ No, but if things are going badly stomp your foot three times. That’ll let me know I need to get out.”

“ Right.”

“ Try to get everyone in the house in the room.”

“ Can’t guarantee anything but I’ll try.”

“ Ok let’s go.”

 Lauren watched from the neighboring yard as Paul infiltrated the house.

“ Can I help you?”

“ Sir have you ever given a thought to how you want your final farewell?”

“ Well um not really no.”

“ If I may be permitted a few precious minutes of you and the fine occupants of this home’s time.”

“ Sure.”

Lauren watched him go inside and then crept around to the back of the house. She had pin pointed where all the surveillance cameras were. Carefully avoiding them she came around to the room that her family was being held in. There was one member of the alliance down there. She waited till he went up the stair before using acid to melt off the locks on the window and slip in. Kane, Taker, or Sean didn’t notice her. She hid in the shadows until the guy came back down. Wetting a cloth with chloroform. When he stepped close to her she sealed it over his nose and mouth and waited till he collapsed. That’s when her family noticed. She put her finger to her lips telling them to be quiet. Silently removing the keys she tossed them to them and crept up the stairs that lead right into the living room. She gave Paul a signal he turned as if to look for something but slipping on a gas mask. Lauren then threw a homemade grenade full of knock out gas into the room. She shut the door pushing a towel under the door to stop it from seeping down into the basement. She went back down the stairs and breathed a sigh of relief.

“ Ok I think we’re good.” A knock on the door got her attention. Sara came down behind her smacking Lauren in the back with a lead pipe. Lauren cringed and looked at her family.

“ I’ve got her, go help Paul.” Before Taker could get out Sara kicked the door closed pulling the keys out of the lock. Sara made another lunge at Lauren but Lauren blocked it and gave Sara a hard knee to the abdomen and then the head. Lauren went for the keys but Sara gave her a good punch to the head knocking Lauren back. Taker had come to the door trying to get out. He wanted to help Lauren.

“ You meddling little bitch. Thought you would just sneak in here and get them out?”

“ Yes as a matter fact I will.” Sara had backed Lauren up behind the boiler and placed her hand on the lever.

“ Actually you won’t make it out of this room.” Lauren saw what was about to happen and moved out of the way. Sara pushed the lever down causing fire to erupt from the boiler catching Laurens left arm as she went down. Taker began to kick at the door desperately trying to get out. Sara turned her attention back to Taker.

“ Wouldn’t be the first time someone in this sick family died in a fire.” Lauren crawled out cradling her arm. She stood up and placed Sara in a chokehold.

“ I’m not that easy to kill.” Sara still had the lead pipe in hand. She came back with it knocking Lauren square in the ribs forcing her to let go. She land next to the keys and scooped them up before Sara could stop her. In one movement Lauren threw the keys to her father and ran up the stairs forcing Sara to follow. The fire from the boiler had set the opposite wall on fire and the rest of the house. Taker let himself out and pursued the two women. Lauren stood at the top of the staircase with Sara lowly climbing it. Taker reach it in time to see it give way. Sara jumped for the top and grabbed it. She was now dangling over flames. Lauren was trapped and Taker saw the floor about the give beneath them.

“ Laurie! Jump! I’ll catch you.” Lauren looked down at Sara and then put her good hand down.

“ Give me your hand, we can jump together.” Sara responded by smashing Laurens other hand with the lead pipe. Because of the strike the wood Sara was holding onto snapped off plunging her into the blaze below. Lauren jumped as the balcony gave landing her fathers arms. They rushed out of the house towards the waiting paramedics.

Taker stood in the icu looking down at his wife. She had been badly burned and would need professional care for the rest of her days. She looked up at him. All he could do was ask one question, why? Her response was to turn her head away. He then walked down to another room, Laurens. Kane and Sean were sitting on opposite sides of her trying to help feed her seeing as both her hands were bandaged. Paul was trying not to laugh. She was dressed and ready to head out. The doctors had asked her to finish her lunch before she left.

“ You sure you don’t want to come to Texas with me?”

“ Positive, I want to go home.” He let out a sigh of defeat. For the first time in a long time they were a family. “ But that doesn’t mean you all can’t come stay with me.”

“ All of us?”

“ Yeah, you’re my family and I think it’s time we did something as a family.”

The family returned to home together stronger than before. The father visited the wicked stepmother despite her repeated protests. Very gradually the daughter allowed him back into her life and the son was once again welcomed and they all lived happily ever after.