Glenn Jacobs stood in the ring next to his "Brother in Destruction" Mark Calloway watching the Dudley Boys as they backed up the ramp. The two teams had just finished a feud, which didn't end favorably for the boys from Dudleyville. Mark had done the majority of the work in the final match which was fortunate because Glenn's mind had been pre-occupied all day after finding out the next team they would be fighting with was X-Factor.

Sean Waltman who at one time had been as close to Glenn as his "brother" Mark led the opposing team. Glenn missed their friendship because he never really understood what had caused it to end. One day they had been best friends and the next Sean had hated him with a passion that still surprised him. While Sean could be quite emotional it was fairly unusual for him to change his mind that radically and be so unwilling to even discuss the matter. Glenn had tried several times to find out what he had done that upset Sean in such an extreme fashion, but Sean refused to address the subject and instead resorted to calling Glenn names… freak seemed to have become his favorite.

Of course in all fairness, Sean had no idea how much that particular name hurt because he like everyone else was unaware of the ultimatum Vince had made which resulted in a surgery permanently scaring Glen's face. Only Mark knew what he'd let McMahon talk him into. Mark was Kane's traveling companion as well as tag team partner and best friend and the two of them spent nearly all their time together. It had been almost impossible to keep the secret from him, but God only knows he'd tried. The only time Glenn removed the mask was when he was sure they were completely alone and that no one would walk in and see him. At all other times the mask was on and as far as the rest of the guys knew it was just a quirk that Glenn had developed.

After trying to get Glenn's attention for what had seemed to be forever, Mark finally gave up and popped him in the back of the head. Mark was tired and sore and wanted to head to the back. Normally he would have left Glenn there since they were the main event, but he knew Glenn was pre-occupied worrying about their new feud and he was reluctant to leave his friend alone. Sean's betrayal had hurt Glenn deeply and Mark never got tired of taking strips off of the younger man's ass as punishment. To complicate matters, Glenn had a thing for Sean's best friend Angel who had been hanging around for the last month or so and this was having a negative effect on Glenn's already deteriorated concentration. All Mark wanted to do was get into a hot shower, but he wasn't going to be able to do that until Glenn got his head out of the clouds.

"Damnit Glenn, will you pay attention?" Mark asked frustrated. "I would like to get out of the ring before they tear the damn thing down."

Jolted out of his thoughts, Glenn glanced around and saw that the fans were leaving and the Dudley's had long ago disappeared into the back. "Sorry man," Glenn said shrugging his shoulders sheepishly. He then climbed over the ropes and hopped off the apron letting his thoughts drift back to Sean and then Sean's friend Angel. Sean's Angel was to him a walking dream. She was pretty, smart and most importantly nice to him. She treated him like she did everyone else and unlike most women calmly accepted his mask never trying to seduce him out of it. Instead she understood that it was as necessary to him as his arms and legs were. Unfortunately because of his fight with Sean he didn't get to see her much even now that she had started traveling with Sean. Every time she appeared Sean seemed to be not far behind and dragged her off calling him names as he went. Glenn was hoping that he would be able to see her even if it was briefly before Sean hurried her out of the building.

Pausing at the top of the ramp, Glenn turned to look at Mark. "What do you think of Angel?" he asked his older friend.

"I don't think anything 'bout her," Mark replied as he looked Glenn in the eyes. The mask made it hard to read his troubled friend and he wasn't sure where this question of Glenn's was leading.

"She is never around long enough to judge. I can't help but wonder why she bothers… with Sean hating you like he does. I can tell you this though… she better be on the up and up 'cause I'll skin her li'l ass if she is playing mind games with you."

Glenn shook his head in denial, "Angel isn't like that, Mark" he mumbled.

Glenn had become even shier after the surgery than he had been before, but there was something about Angel that made her hard for him to resist. Maybe it was how genuinely happy she always seemed to be when she saw him. Or maybe it was how embarrassed she always looked when Sean started his shit. Whatever it was, Glenn didn't know how long he could hold out. Every time he saw her all he wanted to do was yank her into his arms and hold on to her for dear life. She was so sweet and pretty; and, he wanted her in his life so bad that he could barely stand it.

Glenn closed his eyes in an attempt to get control of his emotions. When he opened them he saw that Mark was waiting rather impatiently for him to either speak or turn around and go into the back. Doing the latter, Glenn moved mechanically not paying attention to where he was going. Because of this, he didn't see Angel who was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs leading from the stage. Mark (who had seen Angel smile and wave but knew Glenn wasn't looking where he was going) tried to warn him without luck. Glenn clumsily ran smack into Angel and reflexively wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to prevent whomever he had run into from falling.

