Author: eena_angel2001
Email: igrewal@s...
Rating: R-ish
Disclaimer: Vince owns all things WWE.
Spoilers: RAW-October 20, 2003.
Summary: Response to Karen's Challenge, Trish and Lita can't help but
wonder about their newfound heroes . . .
Notes: Title from Evanessence song "Going Under".
Original Challenge:
Challenge #1:
-Lita/Christian and Trish/Jericho
-Set current (up to the 10/20/2003 RAW)
-Christian and Jericho's current behaviour is part of a carefully
orchestrated plot of Eric Bischoff's - who's still pissed about Lita
coming back and doesn't like either diva.
-The guys actually fall for Lita and Trish
One of the following twists:
a.) The divas find out about the plan
b.) The guys follow through with the plan
c.) One guy goes through with the plan, but the other one doesn't
-Happy endings all around, even if it does mean the guys have to do
some
major grovelling to get back in the girls' good graces
Bonus points if Lita and Trish have a beer bash with Austin
More bonus points if Austin gets Stacy out of her bad situation with
Test and Steiner by making her his assistant
Part One: Strange
"It's just . . .strange."
The woman snorted at her friend's rather simple assessment of
their situation. Raking a hair through her long red hair, Lita
peered up at Trish with serious hazel eyes.
"It's beyond strange," she replied frankly, shaking her head
and turning her attention to packing up the rest of her things. The
Women's locker room was basically deserted at the moment, only her
and Trish present. Lita knew that Molly and Victoria had hightailed
after their match tonight, probably afraid that the two divas they
assaulted would be looking for payback. Lita herself was intrigued
by the idea of payback, a smile playing on her lips when she thought
about all the different ways she could go about snapping Molly Holly
in half.
"Lita?"
The redhead blinked, realizing that she had gotten caught up
in her own thoughts. She sat down on the bench, watching her petite
blonde friend paced and bit her lip in worry.
"It's just, I think that we really need to think about what's
going on," Trish stated, wringing her hands just a bit before tossing
the redhead a sly grin. "And that means that I need you to think
about something other than maiming Molly and Victoria for what they
pulled tonight."
Lita gave a short laugh, a self-deprecating smile gracing her
features as she pulled on her sneakers.
"Am I that transparent?" the redhead asked jokingly, her eyes
leaving Trish as she focused on tying her laces for a minute.
"Not really," Trish admitted. "But since I know you're as
pissed as I am about what happened, I figured your mind would be on
putting some hurting on those two bitches. And you had this kind of
evil grin on your face. I know that look. You used to give it to me
before you commenced beating the crap out of me for something I had
done to you."
"That was a long time ago," Lita murmured softly. "And
you've changed a lot since then. I haven't had the urge to beat you
up in two years."
"Gee, that's nice," Trish giggled, abruptly stopping
herself. "And that's what I was talking about! I know we've got our
hands full dealing with Molly, Gail, Victoria, and her Craziness's
little lapdog Steven, but I think this whole thing with Chris and
Christian needs our attention."
"You make it sound like you don't trust them," Lita mused,
dropping her feet back onto the ground and shooting her friend a
teasing smile. "But you sure didn't sound like that when you were
thanking Chris before."
Trish blushed, her mouth dropping open and then shutting
close with a snap. The blonde halted her pacing, hands on her hips
as she stared off into some corner of the room.
"Well, I wasn't thinking something was up before," she
admitted. "But when Christian came out tonight, it just seemed
strange."
"Oh, so when I get rescued by a cute blonde it's cause for
concern," Lita interjected, schooling her features into an affronted
look. Trish bought it, instantly panicking and trying to back track.
"I didn't mean it like that! I'm sure there are tons of guys
who would love to rescue you, and I do not doubt your ability to be
the damsel or anything Lita! Oh wait, that came out wrong too. What
I meant was-"
"I know what you meant Trish," Lita interrupted, giggling at
the sight of her flustered friend. "I was just messing with you."
