Part 23

"And that was...?" Scott asked quietly when it appeared as though Sean wasn't going to say anything else.

Sean turned to Scott looking slightly startled as if he'd forgotten there were others in the room. "That was the night that Shawn came back...to announce that he was resigning as Commissioner in favor of becoming the official spokesperson for the fed. Hunter and I were walking through the halls early during the show and we happened to see Shawn talking to Chris. This was after Chris' match and Shawn had come back after supposedly taking off in the limo. Hunter was pretty ticked off that they were talking and went to toss a few things around in the dressing room."

Sean turned a bit to look at Shawn as he started the next part of his story. "I don't know if Shawn remembers at all, but we caught up to him just before the Benoit/Rock match. Hunter asked Shawn if they could get together to talk and I walked away to give them some privacy. Apparently Shawn told Hunter that he had plans for later that night."

Shawn bit his lower lip lightly then gave Sean a half-smile before answering him. "When I left I didn't want to talk to Hunter at all. He called me every day for six weeks after that and left the same message on my machine. That he was sorry he'd said what he had...that he hadn't meant to say it. I finally got tired of it, so when he called the next time I told him I didn't want to talk to him. I told him if he called again I'd take off so no one could find me. I wouldn't have actually done it, but it seemed to work as far as threats go. I told him he'd have to wait until I came back, then if he wanted to talk we would see where we stood. It took almost nine months before I finally let Vince convince me to come back and do a show. When he asked to talk that night I just wasn't ready...so I told him I had plans. I actually spent that night in my hotel room by myself."

"Well Hunter assumed for some reason that your plans included Chris." Shawn was clearly startled by this information. He was looking at Sean, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.

"Why would he just assume that? Because I was talking to Chris at some point earlier in the night? If I remember correctly, I talked to him for all of three minutes to tell him he'd done well with the three matches the week before. Chris was pretty ticked off because Benoit interfered in his match so he didn't stick around to talk very long."

"I don't know Shawn." Sean said with a shrug. "All I know is that he said you blew him off for Chris. He was swearing a blue streak all the way to the curtain and then he went out to help Benoit. Chris came out a minute or two later to help Rock. Chris put Hunter in the 'Walls' while they were out there. When we got back to the locker room Hunter was livid. He swore that he was going to bury Chris' career because he kept sticking his nose in where he shouldn't. I thought I'd managed to calm him down before we left the arena for the hotel, but apparently I was wrong..." Sean said quietly and then he seemed to draw into himself for a moment.

The others waited and Chris, knowing what was coming next, gently squeezed Sean in support. Chris found that he needed the contact himself as well. His head was whirling with what Sean had just said. He'd had no clue that he had been part of the reason for Hunter's anger that night, but he did know what the end result had been. He felt more than partially responsible for what had happened even if he'd had no clue what was going on. Maybe if he hadn't talked to Shawn that night or maybe if he hadn't went out and put Hunter in the "Walls" things would have been different. Realizing that Sean still hadn't spoken, Chris leaned in and whispered in his ear, "You okay?"

Sean shook his head and seemed to curl into himself. "I don't think I can...can you...can you tell them, please?"

Chris didn't really want to be the one to explain this, but Sean was asking for his help. Maybe if he could do this for Sean it would assuage some of the guilt he was feeling even though he knew he wasn't to blame. "Yeah. If that's what you want." Sean nodded slowly and Chris held him a bit tighter once more as he started to tell the others what he knew of that night.

"Sean called me that night at about 3 a.m. I wasn't even sure who it was at first because I could barely hear him when he spoke. All I could hear was someone saying 'help me' over and over. I told him that I would be glad to help if he would tell me who he was and where he was at. Then he said 'It's Sean. Room 202' and that was it before he hung up. So I ran down to room 202 and by some miracle the door was unlocked. When I walked through the door, I wasn't sure what I was going to find so I walked in really slowly. From just inside the door I could see a big reddish-brown streak in the middle of the carpet. I thought that maybe someone had spilled something until I noticed the bright red spots dotting the carpet right in front of me. I turned and looked into the bathroom and Sean was lying in there on the tile floor on his stomach." Chris shuddered slightly as he remembered the scene in his head. At first he'd thought Sean was dead because he was so still. Every once in awhile after that night he'd had dreams about finding Sean lying there, but thankfully they'd faded after time.

