IN THE AIR TONIGHT

Summary: Adam's car breaks down, its raining, Halloween night and he checks into an old nearly condemned hotel. Kandie, a huge fan, is the only other guest- or so it seems. For Nellylover, girlie stop changin' names- late b'day present.

Hope you like it. Kinda went off on a different track to originally planned but it turned out good, I think. Anyone, first "long" one-shot so enjoy.

He couldn't believe his luck- or really his lack of it to be honest. The Halloween night of his worst nightmare. Usually he'd be judging some wet t-shirt contest at his local Hooters right about now, but instead he was sitting in his car, correction- his broken down car, in the middle of nowhere with the rain beating down around him.

He had the option of a) getting out of the car and going to find somewhere possibly safe or b) stay in his car and freeze his ass off.

Adam chose almost instantly what he was going to do. Pulling his hood up and grabbing his bags from the back, he climbed out into the heavy rain. He had tried to call Jay or Nick, even Chris, but his phone had no signal and he was tempted to threw it into the ditch on the roadside, when it went flat, but decided against it. Around twenty minutes later, a dull and small light started to become visible through the trees and heavy rain. He quickly made his way down the muddy path, trying hard to keep himself upright and not crumble into the large ditch that was on the side of the road.

When he got in sight of the source of the light, he found it was a small and old hotel. It was better than nothing, he decided and followed the thin gravel road to the veranda. It wasn't much from the outside but through the window he could see a small fireplace- that was the better than being in the cold of his car by a long shot.

Sighing, he hoped the people who owned the place would be nice enough to give him a room. Hell, he knew paying wasn't going to be a problem. Slowly opening the door, he stepped into the small and warm front room which was just big enough to hold a small counter and office, a small sitting room where the fireplace was and three comfy looking chairs joined onto it. He could so easily put his feet up on the tiny coffee table and kick back in one of them for the night.

"Ya ain't from around here, are ya?" Adam turned hearing the voice and found a small, aging old man standing behind the counter. Pushing his hood back, Adam shook his head and approached the counter. "Thought as much. You don't look like the men that usually are round here?"

"Oh really?" he inquired, setting his bag on the floor near his feet just as a pair of footsteps echoed down the wooden floorboards. Adam turned slightly against the counter to find a young woman coming over to them. He flashed her a smile and gave her an appreciative once-over. Those playboy pyjamas didn't leave all that much to the imagination and she apparently wanted that effect.

"Hi," she said in a very sultry tone to him. Adam quirked an eyebrow and glanced round to find a small woman now standing beside the old man. She must have been his wife by the way she was holding his hand and keeping an eye on the woman. "I'm Kandie."

Adam chuckled and shook his head. "Adam. Adam Copeland." He held out his hand.

"Wow- Edge from WWE, never thought you'd be so good looking in real life," she told him, clearly trying to flirt with him. It wasn't working. Adam was wet, tired and just wanted to sleep. "So- you stuck here for the night too?"

"Yeah," he said quickly and moved away from her slightly, looking at the old couple. "Could I have a room, please?"

The woman nodded while the man opened up the registry for him and found him the keys for one of the rooms. Kandie was still watching him the entire time as he bent down and picked up his bag. "Well- goodnight folks."

Room three. He sighed once he had shut the door, avoiding running into Kandie who seemed to have followed him down the hall. God, some women were just unbelievable at times. He could only imagine what Orton would say to him if he found out about his situation. It'd be something along the lines of, "Get your ass out the door and go after her". Fat chance of that happening. The odds of him going after Kandie were about as high as Big Daddy V going on a diet. It just wasn't going to happen. She looked like a skinny runt with a chest three sizes bigger than what even the natural laws would permit a woman to have.

She wasn't his type. Amy had been, but for entirely other reasons.

After grabbing his change of clothes, he had a shower. The place was well heated and as such, Adam didn't even need a t-shirt, just a singlet and boxers. He had just collapsed onto the bed and made to turn the lamp off when the sound of voices caught his attention. They sounded like three people screaming. Climbing from the bed, Adam walked over to the door and opened it a crack. The screaming stopped suddenly and he glanced down both ways of the hall. There was not a single person in sight. He frowned and shook his head slightly before shutting the door. Just as it clicked, the voices started up again and this time seemed louder.

