CHAPTER 17

The fact that Mark and Will –or Mina, depending on who you were- hooked up surprised absolutely nobody. The fact that they had done it the very next night after Maria and Will had broken up was a bit of a scandal. It made people wonder if the pair had been sneaking behind Maria's back.

Of course, Mark and Will didn't care what other people thought, neither of them ever had.

"You bastard, you cheated on Maria!"

Will rolled her grey eyes, glancing up at Mark who just shook his head. "Sure, Melina, because you weren't hoping we'd break up anyways, right?"

Melina half smiled, her dark eyes cruel. "Well, yeah, but still. That doesn't give you the right to hurt her."

"Newsflash bitch, she broke up with me and since you care so goddamn much, why don't you take advantage and go fuck her since that's obviously what you want?"

"You… I-"

"Well? You've been jealous since she got with me so the only thing I can figure is either you want Maria so here's your chance, get on it."

Mark watched in amusement as Melina's face started turning different colors. "Ready Mina?"

"Yep."

***

"So you're with Mark now? I could have sworn you were with um, Chris." Shane said, looking confused. He studied Will from his place behind his makeshift desk of the night, watching as she idly picked her fingernails.

"What brought you to that conclusion?" She drawled, not looking up, comfortably sprawled in a metal folding chair.

"The way you two are together. The fact that you let him call you Mina…"

"Well, we're not." She was definitely smiling now.

"Okay… so you and Mark…" Shane groaned, rubbing his temples. He could already feel the headache that was going to bring on. "How fun."

***

"How was your night?" Mark asked as they were leaving, walking out of the arena; hand in hand.

"Interesting. The minions applauded me for making a better choice, I hadn't realized my love life was any of their business." But she didn't sound angry about it so much as amused. "Though now they're taking bets to see who kills who first."

"Why?"

"Because between us, we got too many sets of balls."

"Yeah, well, so long as you don't try to get behind me and-"

"Fuck you like a bitch?" She suggested wryly.

"Yeah, then we'll be just fine."

"You MIGHT like it though."

Mark looked down at her, freezing in place, one eyebrow arching. "Speaking from experience, darlin'?"

"Possibly." Will wiggled her eyebrows, laughing when he seemed to consider it. "Get me drunk and we'll talk about it."

"Hey lovebirds!'

"Chris!" Will darted forward to hug him, laughing when he lifted her off the floor.

Mark watched them curiously. Yes, it did look like they were lovers, if you didn't look too closely anyway. Then it dawned on him, especially when Will giggled in a very un-Willish manner at something the blond was whispering in her ear. "You're ga-"

"Glad to see you, yes." Chris interrupted with a scowl.

Will put a finger to her lips, shaking her head.

Chris was gay.

One part of Mark was relieved, the other found this funny and just a teensy, tiny part of him said not to present his back to Chris. But that was just a tiny part, he wasn't prejudiced against gay people. Obviously.

"I'll catch you later." Chris said, glancing at Mark. "You can explain it to him." He trusted Mark not to be blabbing his secret all over the locker room as he had a reputation to uphold and even though a lot of people were tolerant when it came to lesbians, there was always going to be squeamish pricks when it came to gay men.

"Sure, sure." Will agreed, nodding and kissed his cheek before catching Mark's hand. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I still got to get you drunk."

"Do I dare ask why?" Chris asked, cringing when they both shook their heads no. "That bad huh?"

Mark cleared his throat, biting down a comment.

"Let's just say you're not invited." Will grinned, leaning back into Mark and sighed comfortably when he wrapped his arms around her midsection.

Chris stepped back to watch them walk away, smiling slightly.

***

Over the next year, Mark and Will surprised a lot of people. First and foremost, they lasted past the three month mark a lot of people were betting on. Granted, they fought worse than a usual couple did but for the most part, they also got on better than most.

They each had control issues, they both liked being the one to 'wear the pants' and that was a problem throughout the first six month. Eventually, they learned to compromise.

Especially when Glenn pointed out that being in a relationship wasn't about who could control who or who could dominate. It was about respect, trust and compromise.

So even though they had both punched him for the arrogant tone he had said it in, they'd taken it to heart.

***

"Oh fuck you."

Mina grinned, flipping her black hair over her shoulder and snorted; revving the engine of her Hayabusa. "I told you, fastest bike in the world."

"That is NOT a motorcycle."Mark said through gritted teeth, not sure if she could hear him but the way she started laughing told him she had read his lips. He gunned his Harley, the roar drowning out the snarls of her… crotch rocket.

