My Immortal - Evanescence.
A/N: The song used in this fic is 'My Immortal' by Evanescence. It's not mine, RAW and SMACKDOWN aren't mine. Please, don't sue me.
Samantha.
************
"So anyway, I wanted to discuss where my career is going." Matt began, "I think I should be heading after a belt, ideally the World Heavyweight Championship, but I'm willing to accept the Intercontinental Title too."
"Mmm," Eric mumbled, thinking. "Can you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Matt asked.
"Listen." Eric commanded. "Can you hear it?"
"Sounds like piano music." Matt answered. "Weird, especially for us. Most superstars listen to something a lot harder."
Silently Eric began to walk towards the sound, Matt following him out of curiosity.
***********
As he and Matt found the room it was coming from, someone began to sing, the voice sad, almost mournful.
In the dim light they could see the woman's fingers moving precisely over the keys of the piano, sitting completely still as she sang, accompanying herself.
"I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave,
Because your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone."
Several others joined them, the four members of Evolution, Chris Jericho, Christian, the Dudley Boyz, even Kane stopped to listen though none of them knew why. The woman's voice seemed to hold them there, even when they wanted to leave.
"These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase."
As she continued to sing her voice grew lighter, almost as though she wasn't so sad, or pained, but her posture remained the same, sitting up straight, but not overly correct.
She was aware of the people standing behind her, but continued to play anyway, not ignoring them, just delaying the moment when she would have to acknowledge their presence.
"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me."
So sad. So pained. Each of the observers was moved in their own way by such a display of raw emotion, though none of them would ever admit it to the others.
'How could someone be so pained and still force them self to exist?' The thought permeated more than one superstar's mind as she began to sing again.
"You used to captivate me
By your resonating mind
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams
Your voice that chased away all the sanity in me."
Tears slid slowly down her cheeks.
She knew that he was standing there, behind her, right in the front of the group, and he didn't recognize her. Not her voice, her body, her posture.
How could he manage to cause her so much pain, and not even realize who she was, and how much pain she was in? How could he even call himself a man, or a human being?
"These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase."
Almost effortlessly, her voice soared through the notes, each word perfectly pitched and delivered, but resonating with unspoken emotion, each word, an unspoken plea.
Unspoken until now, until Matt couldn't see her, though she was sitting in front of him, the song written for him, to him.
"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me."
For years she had given him all of her heart and soul, and he couldn't even see her.
Even if she was blind she would be able to see him, to find him.
Even blindfolded on the darkest day of the year, spinning around and playing Marco Polo, she would still be able to find him.
Yet here she sat, right in front of him. And he couldn't see her.
"I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along."
Struggling to keep her tears in check she continued to sing, skipping a few piano notes, but nothing that made a difference to the sound of the song. Willing her tears away, she made it through the last part of the song with dry eyes.
"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of you fears
I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me
All of me
All of me
All of me."
She sat there silently for a moment, waiting to see if they would all just walk away, but no one moved.
"Was there something you all wanted?" She asked, finally turning around.
"Lita!" Hunter exclaimed.
"I suppose in some bizarre, sick, twisted way I should proud that you even know my name." She answered. "Was there a reason you all decided to congregate here, or am I just lucky?"
"I didn't you had any talent." Eric told her.
"I've got more talent in my little finger, and more aptitude for artistic and applied knowledge tasks than you have in your entire body." Lita punctuated her words with a smile that dazzled the array of men.
"Any special reason why you're hiding out here all on you own?" Eric taunted her.
"I was feeling a bit lonely." She replied. "But I suppose that's expected. Born alone, die alone and get screwed in between."
"That's awfully cynical." Ric told her. "You should wait until you're older to be that cynical."
"Just how old do you think I am?" She shot back, a little annoyed.
"Twenty-two?"
She leaned back, resting her spine against the piano, arms folded across her chest. "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult."
"Typical female." Eric shook his head at her.
