Title: This Can’t Be Right
Author: Luna
E-mail: ambersgrrl@yahoo.com
Feedback: Yes please!
Genre: Buffy/WWE
Rating: NC-17 (Don’t know if it will actually be necessary but I *always* try to err on the side of caution)
Archive: Luna’s Night Moves,
Tainted Fiction,
WWE_ATS_BTVS, Full Moon Romper Room,
anyone else please just ask, I’ll probably say yes.
Pairings: Willow/Batista
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, the WB, and UPN own all rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and do not authorize this author. Like wise Vince McMahon owns the WWE. Nothing is being gained from this, except a need to pass the time.
Summary: A wild night in Vegas leads to some unforeseen consequences. Can they find their way or will they end up destroying one another in the process.
Spoilers: In my mind season seven never happened. The only thing that DID happen was that Willow went to England to gain control of her powers. As for the WWE I’m just going to be making up things as I go along because it’s been quite some time since I’ve had the chance to watch it.
Author’s Note: I’d
like to take this time to remind everyone that the legal age of consent in the
United States of America is indeed 18.
However I needed a hook for this story and with some exceptions all the
proceedings that you will hear about from here on out are fictitious. PLEASE IF THAT BOTHERS YOU STOP READING
NOW!!!
Anything else: I’m using these characters as I see fit. I’d say that because of that it would qualify as AU, but I’m not going to be going against the nature(s) of those involved. At least I hope I’m not. Any comments are welcome as long as they’re constructive.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
“You… You were?” Willow asked cautiously.
“Yes, we were.” answered the woman. Her smile didn’t falter a bit. It put the young woman at ease. It was the kind of smile that her Nana had bestowed upon her before her parents had decided that the old woman spoiled Willow and stopped visiting.
The waiter chose that moment to come back to their table. “Will you be joining them this morning?” he inquired politely.
“Yes we will.” the older man stated brusquely.
The waiter brought over two more chairs and waited while the new couple settled themselves. The other woman sat next to Willow while the gentleman, and she used that term loosely, sat next to her husband. It was unnerving to have his intense gaze on her. However, she had tutored most of the jocks in high school. She could deal with his scrutiny.
Dave waited until after the waiter had left before he turned to the man on his left. “What do you want Vince?” he demanded.
Willow’s eyes blazed and before she’d even had time to think about it she kicked the man across from her. His head jerked in her direction. His burning dark eyes settled on her. They locked gazes. The little red head was wearing a disapproving scowl. The wrestler frowned at the woman that had dared to lash out at him. A perfectly sculpted eyebrow rose at him. The young witch had faced down a hell goddess bent on opening a portal to her own world so one irate wrestler was not scaring her.
Batista turned his head away finally realizing that he wasn’t going to intimidate his petite wife. It was almost embarrassing that he couldn’t cow the young woman into submission. Almost. He knew that if they were going to have to stick this out for a while then she couldn’t be some weak willed woman. This business would chew her up and spit her out.
Musical laughter filled the café. Willow turned to the woman on her right. She offered her hand to the other woman. “I’m Willow.” She faltered. It hadn’t occurred to her to ask what her new last name was, a fact that she was dearly wishing she hadn’t overlooked.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Willow. I’m Linda McMahon, and the surly gentleman across from me is my husband Vince.” At the young woman’s blank look another laugh fell from Linda’s lips. “We’re Dave’s boss.”
“Don’t you mean bosses?” The red head asked.
“Boss, bosses. It all comes down to the same thing.” Vince said.
The older man’s attitude was quickly beginning to wear down Willow’s frazzled nerves. She had to bite her tongue to keep from snapping at the other man. Now she could see why Dave had been so short with the man before. If this was how he talked to everyone it was a wonder the man had ever gotten married.
“You said that you wanted to see us.” Batista interrupted before things could get ugly.
“Yes we did. We heard an interesting rumor this morning.” Linda said cheerfully.
Willow swallowed hard. Rumors, already! “Oh this is not good,” she thought frantically. “If his coworkers are already gossiping then there was no telling what kind of opinion people have about me.”
Batista could see the panic forming on his wife’s face. He felt the same sense of dread. “And just what have you heard?” he asked tightly.
“That Evolution’s strong man has found himself a brand spanking new bride.” Vince informed the stunned couple gleefully.
Both Willow and Dave groaned. Green eyes met brown. “Already?” she asked in a small voice.