Pivoting, he yanked the door open and stepped out into the hallway. He expected to see a flash of someone running around a corner, but yet again there was not a single person in sight. Leaving his door open, Adam headed to the front desk and found the registry. Only he and Kandie were listed and the old woman appeared as he made to leave.

"You like very similar to a man from the news," she remarked and Adam quirked an eyebrow. "Well, some old newspaper clipping that Harold likes to keep." She pointed to the wall and Adam noticed for the first time, a framed newspaper clipping with the face of a young very sweet looking woman and someone who did look strikingly like him. It was dated to be about sixty years - exactly from today - old.

"Just a very random occurrence," he said to her, brushing her comment off.

"Nothing is ever not set out by the heavens, sir," she told him back with a very odd look in her eyes. He smiled, only slightly, before saying goodnight and heading back to his room. Just as he made to step inside, a small light further down the hall caught his attention.

Adam was not in the mood for Halloween pranks and decided to put an end to whoever was doing this. He headed down the hall, following the small light which seemed to never grow any bigger. Finally having enough, he just called out to whoever was there to just knock it off with the screaming and everything. The light went out and he pulled a face and made to turn.

Something, or really someone, however stopped him. It crashed into him, like they'd been running. Small fingers dug into his singlet and Adam was slightly startled by the sudden appearance of the person. "What the-"

The soft voice from the person made him stop from shoving them away. "You came back." It was apparent that it was a woman and Adam looked down. A pair of near white-blue eyes stared back up at him, surrounded by a face of porcelain white. Adam just watched the small woman who barely even just passed his stomach. "I knew you would."

"Listen, I- uh- I think you have me confused with someone else," he stammered, even as her fingers slowly loosened on his singlet. She didn't move away from him, the smallest hint of a smile pulling up the corner of light pink lips as her fingers slid over his chest. When he pulled her hands away from him, he saw her wince and asked her if she was alright.

A small shake of her head and Adam told her that the owner's could help her. He was too tired to being dealing with what was clearly an emotionally unstable woman. "Please, don't tell them I'm here."

"Why? You can't possibly be hiding here."

"I was hiding from him. Like I promised I would."

Adam grew confused but sighed reluctantly and told her to follow him. He was surprised when she suddenly caught his hand in hers and stayed close as he lead her back to his room. When she spoke, it was like she was talking to someone who she knew on a very personal level, and by the way she was acting, she seemed to think that he was the person.

Adam was not quite sure what to make of the woman, but he did know that against everything, he could never hurt or break a persons trust outside of the show. With Matt and Amy, things were different, got difficult. What happened shouldn't have really happened, but it did and he had accepted whatever he copped from others for it. But that was in the past. When back in his room, Adam turned to shut the door and watched her as she quickly began looking around.

"No one else is here if that's what you were wondering," he stated, unsure as to why.

She turned to look at him. "I know there isn't. Just looking. This room- its nice."

Adam nodded and then looked over her properly as the lamp light caught her figure. Adam tried hard not to make a noise as he saw her. Black, very tussled hair hung down to her lower back and looked like it needed to be washed badly. She was pale, very pale and Adam wondered whether or not she was cold or just naturally like that. Either way- she was quite a striking woman.

He hadn't realized he'd been staring at the curves she was sporting until she moved towards him. Adam watched her and decided that she was practically harmless. He did, however, notice the large cut on her right forearm. The must've been why she winced when he'd grabbed her arms. Looking down, he realised that his hand was smeared with the blood from the cut. He told her that she needed to have that cleaned up.

"Oh- mm," she murmured, barely audible, almost like she hadn't noticed that she'd been bleeding until that point. Without talking to him, she headed for the bathroom. Adam knew he'd seen her face somewhere before, but didn't think much of it. He was tired and needed to sleep.

He was sitting on the bed when the bathroom door opened up. She stepped out and Adam found that she had pulled her hair back and fixed herself up. "Feeling better?" he asked her. Mutely, she nodded. Adam decided to find out who his little mysterious nymph was. "So- do you have a name?"

She stood, awkwardly near him and nodded. "Amanda."

"Interesting name. Well-" he started, standing up and moving to hold his hand out to her "- I'm Adam Copeland." As she took his hand in her very small and fragile one, he felt a sudden unexplainable burst of heat. He dismissed it and smiled down at her. "If you want, stay in here for the night. I'm going to bed anyway. There's enough room for two."