"Maybe I should call you all 'typical males' and see how you feel about it." Lita told him.
"This new talent of yours..." He began.
"I've been playing the piano for a very long time." She interrupted.
"How long?" Randy Orton asked her.
She paused before answering. "Longer than you've been alive."
"So how old are you?" He asked.
"Older than you junior."
"You are going to 'showcase' this new talent of yours, live on RAW this Monday night." Eric told her.
Lita shook her head. "I don't play for audiences, I haven't for a long time."
"I'm telling you..." Eric began.
"I'll tell you a little story." She interrupted. "I started learning piano when I was three years old, and by the time I was fifteen I had completed examinations that people twice and three times my age could not even begin to comprehend.
About three weeks after my sixteenth birthday, I had been invited to play at a gala for some of Florida's senators and other important people. I was so nervous about it, about making one mistake that I practiced constantly, playing for sometimes seven hours a day, until eventually I lost it and just played without stopping for hours upon hours.
Until my fingers were red raw and bleeding and my parents dragged me away because they couldn't bear to see me in so much pain." She stared at her fingertips for a moment. "The scars are long gone now, but I still remember the open wounds."
"So let me get this straight," Hunter began, "You got stage fright, and now you won't play the piano."
"I had anxiety attacks, a whole lot of them," Lita corrected him, "And I don't play very often any more. Most often I don't have time while I'm away from home."
"Monday night RAW." Eric repeated.
"No." She answered. "Nothing you say can make me change my mind."
"How about if you don't, 'YOU'RE FIRED.'" Eric suggested.
"How about do that, and I'll sue you for breach of contract." She answered with a wide innocent smile. "Nothing in my contract says anything about musical performance being part of my job."
"The song." Jericho interrupted. "Where's it from?"
"It's one of the millions I wrote after breaking up with another asshole." She replied casually. "If you liked that one you should hear some of the other miserable songs I've written after getting dumped, or cutting someone loose, or going through the whole 'it's not you, it's me,' speech. Except that in those there's actually some songs I like."
"Anything heavier?" Chris asked her.
"As in drums, bass, electric, and keyboard?" She asked. "Of course, why, you want to hear some more?"
"Would you mind?" He asked.
"Actually..." Lita glanced at her watch. "Yes, I would mind, I need coffee, or ice cream or some kind of legal stimulant, hopefully chocolate."
"You're still playing on Monday night RAW." Eric insisted.
"I'm not singing for you. Not anymore than I would give you a lap dance."
"A lap dance..." Eric mused. "Now that sounds like fun."
"It's not in my contract either, so you have zero chance." Lita told him.
"I'm sure I could find a loop hole." He flirted with her.
"I'm not sure you can take a hint. I'm not singing for you, and I'm not giving you a lap dance either."
"You will do as you're damn well told." Eric told her, "Or you will suffer the consequences."
Turning away she pushed several keys on the piano, a simple rendition of 'Chopsticks.' Then, once she'd finished she turned and looked at him. "If you're going to force me to play, I hope you like your piece for Monday night RAW."
"You wouldn't play that." He told her.
"Guys who know me well, would I play that just piss Eric off?" She asked casually.
"Yeah, you would." Rob smiled at her. "The song you played before was beautiful."
She smiled at him. "Thank you."
"How would you feel if I offered to buy the song rights to that one?" Chris asked. "For my band."
"I'm very flattered, but that one is actually already sold." Lita answered him. "I do a lot of business with a music group, and the lead singer heard 'My Immortal' and she fell in love with it. It goes to air on Tuesday."
"You're a song writer too?" Eric asked her.
"Told you I was talented." She gave him a wicked smile.
"Do you ever stop flirting?" Matt asked her.
She stared at him for a second, as though considering his words. "Since you think I'm flirting with Eric, whom I actually can't stand, I'm beginning to wonder just how well you think you know me."
"Pretty damn well." He shot back.
"So who is this music group you sold the song rights too?" Chris asked.
