Tightrope
by Cari
Spoilers: THIS WILL SPOIL THE 8/16 SMACKDOWN!
Warnings: Angstfest...
 
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As the two men cleared the audience and reached the hallway ringing the outside of the Salt Lake City E Center, Tazz caught Austin’s arm to slow him down, letting the Federation security men who had cleared a path get ahead of them.

"I’ve kept my part of the bargain."

A thin-lipped smile crossed Austin’s face. "So you have – or at least you’ve proved your good faith."

"And?"

"And I’ll keep my word – for as long as you remain my Enforcer, Cole is untouchable – no Alliance member will dare lay a hand on him."

Tazz nodded, with a carefully blank statement on his face. "Good. Anything else?"

"Not right now – now go. You’ve got a promo to cut."

"So I do."

Without another word, Tazz turned on his heel and walked away from Austin. As he walked the other way down the main entrance hall of the arena, the blank statement never left his face, but Tazz had to pull his sunglasses out and put them on to hide the agony in his dark eyes.

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After cutting his promo in response to Angle’s challenge, Tazz headed back to his quiet dressing room. As a mark of Stone Cold’s "favor", he had a room to himself tonight. As he shut the door, his cell phone started to ring. It took a few seconds of digging around in his bag to uncover it.

"Yes.."

"So you’re in… That wasn’t too hard, now was it?" The clipped British tones of the man on the other end were unmistakable.

Tazz nearly growled. "That’s a matter of opinion."

"But he trusts you?"

"For the moment. Things change easily around here, you know that."

"So I do. But don’t worry about your partner, my friend. As long as you keep feeding me news, I’ll make sure that everyone in this side of the locker room believes that he knew nothing about your plans. With his obviously pro-WWF viewpoint on the microphone, that should be enough to ensure his safety for as long as necessary."

"Good. This might take a while."

"Unfortunately, it’s bloody likely that you’re right. Keep your eyes open, and I’ll call again for a more detailed report."

Not bothering to gift the order with a reply, Tazz clicked off the phone and tossed it into the top of his open duffle bag. For a moment, all the emotions swirling within this complex man show openly on his face, before he nearly collapses on the bench and drops his head into his hands to hide the tears.

END