When he looked down and saw that it was Angel he had in his arms around, Glenn was absolutely helpless to prevent his body from hardening. The thin material of "Kane's" outfit did nothing to hide his body's reaction and he quickly closed his eyes so he couldn't see the look of disgust he knew must be on her face. A small voice in the back of his head told him to let her go, but the rest of his body didn't have the willpower. Instead he tightened his grip and lowered his head so that his mask covered cheek rested on the top of her head. He almost forgot to breathe when he felt her relax and wrap her arms around his waist molding her body to his.

Angel ran one hand up and down Glenn's back in an attempt to soothe the big man who was holding onto her as if he thought that she was going to disappear. She was slightly confused at his reaction because she had no clue that he was interested in her. While Sean had always been a daydream of hers, the fact that she knew they would never be anything but friends allowed her to consider other men. The knowledge that she would always have Sean's companionship took any panic over not ever having been involved in a "serious" relation out of the process. There were a lot of good-looking men in Sean's life (most of which were in the Kliq), but Glenn had always been one that had caught Angel's eye. He wasn't what she would call handsome, but he had a body to die for and was just about as sweet and loyal as they come. Angel was big on loyalty and knew any smart woman would take a good man over a drop dead gorgeous one who was stuck on himself any day. Angel proudly considered herself a smart woman. Still she hadn't been aware of Glenn's interest in her, but the hardening she felt left her little doubt that he must be at least a little interested. The fact that he was hanging onto her for dear life led to believe that he was a lot interested.

Glenn was desperately trying to gather his thoughts, but Angel's hands on his back were making that difficult. Then there was the fact that less than five minutes ago he had been wishing for this very thing. "Jesus," he thought to himself, "this feels so good."

"You know this is a real touching moment, but do you think y'all could let me go to my damn dressing room?" Mark asked as he grinned at the couple.

Glenn reluctantly lifted his head to see that Mark was trapped on the stairs. Angel looked up at Mark over Glenn's shoulder and said, "You are so impatient," before laughing at the redheaded Texan. "I suppose you two are sharing a dressing room?"

Glenn nodded at her not trusting his voice not to crack if he spoke. Still encircled in Glenn's arm's Angel continued. "Well, this is the deal… I have arranged for Sean to be occupied tonight with Paul and Scotty. So, I was hoping that we could hang out or something. We won't have to worry about Curls interrupting with Scotty around. Sean missed Scotty while he was in Japan and I think he will actually be out of my hair for the evening."

When Glenn continued to stand there looking at her as if she were speaking some foreign language, Mark rolled his eyes heavenward as if asking for some divine patience, "What do you have in mine darlin'?" Mark asked.

"I dunno… nothing elaborate," Angel replied.

"Sean has been so excited about finally getting to… uh… see Scotty that he forgot to feed me today. Needless to say I am completely starved. Other than that there seems to be a pressing matter that I need to pay some attention to, but once I have that under control I thought we could just hang out. Maybe we could watch TV and shoot the shit or something. Sean has been a big grump for the last month so the less stressful the better."

"That works for me… what about you, boy?" Mark asked Glenn.

Poor Glenn was in such a daze that he just nodded again afraid that if he spoke he would wake up and find out he was only dreaming. Now that he had Angel within his grasp he was scared senseless. If he spoke and said the wrong thing then he could lose his what may be his one and only chance. Therefore staying silent seemed to be the way to go. When Angel continued to look at him with a grin on her face as if she was waiting for him to do something, Glenn grew confused.

Mark finally got tired of waiting and popped Glenn in the back of the head again hoping to jog Glenn's brains into functioning. "Look, dumbass, are you gonna move or what?" Mark asked impatiently.

"Let the girl go so we can go to the dressing room and shower. The poor thing is gonna starve to death before we get done here."

All Glenn heard of Mark's lil speech was Mark telling him to let Angel go which sent poor Glenn into such a panic that he instead tightened his grasp on Angel more and shouted, "No! I won't let her go!"

"Oh my Lord, give me strength, " Mark muttered covering his face with his hand.

Angel was laughing so hard at the antics of the two men that she couldn't speak. Glenn grew confused at their reactions and decided that he must have missed something. When Angel calmed down enough to speak, she ran her hand over Glenn's arm and said, "Glenn, baby, relax… it's ok."

"He meant let me out of your arms… not send me away. I think Mark wants to take his shower. While he is doing that I think I can take care of your little… errrrrr BIG problem."

Of course the thought of his walking dream's mouth wrapped around him sent Glenn back into his haze. Mark realized that they weren't going to get anywhere fast if they waited for Glenn to act and decided to take drastic measures. Out of desperation, Mark hit Glenn once more in the head this time hard enough that it would really hurt. Glenn released Angel to grasp his head in pain and turned to glare at Mark in confusion.

This allowed Angel to grab one of Glenn's hands and stepping to the side tugged on his arm in an attempt to prompt him into following her, which he of course did. This allowed Mark to FINALLY move off the steps and head toward the dressing room. He left it up to Angel to get Glenn to follow. This wasn't such a hard task as all she had to do was follow Mark and Glenn came along quietly never breaking contact with Angel's hand. Glenn finally figured out what Angel and Mark had been trying to do on the stairs and for once was glad he had the mask for he was sure his face must be as red as his outfit from embarrassment.