"One of my favourites," Lita replied, "Evanescence."
"You're joking!" Randy said to her. "I love their stuff."
"You have some talent girl." Jericho told her.
"Yeah, whatever." Lita told him sarcastically, not believing a word he said. "Anyway, did you all want something, or did you just stop by to listen to me pour my heart out to a piano?"
"What are you doing tonight?" Hunter asked her impulsively.
"I don't know." She replied.
"Do you want to go out?" He asked.
"With you?"
"Well yeah."
She smiled, almost as though she was flattered by his invitation. "I've got three words for you. No thank you."
"You just said 'no'." Hunter repeated.
"What, has that never happened to you before?" Lita asked, amused by his behavior.
"Uh..." He began.
"Don't feel bad." Lita told him. "I just have it down on your entire gender."
"Explain that?"
"I'm sick of men and their stupid fucking hang ups." She answered.
"See that's where you're wrong." Hunter told her. "Chicks are the ones who have the hang ups, not guys."
"Way to go, someone should patent your pick up lines." Lita clapped several times. "Dissing my gender is not the ideal way to make me change my mind about going out with you. And that's another thing about guys. You never admit it when you're wrong."
"Neither do women." Eric told her.
"If I'm wrong, I don't have a problem admitting it." She answered. "But I'm not wrong very often."
"Name one thing you were right about." Hunter challenged her.
"Goldberg kicked your ass and took your title." Lita smiled at him.
Hunter stared at her for a moment.
"Name something you were wrong about?" Matt challenged her.
"Trish tried to warn me that you were a self-centered, conniving son of a bitch who didn't give a shit about me." She said quietly. "I told her that you loved me."
Without saying another word Lita stood up and walked out of the room, holding her head up high.
For several seconds, it was almost like her voice was echoing in the room.
"I've been alone all along."
"Lita." Matt grabbed her hand, pulling her around to face him. Her face was streaked with tears and she was clearly both angry and upset.
"Don't fucking touch me Matt. You gave up that right when you left me."
"Lita, please..." He began again, reaching out to touch her.
She slapped him as hard as she could, using all the leverage she could muster. "I said don't fucking touch me Matt."
"I know that you're upset, but do you really have to take it out on me?" He asked, holding his cheek with one hand.
"Jeff would call it karma." She answered, hissing and spitting like a cat backed into a corner.
"Do you want to calm down now?" Eric asked her.
"Do I want to, or am I going to?" She asked in return. "Because the answer is neither. I have no intention of calming down, and I'm not going to. I'm upset and I'm allowed to be."
"You're being ridiculous." Matt told her.
"Is that because I slapped you, or because you still can't handle it when I cry?"
"Because you're acting like a crazy woman." He shot back.
"I can't even hate you yet." Lita told him, brushing several tears away angrily. "And I don't know why, because I have let you hurt me more times than I can count." Tears trickled down her cheeks unchecked, with Lita not caring at the array of men who were staring at her.
"Li," A voice said gently. She turned around and let the speaker pulled her into a hug. "It's okay babe. We're here now."
"What are you doing here?" Eric asked the three men.
"We've come to take nuestra luchadora ir a casa." Rey's soft, gentle voice answered.
"In English if you don't mind." Bischoff remarked sarcastically.
"We've come to take Lita home." Jeff answered, translating Rey's impromptu Spanish.
"Jeff." Matt greeted his younger brother.
"Don't start now Matt." Jeff warned him. "I could take you to pieces at the moment for what you did. Any number of people could, and still might."
"Your stunts are getting old dawg." John told him. "You won't even want to show your face at the next joint pay-per-view. Half the SMACKDOWN roster wants to beat on your ass."
"You're taking her home?" Matt asked.
"Yeah," Jeff told him. "We're taking her home. Home to Cameron."
"I'm sorry to say this," Eric began, his voice sarcastic. "But Lita's not going anywhere. She has a show to do."