Chris took a deep breath and continued on. "I went in and turned him over and he was barely conscious. His...his face was covered in blood and it was smeared on the tile where he'd been laying. I thought there was a spot under his shirt that was bleeding as well, but I wasn't sure because it could have been from the broken nose or the cut on his scalp. I wanted to call for an ambulance but he wouldn't let me. He refused to even consider going to the hospital and I thought about just picking him up and taking him anyway, but I didn't want to break his trust in case...in case he ever needed to call me again. So I washed his face, which was swollen in spots and starting to show a few bruises, then checked to see if he needed stitches. I thought that maybe he should have them but I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else I needed to worry about first so I checked for other injuries. He had a shallow cut on his chest underneath his shirt but the bleeding seemed to be close to stopping. There were... bruises already starting to show...some a deep purplish color and others that were only a bright red at that point."

Sean whimpered quietly and Chris realized that he'd unconsciously tightened his arms around him to the point of being painful. "Sorry Sean."

"'S okay." Sean whispered quietly and shifted a bit to get comfortable again.

"He had bruises on his hips and legs as well in varying shades. I got him cleaned up the best I could and helped him out to the bed. I ended up calling one of the trainers to do the stitches since he still refused to go to the hospital. It took eight stitches to close the cut along his hairline. He told me Hunter had been drinking and went off on him. He wasn't sure why. Apparently he knocked him out and left him laying on the carpet for awhile which accounted for the big stain. Then when he came to, Hunter started in on him again before storming out of the room and leaving him there. He managed to crawl over to the phone and call me, then drag himself to the bathroom before he collapsed again. There was blood splattered all over the walls and the comforter. I stayed an extra two days in Cleveland until he could get up and move enough on his own to get on a plane. I tried to talk him into speaking to Vince about it, but he wouldn't. That's all I know."

"Christ, Sean. Why didn't you call me? You know I would have come to help you." Shawn was clearly bewildered as to why Sean would call Chris instead of him.

"You had told Hunter you had plans. I didn't think you would be in your room...and I was pretty sure you weren't with Chris. He was really pissed off that night and he likes to be alone when he's angry. Although looking back on it now I'm not sure he wouldn't have accepted an invitation if you'd extended one." Sean said with a cocky grin. It was obvious that he'd managed to slip behind his hyperactive mask again. Chris wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but as long as Sean made it through Chris wasn't going to question it.

"It was safe to call Chris. Glen was already gone because he had a promotional appearance the next day. I wouldn't have called him anyway, because as soon as he figured out I was all right he would have gone and killed Hunter. I wouldn't have called you anyway Shawn. It would have just started a fight with you and Hunter and I didn't want to be the cause of that. That was the whole reason he hit me to begin with...because I wouldn't call you."

"Why did he want you to call me? I don't understand, Sean."

"He knew if he called you that you wouldn't change your mind. He wanted me to call because he thought if I called and asked to see you, that you'd change your plans and show up at my door. I told him no because I didn't want to be a part of trying to manipulate you. He didn't like my answer."

"I would have, you know. If you'd called and wanted to see me, I would have been there right away. You should have just called me Sean. It wasn't worth you going through that."

"I didn't know he was going to do that Shawn, but it wouldn't have mattered. I wasn't going to let him use me to get to you. He had started drinking Tequila as soon as we got back to the room. I was pretty sure if you showed up, that you two were going to fight. I tried to talk him into waiting until the next show. You know what he's like when he's been drinking that shit. Even if you were there, the two of us wouldn't have been able to take him down." Shawn nodded in acknowledgment. When Hunter was drinking hard liquor he could get pretty damn mean. If Kevin could barely handle him at those times, then the two of them wouldn't have had much of a chance.

"He insisted I call you and when I refused he belted me. I thought the smart thing to do would be to get out of there and let him take it out on the room, expensive but less painful. Except I didn't make it to the door. He grabbed me by the hair and that was the last thing I was conscious of for an hour or so. I woke up on the floor with him standing over me. He asked me again if I would call you and I said no. I'm pretty sure the cut on my forehead was there from the first round because of all the blood that was on the floor, but he reopened it or made it worse when he kicked me the second time around. He kicked me a few more times and then he left. I called Chris and then made it into the bathroom before I passed out."

