Just a little onesie for Katy. Thanks for all your help and advice, Dearie! And yeah, Hanna, there's a certain ref in there for you, even though two others make a brief cameo.
I disclaim. All characters are copyright to WWE and their respective owners.
Lilian Garcia sighed as she grabbed her bag and dress out of the rental car for the evening, being careful not to allow the white dress to touch the side of the car as she shut the door. She was a little tired. Her flight had been delayed last night coming home from Guatemala, and she had gotten very little sleep before having to arrive at the arena.
"Hey, there beautiful," Lilian suddenly heard someone say. Normally, she would have been on edge at the voice breaking the silence; she would have jumped when someone's hands encircled her waist, his hands settling against her stomach; she may have struggled when his face came close to hers, his lips near her ears as he spoke.
Not now, though. She knew that voice.
"Chris…" Lilian moaned softly, her breath hitching as his lips met the hollow of her throat.
Chris Mordetsky, better known as his ring name of Chris Masters, pulled her a little closer, kissing her neck as she turned her head. The fingers holding her dress trembled, and she had to fight to keep herself from dropping the garment on the ground of the parking garage.
Turning, Lilian captured his lips with her own, allowing the bag holding her footwear and toiletries to fall to the ground. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as her dress hit him in the back.
Chris groaned softly, pushing Lilian up against the door with his hips and kissing her for several long moments before finally pulling away.
"Wow, what do I have to do to get a greeting like that every day?" Chris finally asked, pressing his body even closer to hers.
Lilian didn't respond; rather, she captured his lips with hers again. Lilian kissed him gently, her fingers tracing the muscles in his back, not really caring at the moment that she was wrinkling her new dress.
They parted again, both flushed slightly and breathing a bit heavy. "God, Lil… as much as I would love to continue this, we better get inside before Vince sends out a search party," Chris struggled to tell her.
"Who cares about Vince?" Lilian asked, noticing that although he told her that they needed to get inside, he still made no move to allow her to push herself off of the rental.
Chris laughed, kissing her forehead before moving away and bending down to pick up her bag and take the dress from her. "Ecko Red?" Chris asked, seeing the fancy prints and splashes of color on the dress.
"Yeah, I know how much you love when I wear Ecko, so I decided to pick up this dress to surprise you," Lilian replied, smiling up at her boyfriend of the last year as she slipped her hand into his and they began walking.
"What boots do you have today?" Chris asked as they made their way to the backstage area of the arena.
"Chris!" Lilian gasped, shocked. "What makes you think that I don't have a classy pair of pumps or sandals with me?"
"Well, first of all, this dress would not look good with classy pumps or sandals. This is a boots dress," Chris confirmed, glancing at the dress again. "That and you have an obsession with boots!"
"Obsession?" Lilian asked, scoffing. "You make it sound like a bad thing!"
"Anyone who has a pair of boots to match every outfit in her closet has an obsession!" Chris teased her, allowing Lilian to walk through the door as he held it open.
"Hey! I don't have a pair of boots for EVERY different outfit!" Lilian protested. "I wear different boots! In fact, I've worn these before!"
Chris opened his mouth to argue, only to have Vince McMahon's voice cut him off. "There you two are!" he called, gesturing for Lilian and Chris to come over. "I need to talk to you two!"
Chris and Lilian exchanged a nervous glance, their hands disconnecting simultaneously as they made their way to their boss. "Yes, sir?" Lilian asked nervously.
"Relax, you two haven't done anything wrong," Vince said with a wave of his hand, glancing at Lilian. "Are you okay?" he asked her. "You look tired."
"I'm fine, I just had a long night," Lilian replied, then blushed furiously as she realized how that must have sounded to her boss. "My flight was delayed and I couldn't get to sleep in the airport," she clarified, resisting the urge to elbow Chris in the chest as she felt him shaking slightly next to her, resisting the urge to start laughing.
"Oh, okay," Vince replied. "Look, I wanted to talk to the two of you about a possible angle."
"…okay," Lilian replied, exchanging another glance with Chris, who nodded to Vince.
"Okay," Vince said brusquely, rubbing his hands together. "Chris, do you remember the possible angle we discussed last week regarding you and Super Crazy?" Chris nodded his agreement. "Okay. Well, what if we had you go out for the Masterlock Challenge, and no one comes out? So you take a microphone and say that since no one is coming out, that you guess it will have to be someone out in the arena."