"Vince and Linda are very sorry that you are the person who orchestrated Matt's return to RAW. They're just as sorry about the incredibly malicious way Matt lead her on, and then left her on national television." Jeff told him. "Linda is especially upset about it."
"She gets upset about a lot of things." Eric smirked.
"You aren't the brightest star in the sky are you?" John asked him.
"Vince has ended, or is in the process of ending his affair with Sable." Rey told them. "You might not know this because you are below the radar, but Vince is trying to make it up to his wife."
"And the fact that they both love Lita like a daughter doesn't sit well in your favor." Jeff added.
"Can you remember what a protective daddy Vince was when you married Stephanie?" John asked Hunter. "She's great by the way. She's gotten to be a lot more fun since Heyman replaced her as GM on SMACKDOWN."
Hunter fumed silently, while John chuckled, amused by the response he got from the older man.
"We're going to take Lita with us now." Rey told Eric. "If you have a problem, call Vince and Linda." He slipped an arm around Lita's waist, as she reached out her arms to hug him, burying her face in his shoulder, speaking quietly in mumbled Spanish.
As John stepped forwards so that they could leave, Triple H blocked his way.
"What's your problem now, dawg?"
"Dawg?" Randy asked, with a laugh.
"Do you even speak English?" Hunter asked him.
"He does better than you I would wager." Lita said quietly, forcing everyone to quieten down in order to hear her.
"You need to learn some respect, all of you." Eric told them.
John chuckled, looking back at his companions, then turning back to Eric. He waved his hand in front of his face. "You can't see me, homy."
"Oh, for God's sake!" Ric exclaimed. "Could you just shut up and let someone else talk?"
Taking his cue, Hunter began to talk trash to John and the others. "What are you going to do about us not letting you leave, huh? A pack of Cruiserweights."
John stood tall, almost nose to nose with Hunter. "Who are you calling a Cruiserweight, homy? I ain't, Rey kicks the asses of the biggest guys in the business, and Jeff's not afraid of an ass like you."
Lita pulled out of Rey's arms and walked over to Hunter, driving her heel down onto his toes, making him shout out in pain. "Don't ever make threats towards the people I care about." She told him, her voice hard and angry, surprising everyone.
"Like I told you before, but you weren't listening," John began, stepping in front of Lita, shielding her. "You can't see me."
Tear prickled Lita's eyes as he spoke.
"What now?" Matt asked her.
"It's strange, but John's right." She said softly. "I've always been able to see you. If I were blind, blindfolded in the middle of the darkest night, spun around so many times I couldn't stand up, it didn't matter. I would still be able to see you, to find you. And you can't see me when you aren't looking at my face. You don't know me at all."
Shrugging her shoulders Lita walked away from them, away from Matt and Eric, who always seemed to want to hurt her. At the end of the corridor she turned around. "I don't want you anymore Matt. It's just like my mom told me when I was fifteen. 'No man is worth you tears Amy,' she used to say, 'And the one who is won't make you cry.' I guess she was right all along. For as long as we were together, I was alone."
"Do you honestly believe that?" He asked her, his voice angry.
Slowly she nodded her head. "Yeah, I do believe that." She answered. "You want to know what else she told me? 'Don't waste your time on a man who isn't willing to waste their time on you.' I guess time just ran out on you too."
Lita looked at John, Rey and Jeff. "Guys, let's go home."
"You aren't going anywhere." Matt told her.
"Can you see me, Matt? Can you see me like you once did? I can't see you like I once did, not anymore, Matt. You can stand there, right in front of me, and I can still remember how nervous you were the first time we went out, and I can remember talking all night, sleeping with you, Christmas, New Year's Eve. They aren't happy memories for me any more Matt. They're scars that I will bear until the end of time, because every time you gave me one of those memories, you followed it up with betrayal." She told him. "I'm not going anywhere, but I'm not staying here."
"Es vale, luchadora." Rey reassured her. "We all move on in time."