Sean and Chris watched as Kevin stood up and walked over to the phone. "Kev? What are you doing?" Sean was seriously confused as to why he was going to make a phone call at that particular moment. Especially since he still had a bit more to tell them.

"Calling the airlines."

Sean's eyes widened considerably. "I know where you are probably going, but it won't do any good Kev. He won't care."

"Maybe, maybe not. It'll make me feel better though once he's in traction." The fact that Kevin spoke with no inflection at all was just a little bit scary. Chris would almost be happier if he was yelling. He knew how to deal with 'irate screaming Kevin', but 'calm seemingly cool I'm going to beat someone until they can't move and enjoy every minute of it Kevin' was a whole other story.

"Kev...can you at least wait until we get everything out in the open before you go flying off?" Sean said quietly. That at least seemed to grab his attention.

Kevin turned to look at him, his eyes wide. "You mean there's more yet? Beating the hell out of you wasn't enough?"

"Look Kev...yes I was pissed off about that, but that was nothing really. Sure there was the physical pain and the whole betrayal issue, but that's nothing compared to the fact that he messed with my relationship with Glen. Hell I'd love to kick the shit out of him for that alone. That hurt me more than any beating he could have given me. Because of him I lost someone that meant the world to me. That is why I stopped talking to him...it wasn't because he hit me." Sean looked at Kevin, his eyes pleading for the big man to wait until they were done talking.

Kevin nodded and went to sit back down. "Okay Sean. We'll do it your way. I might as well hear the rest of it before I go and beat his ass black and blue."

Shawn rolled his eyes knowing that he'd have to take issue with that later, but first he needed to ask Sean about something that was bugging him about Sean's assault. "Sean, before you get into that...I was there for a pay per view the Sunday following...that night. How did I not notice that you were beat to hell?"

"Probably because Tori is really good with body makeup and I was kind of hiding from you until after my match. I figured I could blame it on the Dudleys if I needed to. You couldn't see the stitches because they were buried under my hair. Then after the match I came back to the locker room and you and Hunter were fighting. So I hid out until the pay per view was over and then I went back to Jesse's room with him for the night. I didn't want to risk him going off on me again that soon. That kind of became habit. Jesse played alibi for me a whole hell of a lot. Most importantly I made sure he wouldn't find out about Glen."

"Things went well after that. Hunter was too busy with other things for awhile. Then I got hurt and was out for three months. I was almost happy about it because Glen came to visit me at home as often as he could and we didn't have to deal with Hunter. I was feuding with Chris when I came back and between Chris and Justin they had me covered for whenever I was with Glen. That's another thing I owe Chris for." Sean smiled over his shoulder at Chris. "Not too long after I came back Hunter tore his quad. The time he was out was the happiest time I had during my entire tenure with the fed. It wasn't real smart I suppose, but Glen and I were a little less careful about being seen together. That turned out to be a big mistake, because when Hunter came back he must have heard rumors about us. He never said anything to me about it, so I thought I was safe. Damn was I wrong."

"That was about the time you guys came back as the nWo. It made things simpler. You guys kept Hunter out of my hair because he was spending all his time with you and I made excuses to be somewhere else. I didn't like lying about it, but I didn't see any other choice. Then came the roster split. I was happy that Hunter ended up on Smackdown. I felt bad for feeling that way, but I thought it would be so much easier without him looking over my shoulder the whole time. The only problem is that he already knew. The final Smackdown before the roster split is when Hunter must have decided he'd had enough of me sneaking around behind his back."

"That was the night we wrestled Glen, Rock, and Hogan. I fought so hard not to laugh in front of you guys when Glen did his Hogan and Rock impersonations. After our match I went to the locker room and changed and then I headed off to Glen's to see him for a few minutes figuring no one would miss me. Only when I got there I got a surprise instead...Rob Van Dam sprawled naked across one of the benches. I got pissed off and let my mouth run. About that time Glen walked back into the room from the showers and I leveled him with a few nasty comments as well. He stood there and tried to tell me he didn't know what was going on, but I wouldn't listen. I told him we were through and then I left."

"And you think Hunter set it up with Rob?" Scott asked quietly. He was more than ready for whatever Sean was about to tell them. At this point there were very few things he would believe Hunter incapable of doing to get what he wanted.