Trish stared at her in shock before she recovered. Levelling
the giggling redhead with an icy glare, Trish sniffled indignantly.
"Okay fine, you don't want to talk about this," Trish
muttered unhappily. "I guess you don't think it's that big of a deal
but-"
"I never said that," Lita shook her head, raising a hand to
stop her friend's ramblings. "But I'm just not sure that talking is
going to get us anywhere. It's not like we don't know what
happened. Jericho and Christian have decided that they want to play
heroes to our damsels for some unknown reason. And unfortunately, we
have no way of knowing what those two are up to."
"But what if they aren't up to anything?" Trish suggested
nervously. "What if we get all suspicious and it turns out that they
were just trying to be nice?"
"They were trying to be more than nice," Lita muttered, hand
travelling up to her cheek unconsciously. She could still feel the
warmth of Christian's hand as he pressed it to her cheek. His eyes
seemed to be full of concern for her as he asked her if she was okay.
And if he had been someone else, she might have believed it
was concern right off the bat. But this was Christian. He hadn't
done anything this nice or noble since . . .actually, she couldn't
think of him ever doing something like this in all the time she had
known him. Quite the opposite in fact. After all, this was the man
who tried to give her a Conchairto once.
"Tell me about it," Trish murmured softly, her expression
becoming distant as she thought about her own rescue at the hands of
Chris Jericho just last week. It was much like Lita's own experience
with Christian. Chris had come out of nowhere, clearing the ring of
attackers before gently helping the blonde to her feet. In fact, he
had caressed Trish's cheek much like Christian had hers. The
similarities were numerous, but that didn't have to mean anything bad.
But knowing her luck, it probably did.
"It just seemed like it was choreographed," Lita sighed,
tucking strands of her red hair behind her ear. "I mean, they did
almost the exact same thing. And if it really was about showing
Austin how to treat women in this business, then kicking Victoria's
ass out of the ring certainly wasn't a prime example of that."
"I know," Trish pounced, her face anxious. "This is what I'm
saying! It's just so strange! I mean, they're just suddenly so nice
to us, it's bizarre. Especially considering that just a few months
ago, Chris put me in the Walls of Jericho and almost didn't let me
out. They could be up to something, leading us into some sort of
trap."
"Or they might not be up to anything," Lita shrugged. "We
just can't tell. Not yet anyway."
Trish gave a tiny squeak of irritation, stamping her right
foot for good measure.
"I hate not knowing what's going on," the blonde
huffed. "And I hate the idea that this might just be another set-
up. I'm kind of tired of those. I've had my fair share."
"I know," Lita replied sympathetically, thinking back to the
time of her rehab. Trish had been up to her nose in rivalries the
entire time. If it wasn't Jazz gunning for her, then it was
Victoria, or Molly, or Gail, or someone else. And add onto that
having to deal with Eric Bischoff and his repeated attempts to force
the blonde into his bed . . . Trish had had a rough couple of months.
"But on the bright side, I've got your back now," Lita
reminded her friend. "And if this turns out to be something bad,
we'll deal with it."
"How?" Trish asked, her voice falling to a sad tone. "If it
comes to that, how do we handle Chris and Christian on top of
everyone else who seems to be gunning for us? Lita, I'm starting to
get more than a little freaked out. Yeah we can handle any
combination of Victoria, Gail, and Molly, but can we really handle
having all these people gang up on us?"
"We will if we have to," Lita assured her friend
firmly. "But you can't think like that Trish. We don't even know
what's going on right now. You can't think the worst of it yet. For
all we know, this just might be some sort of ploy to seduce us. We
both know what that feels like it, and we've both survived it
before. And you're acting like we're all alone in this. We're not;
we've got others at our back. Ivory, Jacqueline, Rob, the Dudleys-
hell, we've got the Co-GM of RAW on our side. In case you haven't
noticed, Austin seems to have a soft spot for us."
"That's only because we've both slapped the taste out of
Eric's mouth," Trish admitted grudgingly. "And I don't think we
should count on Austin all that much. After all, wasn't it Austin
who coined the term DTA? Don't trust Austin?"