"Then my time has come, my song is sung, and I want to move on, all of that crap. I don't know how to stay standing still, so I'll move. I don't care where to."
"How about home?" Jeff suggested, bringing a smile to her face, a real smile.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be, and no other people I'd rather be with." She hugged him, and then John, before walking down the hall, vanishing from sight.
"Who's going to be there for you now Matt? Who's going to stay with you when no one else will? I'm your brother, and even I've turned from your side when you've been an ass. She stuck by you no matter what you did." Jeff said to his brother.
"You don't need to worry about her no more." John told him. "She's got three guys who love her better than you ever could, and more than you ever did. Word Life."
Together the three men followed Lita down the hall, vanishing as she had, from the sight of the others.
A/N: The song used in this fic is 'My Immortal' by Evanescence. It's not mine, RAW and SMACKDOWN aren't mine. Please, don't sue me.
Samantha.
************
"So anyway, I wanted to discuss where my career is going." Matt began, "I think I should be heading after a belt, ideally the World Heavyweight Championship, but I'm willing to accept the Intercontinental Title too."
"Mmm," Eric mumbled, thinking. "Can you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Matt asked.
"Listen." Eric commanded. "Can you hear it?"
"Sounds like piano music." Matt answered. "Weird, especially for us. Most superstars listen to something a lot harder."
Silently Eric began to walk towards the sound, Matt following him out of curiosity.
***********
As he and Matt found the room it was coming from, someone began to sing, the voice sad, almost mournful.
In the dim light they could see the woman's fingers moving precisely over the keys of the piano, sitting completely still as she sang, accompanying herself.
"I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave,
Because your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone."
Several others joined them, the four members of Evolution, Chris Jericho, Christian, the Dudley Boyz, even Kane stopped to listen though none of them knew why. The woman's voice seemed to hold them there, even when they wanted to leave.
"These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase."
As she continued to sing her voice grew lighter, almost as though she wasn't so sad, or pained, but her posture remained the same, sitting up straight, but not overly correct.
She was aware of the people standing behind her, but continued to play anyway, not ignoring them, just delaying the moment when she would have to acknowledge their presence.
"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me."
So sad. So pained. Each of the observers was moved in their own way by such a display of raw emotion, though none of them would ever admit it to the others.
'How could someone be so pained and still force them self to exist?' The thought permeated more than one superstar's mind as she began to sing again.
"You used to captivate me
By your resonating mind
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams
Your voice that chased away all the sanity in me."
Tears slid slowly down her cheeks.
She knew that he was standing there, behind her, right in the front of the group, and he didn't recognize her. Not her voice, her body, her posture.
How could he manage to cause her so much pain, and not even realize who she was, and how much pain she was in? How could he even call himself a man, or a human being?
"These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase."
Almost effortlessly, her voice soared through the notes, each word perfectly pitched and delivered, but resonating with unspoken emotion, each word, an unspoken plea.
Unspoken until now, until Matt couldn't see her, though she was sitting in front of him, the song written for him, to him.
"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me."
For years she had given him all of her heart and soul, and he couldn't even see her.
Even if she was blind she would be able to see him, to find him.
Even blindfolded on the darkest day of the year, spinning around and playing Marco Polo, she would still be able to find him.
Yet here she sat, right in front of him. And he couldn't see her.
"I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along."
Struggling to keep her tears in check she continued to sing, skipping a few piano notes, but nothing that made a difference to the sound of the song. Willing her tears away, she made it through the last part of the song with dry eyes.
"When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of you fears
I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have all of me
All of me
All of me
All of me."
She sat there silently for a moment, waiting to see if they would all just walk away, but no one moved.
"Was there something you all wanted?" She asked, finally turning around.
"Lita!" Hunter exclaimed.
"I suppose in some bizarre, sick, twisted way I should proud that you even know my name." She answered. "Was there a reason you all decided to congregate here, or am I just lucky?"