“So it would seem.” He responded. He hated the dejected expression on her beautiful face. “Wait! Beautiful? Where did that thought come from,” he asked himself. The wrestler shoved that aside to be dealt with later. “We knew this would happen sooner or later. Better sooner rather than later right?”
“I guess,” she answered. “But did it have to be this soon? I mean we only found out this morning.” Willow complained then clamped her lips shut as her eyes shot wide.
Vince’s laugh filled the air. “Oh this one is going to be fun,” he thought as dollar signs danced in his head. Linda rolled her eyes at her husband having no trouble following his train of thought. The owner of the WWE could be so easy to read sometimes.
A man wearing dark blue jeans and a white button down shirt approached the foursome. He held a large yellow envelope and a manila file folder. His steel grey eyes looked at those assembled before handing over the items in his hand to Vince. The two spoke quietly. The other man nodded and walked away.
Willow looked at Vince inquisitively. Her natural curiosity was piqued. Her mind tried to come up with what could possibly be held in those items. It was a puzzle and she loved to solve puzzles. However, she knew from experience with men like Vince the older man would only reveal what he had when it suited him.
The owner of the WWE passed the envelope to Batista. “That contains a copy of your wedding ceremony, your license, and,” Vince paused, a laugh escaping him before he managed to get control of himself. “And your pictures.”
The red head closed her eyes, envisioning herself in jeans and a tee shirt with the brute that was her husband similarly dressed. Those she would be sure to burn at the very first opportunity. Reluctantly Willow raised her head and held her hand out for the envelope.
Batista hesitated only a moment before handing it over. He watched with some apprehension as his wife carefully opened the package and sifted through the contents. She put everything back in the envelope before slowly looking down at the pictures she now held in her hand.
A slow smile spread over Willow’s delicate features. Here was the proof that she was undoubtedly a married woman. She thanked whatever deity that had been watching over her that night. She had not been dressed in jeans, as she had feared. Instead she was dressed in a midnight blue strapless evening gown. Her red hair was a pile of curls artfully arranged around her face. The make-up, if indeed there was any, was well done and looked natural.
Dave looked good enough to eat. She blushed a little at that thought. His black suit was perfectly pressed and his shirt accented her dress flawlessly. The smile on her husband’s face in the photos was enough to melt her into a little puddle of goo right there at the table. She pulled herself together with some effort and showed them to him.
“We look good together,” was his first thought upon seeing the pictures. The second was, “Where the hell did she get that dress?” The problem was they had a lot of question and too few answers. Well, it looked like Vince and Linda had answers but what would it cost them to find out?
The wrestler handed the photos back to the witch. She placed them back in the envelope. When those green orbs met his dark gaze he could see the same questions in her eyes. They turned to the owners of the WWE. “Why did you go to all this trouble?” Willow asked bluntly.
“Want me to be honest?” Vince questioned. The red head nodded. “Two reasons. One, to make sure that it wasn’t another rumor that seem to come up from time to time around this business.”
“And the second?” Batista inquired when he failed to go on.
“The second,” Linda broke in. “Was once we knew it was true we found out about your legal trouble. So to help alleviate that there’s this.” The blonde opened the manila file folder and pushed it towards both Willow and Dave.
Willow could feel her brows pulling together. This couldn’t be right, could it? The more she read the more she disliked what she was seeing. As she neared the bottom of the first page she could feel the blood leave her face. Her breathing became rapid and shallow.
Seeing the distress Linda reached across the table and grabbed the young woman’s hand. “Willow, are you okay?” she asked gently.
The witch shook her head. This was like her worst nightmare come true. She was going to have to go out in front of thousands of people, not to mention all the ones that would be watching at home. Stage fright reared its ugly head. This was her senior year of high school all over again.
Batista grabbed Willow’s chin and forced her to look at him. “What is it? Tell me what’s wrong.” He implored.
“Stage fright,” she breathed. Her eyes were wide, showing a lot of white. They made her already large eyes seem that much bigger.
Vince noticed the panic in the young woman. There was something about her that made even the hardened Vincent Kennedy McMahon understanding. “Willow,” he said softly and he waited until her terrified gaze focused on him. “You’re not going to have to do this on a regular basis, just once or twice and we can drop it. But the media has already got a hold of this. We need to put this to bed and we can move on. Do you understand?”
Willow nodded slowly. The owner of the WWE reached across the table and took the young woman’s hand. “I know that this can’t be easy on you. Not only do you have to adjust to your relationship with Dave but also you’re entering an environment that has made most people doubt themselves. If you need anything, anything at all, just let me know.”