When they got to the dressing room, Mark wasted little time stripping all his clothes off and heading to the shower. Looking at Angel over his shoulder he said, "Darlin', you better take care of that boy before he gets permanent brain damage from all the blood loss."

Angel laughed at Mark before turning to look at Glenn. Angel had always been a fan of Mark's alter ego The Undertaker and was looking forward to getting to know the man behind Dean Man Inc. Looking up at Glenn, Angel reached up and stroked the sides of his face. She took pleasure in running her fingers over the mask and the underside of his chin and neck where the mask didn't touch and there was nothing but bare skin as if there was no difference between the two. She then reached up to pull his head down to her level so she could rain kisses over his face in the same manner treating leather and flesh as if they were one and the same.

Glenn stayed silent still afraid to speak, instead watched her blindly hoping she could sense how badly he wanted this. Placing a kiss on Glenn's chest through the cloth of his singlet, Angel reached up to pull the top down over his shoulders giving her access to the bare skin of his broad chest.

When Angel touched his bare chest with her lips, Glenn thought he would cum right there. His head fell back with a moan and closing his eyes in pure joy as he sank his fingers into her long curly hair. "Angel," he whispered still not fully believing this was happening. He had wanted it for so long that he had given up all hope of it ever happening

"Tell Angel what you want, sweetling," Angel whispered to him between kisses.

Glenn lifted his head looking at her through heavy lids afraid to tell her what he wanted so badly. What if he said the wrong thing and upset her?? He would lose his chance.

"Ask Glenn, I won't turn you down… I swear," Angel said trying to reassure the big man.

Glenn stood looking at her for a few minutes opening and closing his mouth again glad the mouth hid his face, as his brain-waged war with his heart. "Angel," he repeated clenching his fists in her hair in a strange mixture of desire and panic, "I… I need…"

"What baby? Tell me." Angel continued to kiss Glenn's chest running her hands down his arms before lowering one to stroke him through the cloth of his spandex.

"Tell me… I'll give you anything you want, but you have to ask. I don't wanna force you."

Mark's snort behind them alerted the couple to his presence. Glenn released his hold on her hair as Angel turned to smile at Mark curiously. "Don't mind me," Mark said to her as he wiggled his fingers at her in greeting. "I'm just enjoyin' the show."

Angel laughed at the big redhead before turning back to Glenn who was trying to will himself to speak. Continuing to stroke Glenn with one of her hands, Angel stood on her tip toes and raised her other hand back to his face to brush his hair out of the way before gently running her thumb along his temple continuing to try and soothe her large friend. "Would it help if I said that I like you more than just a little? What if I said that I have been wanting to wrap my lips around you and drink as you spill into my mouth for quite some time now… at least a year or more?" Angel asked hoping to prod him into talking.

She heard Mark quietly exclaim "Jesus," not sure if he was praying or cursing as she watched Glenn hoping for some sign.

Glenn closed his eyes again desperately fighting to find some word that he could push past his fear that would tell Angel how much he wanted her without risking losing her. Within a few minutes when she had gotten no response from Glenn, Angel decided that in her inexperience she must have read him wrong. The only man she had any sexual experience with was Sean and a blind man could read him he was so open with his emotions. Glenn on the other hand had always been closed off because of his shyness and the mask only made him harder to read. Thinking she must have embarrassed him with her actions Angel took her hands off of Glenn and stepped back as she felt her face growing warmer and warmer ashamed of her actions. "Glenn must think I am some kind of freak," Angel thought to herself.

Out loud she said, "I'm sorry," her voice quivering as she spoke trying to hold back her tears. "I must have misread you… I am so used to Sean's openness… I'll just go."

The loss of her touch on his chest was more painful than anything he'd ever felt. Glenn's head dropped… his chin touching his chest… eyes closing in agony. He had been so close, but hadn't had the strength to go after what he wanted. "Sean is right," he thought to himself. "I am just a worthless freak." He was so afraid of losing his dream that he had been unable to go after it when he was given the chance. When he didn't hear the door to the dressing room open he lifted his head to look up and see Angel standing at the door looking at him. He desperately tried one last time to find the words she wanted to hear before she left, but they just weren't there.

Angel had paused to look at Glenn before she left. Hoping one last time to hear something from him, but when she didn't hear anything but the silence of the room, Angel turned back and quietly repeated, "I am sorry, Glenn" before opening the door and walking out.

Glenn looked up to see Mark watching him in pity shaking his head. "You are a damn fool boy, " Mark said quietly before turning to go take his shower for real this time.

Glenn's only reply was a howl as he ripped the mask off of his face in anguish as he realized his dream had been in his arms and he had lost it all because he had been too afraid to speak.

Continue on to Finding the Courage... Kane and Angel's Sequel