Amanda thanked him.

Adam lay on his back. Amanda was curled up on her side, facing away from him as she slept, or at least he thought she was. Scratching his stomach, Adam tried to think of why he had let her come in to his room. She shifted and Adam felt her bare, smooth calf brush against his. Something that would normally seem so innocent and insignificant now made his blood rush a little. Adam felt like he was suffocating. This whole night was creepy enough without being sexually attracted to a young woman who didn't seem emotionally ready to even explain why she was hiding, who she thought he was and what had happened to her.

He huffed out a deep breath and rolled onto his side, facing Amanda's back. The way her body eased up and down while she lay there seemed almost hypnotic to him.

Adam reached over and very tentatively made to brush his fingers against her back. The very worn spaghetti shirt she had on was bunched up slightly over her hip and exposed the porcelain skin that looked like it was dying to be touched, caressed. And Adam gave into that. He felt her startle when he first touched her but then relaxed.

What the hell was wrong with him? He was taking advantage of the situation and for some reason, it didn't feel as wrong as he believed it should have.

Amanda lay still even as Adam moved closer to her. "Mind telling me why you were hiding? Or who you were running from?" he murmured softly, hoping that being nice would get her to answer him.

She never once moved as Adam leaned in closer until he could see her profile. "Uh- Yo- He told me to. So I was safe." Adam pulled a face, well at least she hadn't completely said that he had told her to hide, he eased the palm of his hand onto her side, feeling the cool beneath him and wondered how she couldn't be freezing cold. "I was running from- from my husband."

Adam made to pull away but in the instant he tried, Amanda had pushed herself back against Adam and he felt all those soft curves meld into his body, eliciting one soft groan from him. She whispered something that he wasn't able to understand just before she turned her head and kissed him. He stopped in that moment, feeling like he was tasting something forbidden and yet so sweet all at once.

He laid one arm over her small frame, keeping his weight supported above her as he leaned into her kiss, trying to take some control over it. Nipping lightly at her lower lip as he pulled back, Adam wondered what the hell was coming over him. He had a girlfriend back home, he'd been faithful for so long and all it took was one crazy night and he had thrown it all out the window. Amanda slowly wrapped one of her small hands around his wrist and ever so lightly trailed it up until she was pulling him back down into a soft kiss.

"Mm- we- no- can't," he murmured, still locked in a kiss with her as he stammered it out. Even as he pressed her further down into the mattress. She pulled back, leaning up close to his ear as she pressed kisses at the meeting of his neck and shoulder.

"Give me one night. No strings attached," she whispered into his ear. "You'll never have to see me again."

Despite what she was saying, Adam could hear the faint pain in her voice. He eased back slightly, bright eyes staring into the crystal like pair of the woman beneath him. "Are you sure?"

"Halloween night is full of surprises Mr. Copeland," she replied, trailing fingers fleetingly across his jaw. He shut his eyes at the tenderness behind her touch. "And I'm only going to be a fleeting memory to you in the morning."

Adam realized that either way, he wanted this and opened his eyes, looking down at her. "Then why waste time worrying about tomorrow, when we have tonight." The smallest of smiles crept onto her face and Adam cradled her head in his hands, kissing her gently, slowly letting the passion that was clearly between them heat up as Amanda slipped her hands underneath his singlet and pushed it up his stomach.

Her fingers danced along his sides as the singlet was lifted and they broke away only so he could pull the thing off before his mouth found hers again. Carving a heated path down her jaw, and neck Adam heard her moan softly and for some reason it sounded infectious to him. He wanted her to keep doing that.

Hooking his hand on the hem of her shirt, he started lifting it up, trying hard not to just rip it up and scare her. Adam could get a little rough and he knew so. Amanda stared at him as he slid one arm around her waist and rolled them over, switching their positions. She fingers dug into his shoulder blades as he started to loosen the laced-up piece of material holding her sleeping pants up. Once undone, Adam moved so he could kiss her bare shoulder while she whispered his name into his neck.

Her fingers traced down his back as he started to slide her bottoms off. Adam wasn't usually quick when it came to sex. Hell, he wasn't ever fast. He took his time, paid attention to detail. Adam enjoyed his time in bed and would now, even under the circumstances that he was currently in.