"I didn't you had any talent." Eric told her.
"I've got more talent in my little finger, and more aptitude for artistic and applied knowledge tasks than you have in your entire body." Lita punctuated her words with a smile that dazzled the array of men.
"Any special reason why you're hiding out here all on you own?" Eric taunted her.
"I was feeling a bit lonely." She replied. "But I suppose that's expected. Born alone, die alone and get screwed in between."
"That's awfully cynical." Ric told her. "You should wait until you're older to be that cynical."
"Just how old do you think I am?" She shot back, a little annoyed.
"Twenty-two?"
She leaned back, resting her spine against the piano, arms folded across her chest. "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult."
"Typical female." Eric shook his head at her.
"Maybe I should call you all 'typical males' and see how you feel about it." Lita told him.
"This new talent of yours..." He began.
"I've been playing the piano for a very long time." She interrupted.
"How long?" Randy Orton asked her.
She paused before answering. "Longer than you've been alive."
"So how old are you?" He asked.
"Older than you junior."
"You are going to 'showcase' this new talent of yours, live on RAW this Monday night." Eric told her.
Lita shook her head. "I don't play for audiences, I haven't for a long time."
"I'm telling you..." Eric began.
"I'll tell you a little story." She interrupted. "I started learning piano when I was three years old, and by the time I was fifteen I had completed examinations that people twice and three times my age could not even begin to comprehend.
About three weeks after my sixteenth birthday, I had been invited to play at a gala for some of Florida's senators and other important people. I was so nervous about it, about making one mistake that I practiced constantly, playing for sometimes seven hours a day, until eventually I lost it and just played without stopping for hours upon hours.
Until my fingers were red raw and bleeding and my parents dragged me away because they couldn't bear to see me in so much pain." She stared at her fingertips for a moment. "The scars are long gone now, but I still remember the open wounds."
"So let me get this straight," Hunter began, "You got stage fright, and now you won't play the piano."
"I had anxiety attacks, a whole lot of them," Lita corrected him, "And I don't play very often any more. Most often I don't have time while I'm away from home."
"Monday night RAW." Eric repeated.
"No." She answered. "Nothing you say can make me change my mind."
"How about if you don't, 'YOU'RE FIRED.'" Eric suggested.
"How about do that, and I'll sue you for breach of contract." She answered with a wide innocent smile. "Nothing in my contract says anything about musical performance being part of my job."
"The song." Jericho interrupted. "Where's it from?"
"It's one of the millions I wrote after breaking up with another asshole." She replied casually. "If you liked that one you should hear some of the other miserable songs I've written after getting dumped, or cutting someone loose, or going through the whole 'it's not you, it's me,' speech. Except that in those there's actually some songs I like."
"Anything heavier?" Chris asked her.
"As in drums, bass, electric, and keyboard?" She asked. "Of course, why, you want to hear some more?"
"Would you mind?" He asked.
"Actually..." Lita glanced at her watch. "Yes, I would mind, I need coffee, or ice cream or some kind of legal stimulant, hopefully chocolate."
"You're still playing on Monday night RAW." Eric insisted.
"I'm not singing for you. Not anymore than I would give you a lap dance."
"A lap dance..." Eric mused. "Now that sounds like fun."
"It's not in my contract either, so you have zero chance." Lita told him.
"I'm sure I could find a loop hole." He flirted with her.
"I'm not sure you can take a hint. I'm not singing for you, and I'm not giving you a lap dance either."
"You will do as you're damn well told." Eric told her, "Or you will suffer the consequences."
Turning away she pushed several keys on the piano, a simple rendition of 'Chopsticks.' Then, once she'd finished she turned and looked at him. "If you're going to force me to play, I hope you like your piece for Monday night RAW."
"You wouldn't play that." He told her.
"Guys who know me well, would I play that just piss Eric off?" She asked casually.
"Yeah, you would." Rob smiled at her. "The song you played before was beautiful."