"I don't think...I know. Kev got suspended on the show the next week to cover the time he needed off for his bicep injury. We did the spot where I took Kane's mask because it had already been planned and Vince insisted. Glen tried to talk to me again that week, but I refused to even listen. That weekend he tore his bicep too. He was going to be gone for four months and all I could think was 'thank god I won't have to see him.' Less than two months later I found out something that made me wish I had listened to Glen all along. You see I happened to hear Benoit talking to RVD one night. Seems Rob was pissed off because Hunter had something on him and Hunter had used it to make him do a few things he was very unhappy about...one of those being pretending that he was fucking Glen. That's when I realized it was all Hunter's plan. He fucking blackmailed Rob so that he could split us up. I know I'm just as much to blame for not trusting Glen, but if he had kept his nose out of things it wouldn't have been an issue."

"Scott had been fired two weeks before that so Kev...you were completely out of it. I wasn't going to burden you with what I found out. Shawn came back the next week. I was happy to see him, but I didn't want to lay all this on him when he'd just come back. I tried to call Glen and apologize, but he was too pissed off to listen to me. I didn't even get to explain about Rob. About a month after all this happened was when Kev tore his quad and they dissolved the nWo. Vince said they didn't have much planned for me and I was too miserable to give a shit so I asked for my release. I wanted to get myself back together. It didn't work so well for the first seven or eight months...as you all well know. I'm pretty sure that's why Shawn went to see Hunter the night Chris delivered his letter. And so we come full circle to where this tale began."

"Well...not quite." Chris really hated to do this, but apparently there were a few more things he still needed to tell them. Some good, some bad. He just hoped that for Sean the good would outweigh the bad. "There are a few more things I need to tell you about. On Smackdown the week before Shawn came back Hunter was really pissed. He lost his match to Test of all people and then Mark leveled him with a pretty nasty chair-shot. I think Glen may have told him a bit about what had been going on with Sean and what Hunter had done to him in the past because Mark seemed to hit him stiff a lot back then for no apparent reason. Anyway the point is...One of my friends and I happened to hear him having a rather loud discussion with Vince that night. He told Vince that wanted 'the other two' gone and if Vince didn't take care of it then he would take care of it himself by any means necessary. He said he didn't want 'them' in the way and if he had to he'd have 'them' taken out. He also reminded Vince that he wouldn't want his little secret getting out. So apparently Rob wasn't the only blackmail victim."

"We thought maybe he meant Test and Mark, but when Vince answered, he cleared it up for us. He said that he'd try telling Sean they didn't have anything with creative for him right then and see if he could talk Sean into leaving. Apparently it worked but only because Sean was already miserable. Vince also said it would take longer to get rid of the other one because they needed him for stuff they already had set up. So I'm guessing if Kev here hadn't torn his quad, he would have been dispensable as well. With Kev out injured he wasn't really a threat at the time. I also know that Vince didn't offer to renew your contract when it came due. I don't know for sure if that's because of Hunter or because of your surgery status, but I wouldn't rule either option out."

"So not only did Hunter ruin my relationship, but he planned on tanking my career as well if I hadn't left on my own? Who the hell needs enemies when I have such a great friend? Shooting me would have been a whole hell of a lot less painful." Sean was clearly pissed off about this little piece of news, but he didn't seem too surprised. Chris figured he was going to handle it okay after all. Which should make the good news all the better, he hoped.

"I can't believe he got this out of control without us noticing. Hell I knew he was mercenary, but I thought that maybe he'd draw the line at taking his friends out along the way. He's lied to us and manipulated us all for years and we were all blind to it. Fuck. He was the first one to tout the old "we're not just friends, we're family" line whenever we were questioned about defending each other. Apparently that only fucking applies when it comes to us defending him. Tell me again why I'm not on my way to beat his ass right now?" Kevin's moods seemed to deviate rather swiftly. He sounded tired now and quite emotionally worn.

"Maybe because Sean's right, Kev. Beating him won't do any good. That's why Chris and I came up with a plan of sorts. Physical pain isn't going to hurt him, but taking away the things he wants, making sure he can't get them back...that's the only thing that's going to get through to him. Obviously I was one of the things that he wanted, unfortunately for him I'm now off the market...at least I believe so," Shawn said with a smile as he looked at Chris.

"You know so...unless you've changed your mind?" Chris wasn't really worried about it because he was sure of Shawn's affections, but he still felt the need to clarify it.