"I thought it was `don't trust anyone'," Lita muttered
confusedly. Trish threw her hands up in the air.
"What does it matter? Point is, Austin's a great Co-GM, but
he's also really unpredictable. You saw what he did to Stacy last
week-"
"And I also saw him drinking with her this week," Lita
finished for her friend. "Trust me Trish, you don't have to tell me
how volatile Austin can be. I've experienced it, first-hand. I've
gotten a Stunner or two in my career as well, I know Austin goes
through mood changes faster than Terri goes through costume changes,
but it all boils down to one point."
"What?" Trish prompted when her friend fell silent. Lita
only smiled, getting to her feet and slinging her bag up on her
shoulder before handing Trish her own bag.
"He's a hell of a lot better than Bischoff," Lita finally
finished, linking arms with the blonde and steering her towards the
door. "And in my books, that makes Austin just great."
"Says the woman who has an iron-clad contract thanks to
aforementioned Rattlesnake," Trish tossed back lightly. "But I get
what you're saying. If worse comes to worse, we do have people we
can turn to."
"And in this business, that's the best you can get," Lita
stated firmly. "Come on, I'm tired of serious thoughts. Lets go
back to the hotel, eat tons of ice cream, and watch cheesy romance
flicks all night."
Trish giggled, forcibly pushing thoughts of Jericho and
Christian out of her mind for the time being. Lita was right; they
would deal with trouble when it comes. Right now, it was time to
relax.
After this night, both divas certainly earned that much.
~*~
"Chris?"
"What?"
"Do you ever have doubts-"
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"Not even with this?"
Chris Jericho shrugged, not facing his friend as they made
their way down the empty hallways of the arena. Most of the roster
had headed out; there were only a few scattered technicians and
security people left.
"Bischoff wants it done," Chris finally replied. "And once
we deliver, we get what we want."
"Ever wonder why he has it in so bad for these two?"
Christian asked uncertainly. Chris just smirked, his mind on
the `two' in question.
"Two proud, independent women," Chris explained. "It makes
the misogynist in him cringe."
Christian rolled his eyes.
"That isn't a good enough reason for what he wants done," the
blonde muttered. Chris just shrugged again, blue eyes determined.
"Who cares? We do this, I get the World's Title and you get
our Intercontinental belt back. Doesn't get any simpler than that?"
"But what about the girls?" Christian ventured hesitantly.
Chris set his jaw and pushed forward, stopping in front of Bischoff's
office and letting himself in without a knock. Christian followed
him silently, thinking intently on his friend's lack of response. It
wasn't like Chris to leave a question unanswered. Maybe Christian
wasn't the only one having second thoughts.
At least, he hoped he wasn't.
*****
Part Two: Suspicious
"Trish?"
Trish flinched, her face screwing up with pain as the blonde diva
tried to battle her way back to consciousness. Her head felt like it
was going to explode at any given second and she dimly wondered where
she was at the moment. She had been in the ring the last she
remembered, before Steven Richards had thrown her headfirst into the
barricade. Maybe she was with the trainers or the paramedics.
"Trish?"
Paramedics who sound strangely like Stacy Keibler, apparently. Trish
groaned softly, opening her eyes to find her hair all over her face.
Slowly she shoved her blonde locks away and behind her ear, blinking
when her eyes were hit with strong lights. The blonde turned her
head slightly, noticing for the first time she was lying on her back,
on some sort of bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"Trish?"
"Stacy?" Trish swallowed deeply, shocked at the fuzziness in her
throat. She coughed lightly, hand rubbing her throat carefully as
she tried to get her vision to focus properly. Letting her eyes
travel the room, she located Stacy quickly, noting with shock that
the blonde was seated very close to her cot.
"What happened?" Trish asked groggily. Stacy bit her lip and gave a
tiny sigh, hands nervously playing with her hair while she shot
pained looks to some point behind her.