"Another plant?" Chris asked, referring to the fact that when he first came to the WWE, they had used independent wrestlers as plants in the audience that would fall victims to the painful hold.
"Well, you'll tease that," Vince told Chris. "But after glancing around, you can turn your sights to Lilian."
Lilian blinked, startled to hear her name come out of the Chairman's mouth just as she was starting to wonder what this had to do with her.
"You can say, 'Lilian… how about we see if YOU can break the Masterlock?'" Vince said, ignoring the fact that Chris' eyes narrowed dangerously as he said this. "So, you advance on Lilian, backing her into a corner and all of a sudden you back up. You can say something like, 'I can't do this to you… go, get out of the ring.'"
"Okay, I can deal with that," Chris replied, relieved slightly until the Chairman started talking again.
"Well, then, as Lilian is trying to get out of the ring, you grab her arm and pull her to you, and put the Masterlock on her!" Vince finished, a wild gleam in his eyes as he pictured the scene before him.
"WHAT?" Chris asked loudly, drawing the attention of several wrestlers and backstage workers, his voice silencing many of the conversations. "Mr. McMahon, you have to be kidding!" he protested, his voice quieting down when Lilian's fingers found his arm. "I… I can't do that to Lilian!"
Vince raised his eyebrows at Chris. "You didn't have a problem doing it with Torrie," Vince pointed out lowly. "Is your relationship with Ms. Garcia impending your professional decision making?"
Chris swallowed, attempting to calm his fury at Vince's blatant attempt to use his relationship with Lilian against him, leveling his gaze at the Chairman before saying, "My relationship with Lilian has nothing to do with my preferences on this angle. And for the record, Torrie is about four inches taller than Lilian and outweighs her by about twenty-five pounds." Seeing Vince was getting ready to cut him off, Chris spoke louder as he finished, "Torrie was only in the Masterlock for a few seconds before Carlito came out to stop it. And in case you forget, Vince, I protested that angle as well, but you told me that we were doing it anyways!"
Vince glared at Chris, who met his stony gaze with one of his own, the tension between the two men evident to all bystanders. "Super Crazy would come out after a few seconds to help Lilian," Vince finally replied, crossing his arms over his chest as he and Chris continued to glare at each other.
Lilian sighed, stepping in front of Chris and tracing her fingers along his chest to draw his gaze down to her. After a few seconds, his gaze flicked down, his eyes meeting hers for several long moments. "It's okay, Chris," she said quietly. "I'll be fine. You won't hurt me."
Chris sighed. "I don't like this," he told her softly, so softly that only she could hear him.
"I know," Lilian replied, her voice barely above a whisper as she ignored the searing eyes of Vince McMahon on the back of her head as he stared at the couple. "We'll practice, though. We'll find how you can apply it and not hurt me."
Chris closed his eyes, resisting the urge to pull her to him and hold her, to kiss her, to protect her from the backstage politics, the storylines… everything. He debated his options, then opened his eyes, looking at Lilian as he answered Vince.
"I'll do it."
Lilian and Chris sat on the edge of the mat, their knees brushing and they waited for the ring crew to finish setting up the ring so that they could practice the angle that was going to take place.
"Okay, so I will be the referee for the Masterlock Challenge," Jack Doan told Lilian and Chris as he finished putting the turnbuckle pads on. "Did you want me to do anything during the segment?"
"Actually, yeah. Hit me with a chair or something so that I can't do this to Lilian," Chris muttered.
"Chris, come on," Lilian said gently. "I'm gonna be fine. You know how much pride I take in my participation in angles. I don't take bumps very often, and when I do I want them to look good. If you hold back, it's going to look bad for both of us."
"I know, I know," Chris replied, swinging his legs up so he could stand on the edge of the mat, holding his hand down to help Lilian up. "I'm just scared that I'm going to hurt you."
"Chris, if you worry about hurting me, then something's bound to happen," Lilian told him patiently as she stepped through the ropes that he held open for her, adjusting the waistband of her cotton workout pants. "Let's just go with the flow and see what happens."
"Okay," Chris said doubtfully.
"So, what do you guys want me to do?" Jack asked Lilian and Chris, folding his arms over his chest.
"Um… how about if when I grab her and lock in the Masterlock, you try and pull me off," Chris suggested. "And when you can't get me off, you signal for help or something. Then Crazy will come out."
"Okay, sounds good," Jack agreed.
