Disclaimer: I lay no claim or ownership to any person, place or thing that you may recognize. Just the words.

Pairings: Lita/You'll Find Out, Trish/Edge, Maria/Jeff, Mickie/Chris; possible appearances and mentions of others.

Notes: As it should become clear, I'm setting this at the RAW 15th Anniversary show, which was in December of 2007 (to the best of my memory). As of this point in time, I am unsure as to how long this will be chapter wise, but I'd anticipate 10 parts at the most and that's pushing it.

~*~

Earlier that day...

Before this weekend was over, scratch that, before the next few hours ended; Lita was going to pummel her best friend into the ground. And she would enjoy every moment of it. For someone who claimed to know her oh so well, Trish Stratus had taken it upon herself to do something quite underhanded.

It had started casually, far too casually and that should have been Lita's first clue.

Then the conversation had shifted, Trish bringing up the fact that she, Adam, Chris, Mickie, Jeff and Maria were planning on a group date that night. Lita had wished them a wonderful evening, to bring back any leftovers if they wanted to and of course, to have fun.

But then, Trish had turned that scheming look towards her … and Lita had cringed.

And then, before she knew what was happening, Mickie and Maria were both in the hotel room; Maria holding up Trish's make up bag while Mickie was holding up numerous hangers. Trish had taken that opportunity of mass confusion to lock the hotel room door; the blond Canadian even going so far as to move the table in front of the door to prevent her friend from trying to leave.

Damn it, she and Trish were there for the stupid anniversary show and nothing more.

Unfortunately, Lita also knew first hand, just how stubborn and persistent Trish could be when she really wanted her way. And this, apparently, was one of those moments that no amount smooth talking, cajoling or death threats were going to change. That in turn meant that Lita would be the unfortunate victim of whatever scheme Trish, Mickie and Maria had cooked up … the former redhead beginning to wonder if Adam, Jeff and Chris had a hand in this as well.

So, that just meant more ass kicking to do before the night was over. Nothing that Lita couldn't handle...

But, that also depended on if she was able to walk by the time the night was over and after she'd taken one look at the high heeled shoes in Mickie's hands...

"Can you at least tell me who the other unfortunate victim is in this little plot of yours?"

Trish smiled placidly, "according to him, he's not a victim. In fact, if you ask Jeff and Adam .. or Randy or Shawn, for that matter; he's been asking about you."

Lita scowled, nearly causing Maria to poke her in the eye with the eyeliner pencil, "and I suppose it would be asking too much to get a little hint?" And when Trish merely grinned, Lita sighed. "Of course. So I'm just doomed to my fate, dragged out of here against my will in something that I would never wear--"

Trish rolled her eyes, "Lita, please. I've seen you in dresses and skirts, so don't start with me. It's not like we're forcing you into a ball gown, tiara and glass slippers."

Because Maria was intently working on Lita's eye make-up, the dark haired woman couldn't glare properly at her friend. "You might as well be considering you ambushed me in my own hotel room."

Mickie cleared her throat, "if you're really having that horrible of a time by the time we're through with dinner, then you can leave. No obligations to stick around, even though you might be disappointing him..."

Another pause from Lita as Maria instructed her to blot, the redhead stepping back with a satisfied smile. "I wish you would come back. I know we weren't close when you left but..."

Thanks to Jeff, Trish, Adam, Chris and Mickie; Maria had become a closer friend to Lita over the months. And while she wouldn't call Maria her best friend anytime soon, she was grateful for the younger woman's friendship. Of course, being stuck in a van or at a cabin or on a boat with Jeff, Chris, Adam and occasional other did test one's patience and sanity. But, the girls always had each other. Which was a very good thing indeed.

"Thank you," Lita told her sincerely, the former diva finally moving from the bed so she could get her shoes on. "Will you at least tell me where we're going?"

Trish smoothed her skirt, "well I talked to Stephanie for some recommendations since she's more familiar with the area. And she suggested that, for a bigger party like ours, we could try heading into New York City."

"But--"

"Li, the show isn't until tomorrow, they all have the day off today and it's not even 3:00 in the afternoon. We'll take the train in and the guys already know where to meet us." The blond woman grinned triumphantly, "chillax."

Present Time

Fortunately for Lita, the high heeled shoes had just been there for demonstration … or something. The former diva never bothered to ask because she'd been too pissed off at that point to question. And though they claimed it was a big event, and she supposed it was, all signs of skirts and dresses were conspicuously absent. That at least put Lita less on guard as far as the grander scheme of things but she still couldn't quite shake the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as they exited the train and entered Grand Central Station.

The former diva didn't mind surprises, really she didn't, just that when Trish Stratus was one of the conspirators and she had assistance from Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy and Adam Copeland … well Lita couldn't help but feel more than a little apprehensive. Between them, they knew her very well, and that fact scared her. Because they knew when to push and when to step back... and between them, they also knew how to get her to agree even when all Lita wanted to do was say no.

Still, she did have to hand it to Maria... she'd done one hell of a job with her make-up. Much better than any of the so called professionals in the WWE had ever done.

But that still did little to ease her nerves as they wove through the crowds in search of the remainder of their party.

They'd spotted Adam first, naturally because he was the tallest of the four males and then they'd spotted Jeff's colorful head. Chris always seemed to have a natural spotlight on him wherever he went and this time was no exception... and then, lingering near the back in an uncharacteristic sort of manner...

"You guys can enjoy the evening," Lita spoke once she'd seen who else was there, "tell Chris, Adam and Jeff I'm sorry for wasting their time like this but--"

Trish grabbed Lita's left elbow, Mickie grabbing the right and this time it was Maria who spoke. "Trust me when I say, this wasn't easy for him either. Look, I know you've just gotten out of relationship and he hasn't really dated anyone for awhile either but... give him a chance. He's a great guy."

Lita squirmed uncomfortably, "... that isn't the problem. I just.. it's just … He. I wanted to separate myself completely from the business and--"

Mickie shook her head, "if that was really the case then you wouldn't be hanging out with us all the time, would you? And if that really was the case, then you would have told McMahon that you wouldn't attend the anniversary show."

Trish arched an eyebrow, "no more excuses, Li. We've come this far, we might as well go all the way. And besides, people are starting to stare." Calmly so, the blond woman released her friend's appendage, "now come on, they're waiting for us and we have reservations to keep."

Once Mickie had released Lita's right arm, she joined Maria and Trish on their previous route towards the guys. A confused look on each of their faces and something lingering beneath on one...

"She doesn't like blind dates, she's told me this repeatedly and--"

"Technically, it isn't a blind date."

"Did she know I would be here?"

"Well, no.. or she wouldn't have agreed in the first place."

Adam snorted, "from the looks of it, she didn't agree to anything in the first place. But she's here now... and the women are approaching so that means that we shut up."

As the tall blond man went on ahead to meet Trish halfway, Chris joined him as well … Jeff remaining behind for the time being...

"She'll have to talk to you eventually or you can always go and talk to her."

"And say what exactly? The last time I talked to her, I ended up kissing her and she kissed me back before realizing what the hell she was doing."

Jeff didn't quite know how to reply to that, so instead he shrugged. "Hello is always a great place to start." With an encouraging pat on his friend's shoulder, he walked off to meet Maria.

And that left the two of them, still separated by the same amount of distance.

This was going so well already and the date had only just begun.

TBC