Just the Way You Are

Author: UtsSQ

Rated: MA for Language, and a bit of graphic smut

*Notes*

This story pretty much follows the wrestling story line when Kane was unmasked. Written as sort of a challenge fic and really just a reason to smut some Kane, and of course with a happy ending because people refuse to let me off my characters in a satisfactory manner.

So this fic assumes that wrestlers are not actors playing characters, but their characters are actually them. If that makes sense. If not, just read and pretend you're watching Raw from like…9 years ago. And if that doesn't make you feel old I do not know what will. So just keep in mind - Wrestlers go by their wrestling names unless I specifically say it's a nickname, and this fic is damn near 10 years old. Yikes. Updated a bit and slightly edited for my site redo!

And yes, I am still working on Dissonance. Someone requested this fic be put back onto my website so here it is - a little more polished and hopefully in a better format.

1.

"Oh my God!" Trish slid to a halt, her feet almost going out from under her. She reached out, grabbing at the doorway to steady herself.

Shay didn't bother to look up. She knew from experience that Trish was excitable. "What? Somebody didn't fall asleep during a Lance Storm match?"

"No! You didn't see what just happened?"

Shay looked over at the blonde woman who practically jumped up and down with excitement or nervousness. "Clue me in already. I've been back here all night trying not to fall on my face from exhaustion."

"Kane lost his match!" Trish managed to gush. "I mean…holy shit!"

"What?" Shay's eyes widened.

"I know! Shit!" Trish was practically jumping up and down. "Supposed to be a DQ end or something…but he LOST and HAD to take OFF the MASK!"

Shay winced as Trish's voice rose. "That's…not good." She finally stated.

"No kidding. He got busted open pretty good too…" Trish resumed shifting her weight from foot to foot. "I thought you'd wanna know. Since you guys seemed to be friends and all. I don't think he's taking it very well."

Shay sighed. Acquaintances, yes. Friends? Not hardly. Kane didn't get close to anybody as a general rule. His brother, sure, but he was working for the other show. Rob, his tag partner, maybe. Doubtful, but maybe. She'd met Kane on her first day working for the fed, and while Shay had been flirty, as was her style, Kane had done little more than laugh in a perfunctory way.

She had never let that bother her. The guy obviously had someissues. When it came time to be on TV, he could get the job done. But backstage he was introspective, brooding. Shay found him to be something of a challenge. On good days, he'd tilt his head and peer at her through his mask with his strange eyes, a slight smile curving his lips at her quips and innuendos. Other days he'd just shake his head and walk away. She couldn't figure him out, and that was what made her go back and try time and time again.

"Was…Is he…hell, you know…" Shay raised her right hand and touched her cheek. The reason for the freakish mask Kane constantly wore had long ago been explained to the fans of wrestling. Burned in a fire, he was supposedly disfigured by scars.

"I don't know. I was watching on a monitor and of course the dipshits in production threw in screwy camera angles and parlor tricks." Trish sounded disgusted.

"Damn it. Why can't they just leave the poor guy alone?" Shay pushed her chair away from the makeshift desk where she'd been catching up on paperwork.

"You gonna go find him? Try to talk to him?" Trish was right at her heels as Shay stepped into the hall. Kane's match was the last of the night; there were a few stragglers moving through the halls, but nowhere near the activity from earlier in the night.

"Don't you think somebody should?" Shay glanced at Trish. "Since I am his 'friend'."

"Want me to tag along? Moral support?" Trish asked hopefully.

Shay sighed. "Wanna stare at the car wreck Trish? If his scars are bad like everybody's been told, then I guess the idiots in production will get around to exploiting it on TV soon enough."

"Damn. I knew you'd say something like that." Trish shrugged in defeat. "Details on how it went later?"

"I guess."

"Oh…and Shay…be careful. From what Rob and Steve said, he's not in…well…I don't know what exactly a 'good' mood would be for him, but this is definitely not a happy camper day."

Shay eyed Trish and nodded, then moved away from her. Great. Hopefully Kane would not be tempted to take out his humiliation on her. The man was freaking huge; he'd probably be able to break her in half without even trying.

She was kicking herself for ever getting mixed up with this man. Could she help it that she liked the strong silent type? That since she'd hit puberty, there wasn't a man around who she didn't have an easy rapport with? Shay was a natural flirt, doing it without realizing it half the time. In the case of Kane, she knew she was doing it but couldn't seem to help herself. In spite of, or maybe because of, his taciturn nature, she found herself more than just a little attracted to him.