"Did you want to go through the mic work or anything first?" Lilian asked Chris.
"No, I just want to practice this move so I know I'm not going to hurt you," Chris replied.
"Okay," Lilian agreed. "So how about we start with me trying to get out of the ring?"
"Sounds good," Chris replied, watching as Lilian began to duck between the ropes. Suddenly, he reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her to him. He wrapped his arm around hers, settling his hand across the back of her neck, preparing to wrap his other arm around her other arm to lock in the hold, freezing when she let out a terrified squeak.
"No!" she protested, struggling slightly.
Chris blanched, letting go of the hold and grabbing Lilian as she stumbled forward with surprise.
"Why'd you let go?" Lilian asked, turning around to meet his concerned gaze.
"You… you screamed. And said 'No!'" Chris answered, confused.
Lilian laughed slightly, placing a hand on his chest. "I'm sorry, Chris," Lilian told him. "I'm just trying to get my own reactions down as well. I should have told you that."
"Oh," Chris replied, feeling a little silly. "Well… um, if you need me to stop or let go, how about you say 'stop' or 'let go' or something."
"Well, stop and let go are probably going to be in my vocabulary," Lilian told him sheepishly, ignoring the slight smirk that Jack had on his face.
Chris sighed, running a hand across his face. "How about for now, you just say 'Get off,'" Chris suggested.
"Okay," Lilian agreed. "Let's try this again."
Lilian moved to step out of the ring, only to let out her surprised cry when Chris grabbed her. She allowed him to lock in the Masterlock and carefully pull her back into the ring a few feet, though he made no move to put any pressure on her neck or shoulders.
"Uh, Chris, this is the point where you act as if you are trying to kill me," Lilian told him gently.
Chris sighed and let go, allowing her to turn and meet his nervous gaze. "I… I'm sorry, Lil. I can't… I'm just having a hard time doing this…"
"I know," Lilian said softly, putting her hands on his cheeks and standing on her toes to give him a kiss. "It's okay. We can just take our time. Just… whenever you are comfortable to start putting pressure on the back of my neck, just let me know, okay?"
"Okay," Chris agreed, allowing his fingers to trace her cheek before stepping back.
Once again, she moved to step out of the ring, only to cry out when Chris grabbed her arm and pulled her back, locking in the full nelson and pulling her roughly to the center of the ring.
"That didn't hurt you did it?" Chris asked nervously.
"No, I'm fine," Lilian replied, slightly amused.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I… I'm gonna start to put pressure on now and start shaking you a little," Chris told her.
"Okay," Lilian agreed, flicking her eyes over to meet the gaze of the referee watching the pair. "Jack, why don't you grab at his arm when he starts to shake me around, and act as if you are pulling him off."
Jack nodded. "Ready?" he asked Chris, who nodded.
"Okay," Chris said to Lilian. "I'm gonna start to shake you around."
Lilian gasped slightly as Chris put pressure on the back of her neck, shaking her slightly. "Ah," she gasped, tears springing to her eyes as she felt a searing pain in her upper back from Chris' strength. "Stop," Lilian gasped slightly, yanking at Chris' hands. "Ow! Chris, GET OFF!" she yelled, remembering their code.
Alarmed, Chris let go, his hands moving to stop Lilian from falling flat on her face. "Lilian, what's wrong?!" he asked, turning her around so he could look at her.
"I… I'm sorry!" Lilian replied, breathing hard as she leaned against Chris. "I just… that was a little more painful than I thought it would be."
"You okay, Lil?" Jack asked, concerned for his friend.
"I'm fine," Lilian replied, trying to catch her breath. She took a deep breath, finding Chris' hand and squeezing it determinedly. "Let's try this again. Obviously not that much pressure."
"Okay," Chris said, admiring her determination. He didn't ask her if she was sure she wanted to do this, because he knew that that would merely piss her off.
Lilian moved to step out of the ring, only to have Chris grab her arm and lock in the hold yet again, pulling her back to the center of the ring.
"Pressure," Chris told her softly.
"Okay," Lilian agreed, wincing slightly as Chris put pressure on her neck. "That's better," Lilian told him, allowing him to shake her slightly. She felt Jack next to them, pulling at his arms.
"Let her go!" Jack yelled, practicing his actions for later as well. Moving back, he yelled to the outside of the ring, "Get me help down here!"
"You doing okay, Lilian?" Chris asked worriedly.