Mina just shrugged, letting him have a head start. They were currently at his ranch in Texas, racing on the mostly empty roads. He had insulted her motorcycle and in turn, she had challenged him to a race. So far, she was winning. Yawning, she began counting backwards from ten before taking off; eyes narrowing behind her sunglasses as she rode up on him.

Mark glanced over his shoulder and cursed.

Smirking, she pulled alongside of him, ignoring the dirty look he shot her. That would teach him to belittle her bike, crotch rocket indeed. How they managed to not kill each other was beyond her but they did it.

They chased each other all over the county, finally arriving back at his place around dusk.

"I win." She laughed as she dismounted, watching Mark walk his Harley into the garage and followed behind; pushing the Hayabusa. At first he had told her there was no way that 'kiddie toy' could be housed next to his all American, powerful Harley but…

She had won that battle.

That and it was hard to call anything a kiddie toy when it literally had you eating dust.

"Alright smartass, you're done." Mark growled after they were finished wiping down their bikes, watching as Mina purposely paid specific attention to cleaning the gas tank. "Hahaha…"

"I gotta make sure this baby will kick your ass again." She dead panned, winking at him.

Once they had found their balance, things went smoother. No longer were they jockeying for 'position' so to speak like they had at the beginning. Which was probably a relief to those around them as their fights were always explosive and sometimes even violent.

Not that they hit each other or anything, but they weren't opposed to breaking their own hands on an inanimate object or hurling things at the walls. Mickie and Kelly often teased them about being the same person only split in two they were that much alike.

It was the fact that they were so much alike that made people think that even a month would be a miracle if they made it that far of course. So a year was definitely a shocker. Shane had even jokingly suggested they make a Slammy just for the pair.

Jokingly, of course.

"What's for dinner wench?" Mark yawned as they headed inside, knowing damn well Mina was very likely to hurl a wrench at his head or something.

"Your ass if you call me a wench or even think of assigning me kitchen duty ever again." She replied sweetly, pinching his ass not so nicely. "So… honey, what's for dinner?"

Mark whirled around, staring down at her. A second later, he had tossed Mina over his shoulder and was carrying her towards the bedroom. "You."

***

"Hey Shane, you wanted to see me?" Mina asked with a grin as she walked into Shane's office. She was mildly curious just why he had requested she actually come to Titan Towers but… It couldn't be anything too bad, she hadn't assaulted or harassed anyone lately.

Besides Mark and that didn't count.

Shane offered a tense smile, standing up to greet her. Instead of the customary handshake, he pulled her in for a hug.

Mina was mildly surprised at this but just returned it. "Okay… did someone die?" She half joked, pulling back to stare into his eyes, frowning when he shook his head but still looked tense.

"Well, Will, good to see you again."

Mina rolled her eyes when she heard Stephanie's voice from one of the chairs that were facing the window, glancing over and seen the back of the chair. A glance at the floor told her someone was sitting in the chair beside her.

"Actually, Wilehmina goes by just Mina now." Shane corrected, ignoring the two snorts from the chairs, groaning softly.

"What's going on?" Mina demanded, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her black jeans, neon blue eyes narrowing. Whatever Stephanie was doing here wasn't good, that much was obvious thanks to Shane's odd behavior.

"I've been put in charge of recruiting new talent." Came Stephanie's smug voice from her chair, still not turning to look at them.

"Hope you're better at that then running a damn show." Mina snorted.

"I think so. Wait until you see the new talent I just hired."

She folded her arms over her chest, watching with a grim mouth as Stephanie stood up and wasn't surprised when hostile blue eyes met hers. "Well, don't keep me in suspense, princess." She said sarcastically.

"Of course not." Stephanie glanced down at her newfound 'talent', the beginning of an evil smirk on her carefully made up face. "Mrs. Bautista…"

Mina bristled at her married name, having promptly changed it back to Maron after her divorce.

"Meet our new superstar."

Shane was there to steady her when she actually teetered as her ex-husband, David Bautista rose from the chair.

"Mina." He said, his voice a low rumble, brown eyes fastening with hers. "Good to see you again."

All Mina could do was stare at him.

Shane shook his head, shooting daggers from his eyes at his bitch sister.

"Oh, by the way, since you're now head of the audio department, you'll need to work with David on a theme." Stephanie added oh so sweetly.

Cracking her neck, Mina turned and walked out of the office, letting the door close quietly behind her.

Looking disgusted, Shane followed.

Stephanie looked up at Bautista, still smiling when she seen he was staring at the door with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Oh yes, it looked like Will, or Mina, whoever the hell she was at the moment was going to have a rough time ahead of her.

Stephanie giggled.

THE END