"You were knocked for a loop out there," the taller blonde finally
replied, her eyes sympathetic. "The trainers said you probably
didn't have a concussion, but to be careful nonetheless. Um, Lita
was here before, but she had to leave to get your stuff so she asked
me to stay with you. I think she's driving you back to the hotel."
"And the match?" Trish prompted. "Please tell me that someone other
than that psycho bitch Victoria won."
"Lita won," Stacy was quick to assure her. "She got Victoria pretty
good with a DDT. But she was more worried about you than about
celebrating. You've been in and out of it for almost half an hour
now. How's your head?"
"Fine, if you ignore the mind-numbing headache I have," Trish
replied, laughing shortly at her own words. "Why the hell was that
jerk Steven even allowed out there tonight? It's such a disadvantage
to the rest of us."
"A lot of stuff that shouldn't happen does happen around here," Stacy
answered softly. Trish frowned, turning to look at the other blonde
for a second. Her brain cleared and she remembered the other events
of the night clearly.
"You okay?" she asked the other diva. Stacy looked a bit surprised,
which made Trish wonder if anyone had bothered to show her any
concern over the past few weeks. But then again, seeing Stacy
without Steiner or Test latched onto her wrist was a rarity nowadays.
"I'm okay," Stacy shrugged. "Test had to be taken to the hospital
after what Shane did. He was in too much pain to notice me, and
luckily Scott is very distracted by whatever else Team Bischoff has
planned for the night so he's not bothering me at this exact moment.
Of course, that's bound to change by next week. It seems my luck
never holds out for very long."
Stacy was speaking almost in a whisper now, her head hanging as she
tried to hide the tears in her eyes. Trish felt a flare of anger
looking at the blonde woman and thinking about her situation. How
dare Scott and Test treat Stacy like this. "Owning" her like she was
some sort of trophy. It was disgusting. It was wrong.
And it also wasn't likely to end any time soon.
"You're coming with us," Trish announced quickly. Stacy's head shot
up and she frowned at the diva as she struggled her way into a
sitting position.
"What?"
"You're coming with us," Trish repeated slowly, grimacing when a wave
of dizziness hit her. "Steiner can't bother you if he can't find
you. So, when Lita gets back here, you're coming with us."
"You don't have to," Stacy stuttered. "You shouldn't-"
"I'm not afraid of Scott Steiner," Trish assured her. "More
disgusted really. And the same goes for Test. Lita isn't likely to
be intimidated by them either. So don't argue Stacy. You're coming
with us and we're all going to get some peace tonight. And quite
possibly get drunk in celebration of Lita's impending reign as
Women's Champion."
"You're awfully confident in her ability," Stacy mused, a small smile
working its way onto her features. Trish chuckled softly, pressing a
hand to the side of her head in a vain attempt to stop the throbbing
sensation she was feeling.
"Well, I've been on the receiving end of a Lita ass-kicking," the
petite blonde shrugged. "And trust me, Molly Holly is in for the
beating of a lifetime. Especially considering the way she's been
running around pissing Lita off left and right. It's all going to
blow up in her face. I can guarantee it."
Stacy's smile was a full-blown one by this point. Trish patted her
shoulder in reassurance, wishing she could do something to keep that
smile on Stacy's face for much longer. But that wasn't likely to
happen, not with Test in "possession" of Stacy.
"Oh, I almost forgot."
Trish blinked, giving Stacy a curious look. The tall blonde got up,
walking over to one of the other tables and returning with a single
rose. Trish took the flower with a frown, looking to Stacy for an
explanation.
"Jericho," Stacy supplied, gesturing to the rose. "He dropped by
before his own match. You were still out of it when he was here, so
he asked me to give this to you when you were feeling better."
"Oh," Trish managed, twirling the flower between her fingers for a
second. Her mind travelled back to the message Chris had left on her
phone earlier and she couldn't help but feel a bit of warmth spread
throughout her stomach. He was really sweet, when he wanted to be.
But why did he want to be?
"Trish?"