Adam sat up, as if he'd been jolted by an electric shock and glanced around. The room was void of all life except for him. He turned, expecting Amanda to be sleeping beside him but she wasn't.

With a slight frown, he rolled down onto his belly and breathed in the sweet smell from the pillow where her head had been last night as he fallen asleep. Cracking an eye open, he heard voices outside in the hall but ignored them as he prayed that she wasn't truly gone but merely in the bathroom. He listened hard, blocking out the voices outside, trying to hear her if she truly was in the bathroom.

No noise came and for some reason he felt his heart sink. Groaning, he got up and headed for the bathroom, grabbing his change of clothes on the way.

Adam came into the front room just as the owner's wife came out of the back room. "Good morning, Mr. Copeland. Sleep well?" she asked.

He smiled. "Its Adam, and yeah actually, I did sleep well." She motioned for him to follow her. He did. Adam hadn't lied when he said he had slept well. When he came into the back room he found a full family sized kitchen which already had food out on the table. Johnny, the aging innkeeper, talked to him the entire time about little things like what he did and such.

Adam felt compelled to ask the one question that had been lingering on his mind the entire time. "Was there a woman here last night? Aside from Kandie?" he inquired. Adam saw the woman put her plate down a tad harder than should have been necessary, making him curious as to why she reacted in such a way to his question.

"Can ya describe her, lad?" Johnny inquired.

He nodded. "Yeah- pale, petite and curvy, dark hair, bright blue nearly white eyes..." Adam trailed off, adding to his thoughts all the other things that he'd taken to memory about Amanda that he couldn't speak out loud to them. ... Full, soft pink lips that he'd spent the longest time kissing... "Amanda. Her name was Amanda."

The room went silent and Adam looked at the pair. Johnny glanced at his wife before standing up and walking over to a table furthermost from the kitchen area. He picked up something and walked back over to the table. He held the thing out to Adam who took it. He glanced down at the object and couldn't believe what he saw.

Amanda. Only it wasn't the Amanda he'd been with last night. "What? How?" he murmured, tracing the person in the photo. It was of her standing in front of what appeared to be a much younger version of himself and together in front of a the front of this very hotel, only- it was much bigger than it was now.

"Her name was Amanda Cena. She was married to a man who didn't appreciate the young lady that he'd married. John was away on business when- well, I guess- You appeared. I was only ten at the time. Nothing could keep either of them apart but when John came back things didn't turn-"

Adam looked up and glanced at Johnny who sighed heavily before sitting down heavily in his chair. His wife started talking, softly, "-He caught them and well- the fire destroyed most of this place. Johnny and I took it over when we married, seven years after the fire, tried to fix it all up but business just wasn't the same in this town without Amanda around. She was the person who made anyone and everyone smile, no matter what. We stayed on, half the town left after claiming to see Amanda still around here. They started up the idea that she was waiting for someone, something."

Johnny rested in his on his hand as he watched Adam let it all sink in before he continued, "Halloween night it happened, we here the screams and shouts too Adam. You look just like him. Some say ghosts don't leave this place until they have completed their business. Maybe, she just needed that one last time."

"But I'm not this guy!" Adam protested. "I just look like him. Coincidence. That is all."

"Nothing is ever a coincidence Adam. You share his name and looks," Johnny told him.

"Just one question- How in the hell could she have been here last night? She's-"

"Dead."

"Yes," Adam said.

The old woman laughed slightly. "I did tell you that strange things do happen on Halloween nights, Adam."

He stood out the front of the hotel, near the road. The rain had stopped and so he'd used the now working phone line from the hotel to call for someone to come and help him get his car to the nearest shop for repair. As he glanced back over his shoulder, he could see Johnny watching him. Waving slightly, Adam shouldered his bag and headed down the road.

What he didn't see was the figure standing behind Johnny. "You should not meddle with things, you know that?"

A soft chuckle made him smile slightly. "I wanted one night. One more night with him. I'm sure I was granted that after waiting over sixty years to see him again. Photos do not make me feel like he is still here."

Johnny turned round to face the dark-haired young woman. "He isn't here, Amanda. He is waiting up there for you."

Amanda looked at the ground. "I'm afraid he won't love me if I go up there. At least I got one night."

"One night. Wouldn't you prefer eternity?" She smiled softly and nodded.

"I've wished for eternity for so long but god just doesn't seem to want to give it to me."