Good Morning Beautiful

Johnny had made the ride home as quickly as he could. But the ride home wasn't really a problem. Both of the girls had fallen asleep and once they got to Akashi's house, it was another struggle to try and carry both girls into the house. He decided, after a a bit of struggling from Akashi, who was awake enough to be a pain in the butt, to have Cassie pull out the guest room bed and pile both girls there rather than carry them up the steps. It was just all around easier but Johnny didn't like it. Not that he expected anything but he didn't know what he was going to do now.

After all was settled with the girls, Johnny went to the couch. He wasn't all that tired and even if he was, he'd spent the whole night standing around and watching Taylor have a good time. He just wanted to get away from that situation and spend some time relaxing. Maybe then he would try and carry Akashi to her room. Hopefully by then she'd be in a deep enough sleep to not put up any resistance. Then again, she'd also be 200 lbs. of dead weight.

He crossed his arms and sat in the dim light of the front room, just enough needed to successfully bring the girls into the house. He closed his eyes and looked like he was sleeping but his mind raced and his blood pumped. As serene as he looked on the outside, he felt like the inside of him was racing around his body as fast as it could.

Cassie hated herself for not being able to be happy for her friend's return. Taylor was on top of the world, and that only made things worse. She was happier than Cassie had ever seen her, and it only highlighted Cassie's own misery. She couldn't bring herself to celebrate Taylor's return. She couldn't bring herself to smile.

The image of Talia and Taylor kissing was burned into her mind. She assumed Taylor was just too drunk to realize what she was doing, but she was sure beyond any doubt that Talia knew exactly what she was doing. She couldn't understand what she was trying to accomplish, or what her goals were, but she knew for sure that everything stood to be ruined if she just stood back and let her be.

But what could she do? Talia hadn't done anything wrong. Worse yet, Taylor seemed to like her. The thought of telling anyone who Talia really was turned her stomach. Was that even the right thing to do? She knew she could never tell Taylor. It would break her heart, and then Taylor would break Talia's neck. She couldn't.

She walked into the living room and sat quietly cross legged on the floor, facing Johnny. He was the new Mamouru. He was the one the stood to get hurt if Dark Angel decided to make Taylor suffer. She knew he could take care of himself, but... Cassie was just so tired. She couldn't keep doing this.

After a time silently staring at him, she finally spoke. "Talia's Dark Angel."

Johnny heard rustling but didn't open his eyes. He figured Cassie was still up and about. She probably felt the same way that he did. She had spent most of the evening probably being bored out of her mind. Johnny sighed when there was just silence between the two. Their last time together had been pretty awkward but Johnny wasn't concerned with that. This time wasn't like that time. He wasn't here to try and figure Cassie out or to try and get some information on her for other people. He was just there. And she was just there. And then she spoke.

Johnny was up to his feet almost before the words finished leaving her lips. "What!?" He stared at Cassie as his fists clenched. He scowled at her. Not AT her but at her words. "Cassie, dammit!" He yelled. He turned and looked at the door. He was seriously considering driving back to the club. And what? Even if he found her, which he doubted he would, was he going to beat her up?

"Shit!" He said and drug his fingers through his hair. "No wonder she was..." Johnny was almost hyperventilating. "And with fucking Taylor-chan..." He muttered. He stood over Cassie and looked down at her. "How the hell did you find out?" He wasn't accusing her but his tone held confusion and disarray. Like he needed to go in three directions at once.

"You can't tell Taylor."

She remained exactly as she was, sitting cross legged on the floor, and she closed her eyes while Johnny went through the stages of his reaction. It's about what she expected, but the simple fact that he wasn't already on his way back to the car meant that Cassie was right about Johnny. It's why she picked him.

She shrugged. "I looked. When she was..." She trailed off. When she was unconscious, and covered in blood, being carried away by paramedics. Her voice was strong when she looked back at Johnny.

"You can't tell Taylor."