"Hmm?" Trish looked up to see Stacy wringing her hands nervously.
The tall blonde offered her a shy smile, pointing to the rose again.
"If you don't mind me asking, what is up with you and Jericho? I
mean, he's acting all nice and chivalrous and well, un-Jericho. I
don't get it."
Trish sighed, grasping the flower tightly and giving Stacy a helpless
shrug.
"I don't get it either."
*****
Lita walked briskly through the hallways, Trish's bag on her right
shoulder and her own bag on her left shoulder. Trish's bag far
outweighed her bag since the other diva tended to bring more junk
with her to the arenas than Lita did. Actually, probably more than
anyone in the whole business did. There had to be at least four
different outfits, three bags of makeup, two pairs of boots, one pair
of sneakers, and way too many hair accessories in Trish's bag. Why
on earth the diva needed so much stuff was beyond this redhead, but
then again, Trish was a weird one when she wanted to be.
She passed several other wrestlers and crew members, nodding quickly
to those who called out greetings. Normally she would have struck up
a conversation with a couple of them, but she was in a bit of a hurry
right now. Trish needed to be taken back to the hotel so she could
get some rest. And since hit and run attacks seemed to be Molly and
Gail's favourite ammo, well, Lita was determined to get her and her
friend out of here as fast as possible. No way Trish could take
another brutal attack tonight, not after what Steven Richards had
done to her.
"Lita, hold up a minute there girl."
Lita bit back a groan, stopping abruptly and turning to face the
approaching co-GM of RAW. She had to fight to keep the impatience
off her face. It wasn't that she disliked Steve Austin or anything,
but she really didn't have the time right now.
"Yeah boss?" she asked, her voice strained just a bit. Austin just
paused, giving her a confused look before gesturing to the bags she
carried.
"Got enough stuff there?" he asked, amusement on his voice. Lita
shot him a quick grin, hefting Trish's bag just a bit higher on her
shoulder.
"Just grabbing Trish's stuff so I can get her out of here," she
replied, hoping that Austin would get the hint. He did, or appeared
to, as he nodded in understanding.
"I suppose you're in a hurry then, so I'll make this brief," Austin
looked her straight in the eye. "What is with you and Christian? Or
Trish and Jericho for that matter? I saw what happened earlier
today, and no offence girl, but his excuse was lame at best."
"Wasn't it?" Lita shook her head, shifting her weight foot from foot
as she chewed her lip. "I don't get what's going on, but I don't buy
what either Jericho or Christian are saying about the matter. Their
explanations just don't seem to fit. It's just . . ."
"Suspicious?" Austin filled in her for. Lita nodded her agreement
and Austin heaved a great sigh before looking her right in the eye
again.
"I don't know what's going on either," he admitted. "But I want you
and Trish on your guard. Christian and Jericho, no matter how many
times they save you, they're still Christian and Jericho. They work
for Bischoff, and that man doesn't seem to like you or Trish all that
much. When I hired you back, well, he wasn't happy in the least."
"I imagine," Lita replied dryly, starting to back up a bit. "And
don't worry, we are on our guard. We don't buy this either, but I
can't talk about it right now. I've got to get Trish back to the
hotel, before-"
"One of them psycho chicks come looking for ya?" Austin shot her a
grin. "I don't doubt that you would be able to handle them Red. But
you're right; get going. I'll talk to the two of you about this
later. I don't think it's going away all that soon, but I want it
figured out as soon as possible. You two are my best two divas; I'd
like to keep you in one piece if I may."
"Thanks Stone Cold," Lita grinned, offering the co-GM an offhand wave
before turning to head down to the trainer's room. Her mind swam
with the things he had just said. They weren't new suspicions; her
and Trish had been discussing the very same things for about two
weeks now. But, as usual, nothing was to come of all this
questioning. Whatever Jericho and Christian were up to, if they were
up to anything, it wasn't obvious just yet. But Lita couldn't help
but agree with Austin on one thing.
She wanted to find out what it was before something else happened.
*****