Linda gave her husband a grateful smile. It was times like these that reminded her why she was still with him after all this time. There was still a soft heart under that tough exterior and very few got to see it. With their business concluded the owners of the WWE excused themselves wishing the couple a good day.
The two young people stared at each other for a long while. Neither of them was really sure what to say now. It seemed that they didn’t really have a choice about what was happening. It was something that neither of them was used to. They were usually the ones in control while letting others think they were.
The young witch let out a heavy sigh turning her green eyes to Batista. “You know this really isn’t getting us anywhere.” She stated calmly.
Dave set his coffee cup down and regarded the young woman across from him. He folded his hands laying them on the table. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I said.” Willow responded. “We can’t sit here all day pretending that somehow the answer to the problem we face is just going to appear.” She tilted her head to the side a thoughtful look coming to her face. “At least I don’t think it will. You never can tell…I mean it’s not like we’re on the hell mouth.” She muttered more to herself than her companion.
Batista’s brows snapped together. “Excuse me?” He asked sure that he hadn’t heard her right.
The redhead shook herself, her emerald gaze refocusing on him. “Nothing. Never mind.” She replied waving her hand as if brushing the question aside. “What do we do now?”
His eyes narrowed on his wife. There was more going on here than she was letting on. He was willing to bet the next several paychecks on it. However, sensing that she wouldn’t tell him any more than she had, which was nothing, he let it go for the time being.
Casually he picked up his coffee taking a drink as he considered their options. She was right about one thing. They couldn’t hide here forever. Eventually they were going to have to face not only his coworkers but the public as well. Placing the cup back on the table he wiped his mouth and motioned for the check.
“Now, we’re going shopping.” He replied evenly.
If it was possible her pale skin became even more pallid. “Shopping?” She whispered dread filling her. It wasn’t that she hated shopping but having been on more than one shopping trip with both Buffy and Dawn it wasn’t one of her favorite things to do either.
“Yes, shopping. Unless you know of another way of getting a wardrobe.” He said blandly signing for their bill.
Actually, she did know another way but since this wasn’t life or death she couldn’t see using magic to bring her clothes to her. With one last longing look at the elevators she sighed and stood joining Dave where he waited for her. Placing her hand in the crook of his elbow she let him lead her off.
Several miserable hours later the pair returned to Dave’s hotel room both tired and worn down. Willow flopped down on the bed lying back with her arms on either side of her. Batista looked on as she stared at the ceiling. Shaking his head, he turned sitting down in the room’s only armchair.
Shopping with his new wife had been an experience that he wasn’t going to be repeating any time soon. She had disagreed with almost everything he’d showed her. It was only the reminder that she was now very much a public figure that had gotten her to cooperate.
“What a nightmare,” Willow thought darkly. It wasn’t bad enough that she had no real money of her own, but then he had to go and dress her like one of the Cordettes. That would have been bad enough. Her breaking point had come when he’d tried to accompany her into Victoria Secrets. His highhanded tactics had nearly been her undoing. She still recalled the look on his face as he had signed for her purchases. Even now she could feel the blood rushing to her face as she remembered that expression.
From the corner of her eye she watched him. His dark head rested against the back of the chair his eyes closed. His face was relaxed as if he was sleeping. She rolled over as she continued to study the man that was now her husband. Dave was the kind of man any woman would want to be with. His rugged good looks made even a confirmed lesbian like herself sit up and take notice.
Okay, if she were honest with herself she’d have to admit that she wasn’t really a lesbian. Loving Tara had not been about her being a woman but more about the person inside the shy blonde. Looks had never really been important to Willow. It was too easy to lose yourself, who you were inside that made you so different from everyone else, if you thought only about how others saw you.
In Batista she saw some of the same qualities that had drawn her to both Oz and Tara. He had the odd sense of humor, the caring nature that she needed, and the ability to melt her with a single look. She shifted on the bed all too aware of the effect he was having on her libido.
If Willow hadn’t been watching him so closely she might have missed the slight flaring of his nostrils a moment before his dark gaze captured her own. His chocolate brown eyes held a wealth of emotion, some of which she easily recognized; others she didn’t understand but still made her heart pound within her chest.
She dropped her eyes unable to maintain such intimate contact. Willow dragged in a deep breath blowing it out slowly. Gnawing her lower lip she hoped to hear from Angel soon. If she didn’t she wasn’t sure she could walk away from this thing unscathed.