It didn't help matters that she was just as curious as the rest of the roster as to exactly what he was hiding behind that mask. No one really knew, except for maybe Taker, but he was just as close-mouthed on the subject as Kane was.

Shay found herself standing in front of Kane's locker room door without quite remembering the walk there. She stared at the gray paint for several minutes, letting her mind wander. Did she really want to be the one who went in there to make sure he was all right? She became suddenly aware of how quiet the arena had become. She could make out the steady sound of the air conditioning, the muted thump as the crew upstairs cleared out the rows of chairs used in the floor seating area.

Sighing, she made herself lift a hand to knock on the door. There was no answer. She might have been relieved but she knew…she sensed…that he was in there.

"Kane?" She leaned forward, resting her forehead on the cool metal of the door. "It's Shay. Can I come in?" She waited, hearing nothing from the room on the other side of the door. She waited a moment, then tried the knob. Locked. Maybe he'd left after all.

Before she could push away, she heard a muffled thud. Shay cocked her ear toward the door, holding her breath. Another soft sound, which took her a moment to place. A zipper. He was in there, rooting around in his gym bag, probably pretending not to have heard her knock.

Well…persistence was one of Shay's more notable traits. She knocked again, louder this time. "Come on, big guy. Can't stay in there forever." The sounds had stopped. She felt as if the arena itself was somehow holding its breath. "Fine. The hard way then." She reached up and tugged a bobby pin out of her hair. The damn annoying things came in handy in more ways than one. Her hair was too damn long; she never wore it down. It was naturally curly and tended to fly everywhere, so Shay was forced to bobby pin her dark locks into submission on a daily basis.

She wiggled the end of the pin into the lock, smiling a little. One good thing about having a law-breaking brother; a girl tended to learn some of the tricks of the trade. The lock on the door was flimsy; it didn't take long to work the catch. Shay turned the knob and swung the door open.

Kane sat with his back to her on a bench, forearms resting on his thighs, head down. The top of his head was covered with a small black towel, the ends just long enough to block the sight of his features. He was still in his wrestling gear. His broad shoulders were bare; he'd pulled the tank straps off of his arms. His bag sat on the bench behind him, gaping open.

"Did you come to get a look at the freak?" He said, voice so low she had to strain to hear it.

"I wasn't aware that the company had rehired Jeff Hardy," Shay said dryly. When she was nervous she resorted to humor; it wasn't going to work with Kane of course. She wasn't sure he even possessed a sense of humor.

"I didn't say you could come in." His voice was still low, but she caught the edge in it. Like he was barely hanging on to his temper.

"You didn't tell me to go away either," Shay pointed out. She stepped slowly toward him. "Kane…what's…."

"Get out." His tone was still low and dangerous. Although his posture was fully slumped forward, she could tell how tense he was. Shay ignored his command and stood directly behind him.

She reached a hand toward his shoulder, hesitated, then touched him. His skin was smooth against her palm, warm, lightly filmed with sweat. She could feel his tension working under his skin. She slowly rubbed his shoulder, trying to offer some kind of comfort to him.

Kane permitted the massage for a few seconds, then jerked away from her hand violently. Shay took a step back as he rose to his full height. The bench he'd been sitting on tipped backward, dumping his bag to the floor. He didn't seem to notice or care. Her back hit the door; she hadn't been aware of moving. She could feel the cool metal through the thin material of her shirt.

"Get…out…" Kane said through gritted teeth.

Shay was groping for the doorknob, which didn't seem to want to turn. "Kane…I just wanted…"

"OUT!" This time he didn't even try to control his voice; he flat out yelled, the single word filled with more fury that Shay had heard her entire life. The knob twisted and she threw the door open, half sobbing when it slammed shut after she dashed through it. Her heart was pounding, and she was shaking like a leaf.

She started to lean against the door to get her breath, then thought better of it. From what she could hear now, Kane was in there systematically ripping apart the locker room. She yelped and jumped backward as something flew at the door and slammed into it hard enough to shake the metal in its frame.

"All right. Ok." She repeated over and over to herself as she backed down the hall. There was one final crash from behind the door, followed by an almost musical tinkling. "Seven years of bad luck if that was the mirror, bud," She muttered under her breath. Her equilibrium was coming back. Taking a deep breath, she let it out in a sigh. "Good fuckin' grief, what the hell have they gotten us into?" She asked the empty hallway. No answer was forthcoming, of course. Shay finally put her back to Kane's dressing room door and decided it was time to pack up and haul ass for their next city. Let somebody else try to deal with Captain Destructo. Getting mixed up with him would put Shay in way over her head, and she didn't think she was quite ready for that yet.