"No way am I changing my mind...so I guess you are stuck with me." Shawn grinned brightly and then turned back to Kevin. "He was obviously trying to be careful with his plans so that he still had all of you to fall back on in case he gets in trouble. If you all cut ties with him then when the rest of the plan goes into effect he won't have anywhere to turn. All you have to do is not answer the phone if he calls. That should be hint enough. Then we find a way to take the title from him. I want to hold off on letting him know about Chris and I until after the title is gone. It will be safer for Chris that way. Then once Hunter's lost everything he's valued so much, maybe it will be a wake up call for him. If not, then you can beat the hell out of him and see if that clears things up for him. I wouldn't count on it though. So what do you say? Give us a chance to take him down a peg or two first?"

"I agree with Shawn. Hunter's not going to care about anything until he hits rock bottom," Scott said with a shrug. When he heard the groans and noticed the accompanying eye rolls, he sighed. "I didn't mean it literally, you idiots. I'm assuming the plan is to take the title at New Year's Revolution?"

"Yeah. That's the plan. Along with Chris, I'm pretty sure three of the other four guys will be on our side with this. Dave's the only wildcard and we're hoping to get him on our side too. We're going to lay the groundwork at Raw this Monday. If Dave won't agree, we'll just have to try to take him out of the equation." Shawn knew the odds were on their side, but he still wasn't sure which way Dave would lean. They wouldn't find out until they talked to him though so it was useless to speculate.

While Shawn was laying out the plan for Scott and Kevin, Chris decided to fill Sean in on the rest of what he had to say. He'd decided that maybe he should tell Sean and let him decide what to do with the news rather than announce it in front of the whole group. While the others were distracted he leaned in and whispered quietly in Sean's ear.

"Sean, I know you think things are hopeless with Glen, but I think you should call him," Chris said quietly while rubbing a soothing hand against Sean's stomach.

"It wouldn't do any good Chris. He wouldn't even listen to me when I tried the last time. I just have to face it...I lost him." Chris couldn't stand the pain lacing Sean's voice... it was heartbreaking.

"After Glen came back, I talked to him about what happened."

"You knew?" Sean shouldn't have been surprised. It seemed as if Chris knew a lot of things he hadn't expected him to know.

"Yeah. Benoit told me. He's a good friend. The point is...I talked to Glen. He said he wished he'd listened to you when you called. He was still too hurt because you didn't believe him. Once I explained things he understood where you were coming from though. He still talks about you a lot...at least to me. I think if you called him, he might be willing to talk. Is it worth a chance to get him back?"

"Of course he's worth it." Sean said a bit indignantly as if Chris should never have questioned it.

Chris pulled out his cell phone and handed it to Sean. "He's number five on the speed dial. Go make that call...and take your time. Just be honest with him Sean."

Sean turned and flung himself at Chris, at least as much as he was able to with Chris sitting down. "Thanks," he whispered in the other man's ear before pulling away. His bouncy movements finally drew the attention of Shawn, Scott, and Kevin who were looking at him rather oddly. He smiled shyly as he backed towards the door to the room. "I've got a phone call to make that's way past due. I'll be back in awhile."

"Now where is he going?" Kevin asked bemusedly.

Scott smacked Kevin in the arm while smiling indulgently at him. "I'd say he's going to get his heart back."

"What?" Kevin asked, still clearly out of the loop.

"Sheesh, Chico. He's going to call Glen, you big blond assclown."

"Gimmick infringement!" Shawn and Chris shouted simultaneously before they both started laughing.

"Scott? Please never, ever use that word in my presence again." Kevin said with a shudder, which prompted more laughter from Chris and Shawn. "So, since we have all the nasty stuff out of the way now does that mean we can get back to the fun stuff?" Kevin asked while wiggling his brows.

"Is that all he ever thinks about?" Chris asked, only half facetiously.

Shawn and Scott looked at each other then back to Chris. "Yes." They said in stereo before all three of them started laughing.

"Aww hell. It's gonna be pick on Kevin day again, isn't it?" Kevin scowled at the other three who seemed to find his question highly amusing.

"Of course it is Kev." Scott said as he reached over and pinched the big man's cheeks. "It's what we all live for."

Read Chapter Twenty Four of Undelivered