She smiled at him. "Thank you."
"How would you feel if I offered to buy the song rights to that one?" Chris asked. "For my band."
"I'm very flattered, but that one is actually already sold." Lita answered him. "I do a lot of business with a music group, and the lead singer heard 'My Immortal' and she fell in love with it. It goes to air on Tuesday."
"You're a song writer too?" Eric asked her.
"Told you I was talented." She gave him a wicked smile.
"Do you ever stop flirting?" Matt asked her.
She stared at him for a second, as though considering his words. "Since you think I'm flirting with Eric, whom I actually can't stand, I'm beginning to wonder just how well you think you know me."
"Pretty damn well." He shot back.
"So who is this music group you sold the song rights too?" Chris asked.
"One of my favourites," Lita replied, "Evanescence."
"You're joking!" Randy said to her. "I love their stuff."
"You have some talent girl." Jericho told her.
"Yeah, whatever." Lita told him sarcastically, not believing a word he said. "Anyway, did you all want something, or did you just stop by to listen to me pour my heart out to a piano?"
"What are you doing tonight?" Hunter asked her impulsively.
"I don't know." She replied.
"Do you want to go out?" He asked.
"With you?"
"Well yeah."
She smiled, almost as though she was flattered by his invitation. "I've got three words for you. No thank you."
"You just said 'no'." Hunter repeated.
"What, has that never happened to you before?" Lita asked, amused by his behavior.
"Uh..." He began.
"Don't feel bad." Lita told him. "I just have it down on your entire gender."
"Explain that?"
"I'm sick of men and their stupid fucking hang ups." She answered.
"See that's where you're wrong." Hunter told her. "Chicks are the ones who have the hang ups, not guys."
"Way to go, someone should patent your pick up lines." Lita clapped several times. "Dissing my gender is not the ideal way to make me change my mind about going out with you. And that's another thing about guys. You never admit it when you're wrong."
"Neither do women." Eric told her.
"If I'm wrong, I don't have a problem admitting it." She answered. "But I'm not wrong very often."
"Name one thing you were right about." Hunter challenged her.
"Goldberg kicked your ass and took your title." Lita smiled at him.
Hunter stared at her for a moment.
"Name something you were wrong about?" Matt challenged her.
"Trish tried to warn me that you were a self-centered, conniving son of a bitch who didn't give a shit about me." She said quietly. "I told her that you loved me."
Without saying another word Lita stood up and walked out of the room, holding her head up high.
For several seconds, it was almost like her voice was echoing in the room.
"I've been alone all along."
"Lita." Matt grabbed her hand, pulling her around to face him. Her face was streaked with tears and she was clearly both angry and upset.
"Don't fucking touch me Matt. You gave up that right when you left me."
"Lita, please..." He began again, reaching out to touch her.
She slapped him as hard as she could, using all the leverage she could muster. "I said don't fucking touch me Matt."
"I know that you're upset, but do you really have to take it out on me?" He asked, holding his cheek with one hand.
"Jeff would call it karma." She answered, hissing and spitting like a cat backed into a corner.
"Do you want to calm down now?" Eric asked her.
"Do I want to, or am I going to?" She asked in return. "Because the answer is neither. I have no intention of calming down, and I'm not going to. I'm upset and I'm allowed to be."
"You're being ridiculous." Matt told her.
"Is that because I slapped you, or because you still can't handle it when I cry?"
"Because you're acting like a crazy woman." He shot back.
"I can't even hate you yet." Lita told him, brushing several tears away angrily. "And I don't know why, because I have let you hurt me more times than I can count." Tears trickled down her cheeks unchecked, with Lita not caring at the array of men who were staring at her.
"Li," A voice said gently. She turned around and let the speaker pulled her into a hug. "It's okay babe. We're here now."
"What are you doing here?" Eric asked the three men.
"We've come to take nuestra luchadora ir a casa." Rey's soft, gentle voice answered.