"I'm fine," she told him, her voice muffled slightly. "How about you force me to my knees now?"
"That could be taken so wrong," Chris said, smiling slightly, his nerves beginning to settle slightly.
"You perv!" Lilian exclaimed. "If I could hit you right now, I would."
Chris leaned forward, allowing Lilian to drop to her knees. "I guess at this point, I would notice Crazy coming down the aisle, so how about I let go and you fall forward?" Chris suggested.
"Okay," Lilian said, bracing herself for the impact as Chris let go of the hold and she fell forward, laying, unmoving for a few seconds. Then she rolled over onto her back, smiling up at Chris.
"You okay?" Chris asked, relieved, reaching down to help her up.
"I'm good," Lilian replied, rolling her shoulders slightly.
"You sure?"
"Yeah," she reiterated, bringing a hand up to the back of her neck. "Jackles, how did it look?"
"Good," Jack told them, smiling.
"It looked convincing?"
Before Jack could reply, a snide voice cut through the quiet arena. "Yeah, it looked convincing that Lilian is too cowardly to take a basic wrestling move," Kenny Doane said, sauntering up to the ring with his girlfriend Mickie James holding his arm.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Chris asked, glaring down at Kenny and Mickie.
"It looked pretty obvious that Lilian belongs nowhere near a wrestling ring," Mickie answered for Kenny, smirking at the blonde ring announcer.
"Yeah," Kenny said. "You looked as if you were scared of hurting her. That was the worst application of a full nelson that I've ever seen. No one's gonna believe that you're actually hurting her, and in the end, you're both going to look like morons." He smirked as he looked at Chris, then added, "Well, even bigger morons. It's obvious to everyone in the company that Chris isn't the brightest crayon in the box," Kenny told Mickie with a laugh.
"Chris, no, don't," Lilian protested, moving to stand in front of Chris as he moved to step outside of the ring. "He's not worth it."
"Yeah, listen to the blonde bimbo that can't take a simple move without crying," Mickie taunted. "'Ow, Chris, GET OFF!'" Mickie repeated in a high falsetto, smiling to herself when Lilian blushed, feeling a little self conscious knowing that she had been caught in a moment of weakness.
"Screw you, Mickie," Lilian said calmly, feeling a little better about herself when Chris laid a hand on her arm. "I'm not a trained wrestler, and if I was, I wouldn't have been Women's Champion simply because I decided to ride the coattails of women better than me."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Mickie asked, the smirk dropping from her features.
"It means that Trish Stratus and Amy Dumas are, and forever will be, the pillars of women's wrestling. The only reason you got that belt is because Vince was pissed that Amy was leaving and wanted to make a mockery of her," Lilian told Mickie. The former women's champion opened her mouth to argue, but Chris cut her off.
"As for you, Kenny," he said to the former Spirit Squad member, "Enjoy Heat. No one will probably be watching, but try to enjoy the spotlight. I'll be thinking of you as we're doing our segment live."
With that, Chris sat on the ropes, allowing Lilian to exit the ring as Kenny and Mickie glared at them. He linked his hand in hers, glancing at a smiling Jack Doan. "You coming, Sprout?"
"Yeah, sure am," Jack replied, jumping out of the ring and walking up the ramp with the couple.
The trio made their way backstage. "I'll see you out there tonight?" Jack asked Lilian and Chris.
"Yeah," Lilian replied. "Thanks for your help, Jack."
"It's no problem," Jack replied. "And hey. You guys looked good out there. Don't worry about what they said. It looked convincing, and I think the segment will go over well."
"Thanks, Jack," Chris said with a nod. "I appreciate it."
Jack grinned, then set off to join Mike and Chad for a drink.
Chris sighed, turning to Lilian. "You sure you're okay?"
"I'm good. My shoulders hurt a little, but I'll live, you know?" Lilian answered.
Chris opened his mouth to reply, only to be cut off by Vince. "There you two are!" Vince exclaimed.
"Oh, God, what now?" Chris muttered, though it was more to himself than anyone else.
"Look, Lilian, Chris, I tried to call Justin Roberts in to fill in for Lilian for the rest of the evening, but he's stuck in California until tomorrow morning," Vince said breathlessly. "So we're not going to do the angle tonight."
Lilian and Chris stared openmouthed at Vince. "Are you kidding me?!" Chris exploded. "We just spent a good half hour out there practicing, during which time I know that I hurt Lilian a little, and all you can say is that the angle isn't going down now? What the hell are you playing at, McMahon?!"
