"No."

Rage flared in Mark's eyes, he couldn't believe what he was hearing from the Chairman. He tried not to growl, he didn't want to loose his temper. Alex did let loose a feral sound, but the warm body curled into his soothed his anger into a deep ache. Vince sat behind his desk, his fingers lacing together as he leaned back in his rich leather chair. He had a look of mild discontent on his face, but nothing to indicate any real emotion.

Backing Mark up was his court, namely Miz, Cena, Randy, Edge, Christian, and Alex. Not even six feet from them was The Nexus, all decked out in their smug glory. Their only member that was missing was currently battered and bruised…and curled into his lover's side. His skin had darkened in some places from the bruises, but he looked gorgeously broken.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Mark replied, he wasn't used to getting refused.

"I mean, I can't do it" Vince clarified, tilting his head forward "You should know why."

"I don't see why you of all people couldn't break this contract" the Deadman glared in response to the cool manner "You…who create them."

"What he means, Undertaker" Wade drawled in that cockney accent "Is that he's ours. For as long as The Nexus exists, Gabriel belongs to us."

"This can't be allowed!" Alex barked, keeping between his scared lover and the Nexus, his arm wound around the smaller's lithe waist "After what they did to him-!"

Justin dug his fingertips into his lover's chest, cutting off his protest. He hadn't wanted Vince to know about his attack, though the evidence was clearly written across his body. Alex snapped his mouth shut, he wasn't going to do something his sub didn't want.

"Barrett's right" Vince grumbled "Justin signed the contract willingly, and with that…he has to stay in Nexus. I'm sorry, I couldn't break the agreement in any other way but fire him. You don't want that, do you 'Taker?"

Mark flinched, and Punk (who was listening outside the door with Nitro and Ted) winced at the smug tone. John hissed something about not being able to hear, getting a poke in the ribs by the blonde. Why Jay got to go in and they didn't was unclear to him, but the other two knew that the most dominant of all the subs would be Jay.

"Now I'm going to turn around and look out my window" Vince said slowly, the smirk on Wade's face slowly fading "And I hope you two can come to a solution all on your own."

Vince turned his chair around, facing the window and letting his mind wander off. He didn't like to get into matters of the Court, he hated when they caused trouble and hated it even more when their interests clashed with those of his other superstars. He found it better to let them settle their own disputes, sometimes he lost people…but really…it was better to let the Court settle their own matters.

Randy and Cena were the first the whirl on Nexus, equally lethal scowls plastered on their faces.

"It's all fine to mess with me and my career" John growled, getting up in Wade's face until they could feel each other's breaths "I'm a big boy, I can take it. But now you're messing around with the boys, our boys."

"He was ours first" Wade stood his ground.

"It's not just Gabriel" Randy snarled "It's Bourne, it's Morrison, it's all our boys. You've laid your hands on what belongs to us one too many times."

"So accept an ass-kicking and hand the boy over" Edge spouted off-handedly, arms crossed over his chest.

"You old men think you own everything" Heath dared step closer, he dared to look indignant "That bitch is ours to do with as we please."

"That 'bitch' is our friend, you little brat!" Christian surged forward, mirroring Cena by getting in Slater's face "And he's one of us now! So keep your filthy hands off him!"

"You gonna make me?" Heath drawled, raising his chin to him.

"Oh, you insolent shit-" Jay drew back his fist to clock his rookie, but his master knew what he was going to do moments before he did it and had already moved into place. Adam grabbed his wrist, the other arm wrapping around his waist and drawing him away from the red haired brat. He pushed his angel into Orton's arms, who snagged the leggy blonde up and kept tight hold of him.

"What was that, Wendy?" Edge spat, glaring down at the man hard enough to burn holes in him "You got something to say? Say it to my face. Gonna mouth off? Gonna talk big. Bring it!"

Heath withered under the superstar's gaze, slinking back within the safety of The Nexus. Edge gave the snuffle like that of a satisfied jungle cat, taking a few steps back himself.

Mark's arm shot out, his meaty fist seizing a handful of Wade's shirt and yanking him up to his eyelevel. Barrett was tall, but the Deadman towered over all. The Englishman tried not to whimper, Undertaker's eyes searing his own.

"You keep your hands off this boy" Mark thumbed at Gabriel, who was still fit snugly in Riley's side "If I see one more scar on him, by your hand or otherwise, we will be on your doorstep so fast it will make even your fat head spin."

Wade didn't want to give in, he wanted to stay strong and tell the legend to piss off…but the Deadman gave him a hard shake and made him yelp.

"Alright! Fine!" Barrett's neck whipped sharply back for the insolent "We'll leave him alone."

Skip's nose wrinkled up, "Wade-"

"Shut up, Sheffield!" Wade barked, eyes dropping to the floor to avoid the other's stare "We'll find you some other toy. Angel is-"

"Gabriel" Alex interjected, his tone making it clear that he wasn't going to tolerate any other calling his baby that.

Wade shot him a glare, but continued in a sulky tone, "Gabriel is off limits to us now."

Mark looked over to Riley, jerking his head toward the Nexus leader pointedly. Alex left Justin by himself, going over to stand beside the Head Master and glare at Wade on his own.

"You can have him for your stable" Alex's tone was hard, much like those the masters in the Court used when they were being serious "You can have him for the house shows, and the interviews, and all the promos. When the spotlight's on, he's yours. But the moment, the damn moment your out of the public eye - you stay the fuck away from him! You hear me, Barrett?"

The Englishman's lips pursed, cutting off any smartass remark he could've made.

"I said…" Alex got closer, grabbing the older man's chin and forcing their eyes to meet "Do. You. Hear. Me? Answer me, bitch."

The vein in Wade's temple pulsed, but he managed to grit out, "Yes."

Riley raised his brows expectantly, "Yes…?"

The blue eyes of the leader burned around the edges, "Yes, sir."

Alex smirked, letting go of the man's face and turning away from him. He strode back towards Gabriel, catching him gently around the waist.

"Come on, angel" Alex purred, leading him across the office and towards the door. He had heard enough for the night, he had more important things to do than hang around the office with a lingering failure on his shoulders. Miz followed them out, he wasn't about to leave his rookie alone for too long again.

"Master" Justin was chewing hard at his tender lower lip, his taped fingers laying over the man's bicep "What are we going to do? I can't bare to stay with them!"

"It's okay, angel" Alex assured him, keeping him close "I won't ever let them touch you again. We'll all make sure of it. We're safe now."

And for some reason, Gabriel believed him.

Yep, that's all there is for that, folks. Sorry for putting off the end to The Court's story, but I had this idea for two more installments before I finished it. It wouldn't make much sense if Gabriel and the Motor City Brats were in the epilogue and their connections weren't explained.

So now that I post this, I am currently writing the last chapter for The Court's story. It's my main priority. So Story Alert it so you can be the first to read J

Love and Rockets,
Emono

THE SERIES TO BE READ:

"And Don't Forget To Let Your Heart Beat" - Cody's Story
"I'm A Match Burning Out" - Ted's Story
"My Love is Just Waiting To Turn Your Tears to Roses" - Evan's one-shot
"Far Too Pretty To Be Giving It Cheap" - Nitro's story
"This Fire Burns All The Way" - Miz and Punk's story
"So Happy I Could Die" - Edge and Christian's snippet
"Under the Rose" - The Court's story, the main story
"I Don't Need No Heaven or Hell" - Kevin Nash/Chris Sabin/Alex Shelley one-shot
"My Submission is Your Addiction" - Alex Riley/Justin Gabriel story