"No, dude" Johnny said pointing at her. It wasn't Cassie's fault that Talia was Dark Angel. "You shouldn't have told me. She's been doin all this shit to get back at me, man." Johnny said as she started to pace. For dumping her. For humiliating her twice. Man, she thinks I'm no different than that Killer King guy, man." Johnny stopped and pounded his fist into his palm.

'dude, she fuckin' cheated in our match. She hurt you! She hurt Taylor. She fuckin' went after everyone I care about man!" Johnny said getting worked up as he started pacing again. And she fuckin... She kissed my WIFE man! My fuckin' wife! And she knew, she fuckin, KNEW man that Taylor was too fuckin' wasted to even know it. She was actin' all nice to me and shit man. And she KNOWS that I can't touch her. Man, if she were a dude, i'd find her and beat her fuckin' ass."

Johnny turned and looked hard at Cassie. "Shit, man. She better not even THINK of settin' FOOT inside a ring though, man. The second she does, she's fuckin done. She's done man." Johnny said and swung his hands out in front of him like he was calling a baseball player safe. He turned and looked hard at Cassie. "I'll be down at Tension HQ tomorrow man. I'll break their fuckin' door down if I have to and I'll make sure that if she ever wants to wrestle again she'll have to go through me."

"Whatever you did to her, man." Johnny said, lowering his head. "I'll make sure I do ten times worse." He growled.

"Johnny, calm down." Cassie remained seated, and her voice remained low.

"I know what she's done," she said, opening and closing a fist. "And I know you can't touch her. I can." She thought for a moment. "She has a sister. She's in Friction now, with blonde hair. She... beat me up when I went to see Talia in the hospital. Mamouru, he's... um..." She blushed, and she cleared her throat to get her voice back. "He's sleeping with her. I think he might be managing her, but... she hasn't done anything yet. I'm pretty sure Mamouru knows who Talia is."

How could she tell him to calm down? She couldn't. He couldn't. There was too much going on. "I don't want you to do anything, man." Johnny blurted out. He then turned his head. Johnny was responsible for Talia. It was his mess to clean up, not everyone elses. But Talia had hurt everyone else as well. Johnny sighed and flopped onto the couch.

Her other words took longer to register. He then lifted his head up and looked at Cassie. "Mamouru... knows?" He said. "Then... shouldn't he be pissed off too? Why would he sleep with Talia's sister if he knew-" Johnny stopped. "Heh." He said and grinned. "Yeah... I guess that makes sense. Mamouru has his own ways of dealing with the situation too, man. I guess that makes sense." He repeated. "Should I... talk to him and junk? Maybe it's just a weird coincidence and junk. Bro does sleep with almost anyone. And managing her? I dunno man." Johnny said, running his fingers through his hair. The whole situation was weird.

Cassie didn't understand. "W-why does that make sense?" She shook her head. It didn't matter.

"She's going to fight me, Johnny, I know it. She... said things. She's going to come after me, and when she does I want it to be in the ring. I need to make sure that's how it happens." She swallowed hard. "Johnny, I need help. Will you... would you be my manager?"

She knew perfectly well what that meant, if she was right about everything else. Mamouru... would just have to decide whose side he was on.

Johnny listened to Cassie carefully. Her words made more sense than his had, apparently. He just knew how Mamouru thought, he guessed. He nodded along with her until she got to the manager part.

"Uh... dude... I dunno how to manage and junk. That's Mamouru's deal, Shorty. And... is she fucked up like Talia? Would she just jump you, man? This whole thing is pretty fucked... and junk. But... if you two have a match, I can make sure it's just you an her, man. I'll deal with Talia if she's dumb enough to try an interfere, dude."

"I know she'll come after me, Johnny," Cassie said sternly, bordering on angry. "But that's all I want. I just want to make sure it's a clean match, so hopefully her sister can see that I'm not... the way she thinks I am. So... if you don't want to say you're my manager, just say you're my bodyguard." She tried to force a smile.

Then she was quiet. Her brow knit up in thought and her eyes wandered over to a point in the room. Before, she felt like she was under attack from the masked horror. Now, she felt like she was going to war.

She looked back at Johnny and said "Now what are we going to do about Talia."