Lilian brought her gaze to Chris, shocked at his outburst. "Sweetie, relax!" Lilian hissed, pulling at his arm. "Come on, let's go."
"Lilian, you stay out of this!" Vince barked at the blonde Diva, who flinched at the harsh tone.
"Don't you talk to her that way!" Chris snapped, stepping closer to McMahon, only hesitating when Lilian squeezed between the two men, wondering if she was in over her head and if she was going to end up knocked on her ass.
"Chris… please. It's not a big deal," Lilian protested. "Who knows if this is going to happen again? Plus, we got to spend a little more time together," she told him, trying to ignore the fact that Vince's chest as brushing against her back. Good God if fists start swinging, I'm screwed, Lilian realized. "Just calm down, okay?"
"That goes for you too, Vince." Lilian nearly sighed with relief as Linda McMahon made her way through the crowd. "You could have made sure Justin was available BEFORE you sent Chris and Lilian out to practice," the matriarch of the McMahon family pointed out, pulling her husband's arm so that he backed away from Lilian and Chris.
"So why don't we call this a misunderstanding, and call it a day?" Linda suggested. "Lilian, Chris, I'm sure you two can figure something out so that you interact tonight incase we decide to do this again in the future?"
"Yes, ma'am," Lilian replied, turning and smiling at the elder woman despite the tense situation. She had a lot of respect for Linda, who served as a great model for the women in the business. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. As for you, Vincent, I think you owe these two an apology."
"An apology?!" Vince exclaimed. "Linda! Come on!"
"Yes, an apology," Linda replied, glaring at Vince. "You sent these two on a wild goose chase, and you could have been a little more prepared!"
Vince glared at Chris and Lilian, muttering, "I'm sorry."
"Apology accepted," Chris said stiffly, his tone indicating that he was still annoyed. "And I apologize for yelling at you."
Vince nodded before turning and striding down the hall.
After the show, Lilian laid on her stomach, dozing slightly as she waited for Chris to get out of the shower so she could take a shower of her own. Though she would never admit this to Chris unless he asked, her shoulders and neck were hurting a little. She knew he felt bad about having to lock the hold in as it was, and the last thing she wanted to do was make him feel bad for hurting her.
Chris emerged from the shower, towel drying his hair as he settled on the bed next to Lilian. "Sweetie, wake up," he said softly, rubbing a hand across her back.
"Mmm," Lilian mumbled. "Have to?"
"Well, you wanted to take a shower and all," Chris answered.
"Yeah," Lilian replied with a sigh, sitting up and wincing slightly.
"You okay?" Chris asked, concerned as he helped her to sit on the edge of the bed.
"I…" she trailed off, considering lying. However, Chris was giving her an innocent look, one that she couldn't lie to. "I'm a little sore, Chris," she admitted. "But it's nothing that some Tylenol, warm towels, and maybe a backrub wouldn't cure…" she trailed off again, seeing the guilty look on his features.
"I'm sorry," Chris mumbled. "This is all my fault."
"No… it's Vince's fault. You were only doing what he told you to."
Chris sighed, running a hand through his damp hair. "I know… but I still feel guilty."
"Don't," Lilian answered, resting her hard against his shoulder. "Eddie didn't feel guilty when he Samoan dropped me… neither did Nelson. And Lord knows Jeff Jarrett didn't give two shits about the fact he nearly broke my knee. They were doing their jobs, the same as you."
"Well, Nelson and Eddie weren't dating you."
"You have a point there," Lilian agreed. "But I also know that you wouldn't do anything to hurt me on purpose."
"Absolutely not," Chris agreed.
"I know. You don't have to tell me that," Lilian said gently.
"I love you so much Lilian," Chris told her, the guilt settling slightly as he pressed his lips to hers.
"I know. I love you too." With that, Lilian stood up. "And right now, I am going to take a nice warm shower, and come back to bed, where we are going to sleep and there will be no more apologies made. Okay?" Lilian asked, pressing her lips against his forehead.
Chris closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her lips pressed against his forehead before answering, "Okay… I'll have some Tylenol and hot towels ready for you."
"That sounds great," Lilian replied, flashing him her megawatt smile as she made her way to the bathroom. "I love you," she repeated.
"I love you, too," Chris replied softly. "Forever and always."
Finished.
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