"In English if you don't mind." Bischoff remarked sarcastically.
"We've come to take Lita home." Jeff answered, translating Rey's impromptu Spanish.
"Jeff." Matt greeted his younger brother.
"Don't start now Matt." Jeff warned him. "I could take you to pieces at the moment for what you did. Any number of people could, and still might."
"Your stunts are getting old dawg." John told him. "You won't even want to show your face at the next joint pay-per-view. Half the SMACKDOWN roster wants to beat on your ass."
"You're taking her home?" Matt asked.
"Yeah," Jeff told him. "We're taking her home. Home to Cameron."
"I'm sorry to say this," Eric began, his voice sarcastic. "But Lita's not going anywhere. She has a show to do."
"Vince and Linda are very sorry that you are the person who orchestrated Matt's return to RAW. They're just as sorry about the incredibly malicious way Matt lead her on, and then left her on national television." Jeff told him. "Linda is especially upset about it."
"She gets upset about a lot of things." Eric smirked.
"You aren't the brightest star in the sky are you?" John asked him.
"Vince has ended, or is in the process of ending his affair with Sable." Rey told them. "You might not know this because you are below the radar, but Vince is trying to make it up to his wife."
"And the fact that they both love Lita like a daughter doesn't sit well in your favor." Jeff added.
"Can you remember what a protective daddy Vince was when you married Stephanie?" John asked Hunter. "She's great by the way. She's gotten to be a lot more fun since Heyman replaced her as GM on SMACKDOWN."
Hunter fumed silently, while John chuckled, amused by the response he got from the older man.
"We're going to take Lita with us now." Rey told Eric. "If you have a problem, call Vince and Linda." He slipped an arm around Lita's waist, as she reached out her arms to hug him, burying her face in his shoulder, speaking quietly in mumbled Spanish.
As John stepped forwards so that they could leave, Triple H blocked his way.
"What's your problem now, dawg?"
"Dawg?" Randy asked, with a laugh.
"Do you even speak English?" Hunter asked him.
"He does better than you I would wager." Lita said quietly, forcing everyone to quieten down in order to hear her.
"You need to learn some respect, all of you." Eric told them.
John chuckled, looking back at his companions, then turning back to Eric. He waved his hand in front of his face. "You can't see me, homy."
"Oh, for God's sake!" Ric exclaimed. "Could you just shut up and let someone else talk?"
Taking his cue, Hunter began to talk trash to John and the others. "What are you going to do about us not letting you leave, huh? A pack of Cruiserweights."
John stood tall, almost nose to nose with Hunter. "Who are you calling a Cruiserweight, homy? I ain't, Rey kicks the asses of the biggest guys in the business, and Jeff's not afraid of an ass like you."
Lita pulled out of Rey's arms and walked over to Hunter, driving her heel down onto his toes, making him shout out in pain. "Don't ever make threats towards the people I care about." She told him, her voice hard and angry, surprising everyone.
"Like I told you before, but you weren't listening," John began, stepping in front of Lita, shielding her. "You can't see me."
Tear prickled Lita's eyes as he spoke.
"What now?" Matt asked her.
"It's strange, but John's right." She said softly. "I've always been able to see you. If I were blind, blindfolded in the middle of the darkest night, spun around so many times I couldn't stand up, it didn't matter. I would still be able to see you, to find you. And you can't see me when you aren't looking at my face. You don't know me at all."
Shrugging her shoulders Lita walked away from them, away from Matt and Eric, who always seemed to want to hurt her. At the end of the corridor she turned around. "I don't want you anymore Matt. It's just like my mom told me when I was fifteen. 'No man is worth you tears Amy,' she used to say, 'And the one who is won't make you cry.' I guess she was right all along. For as long as we were together, I was alone."
"Do you honestly believe that?" He asked her, his voice angry.
Slowly she nodded her head. "Yeah, I do believe that." She answered. "You want to know what else she told me? 'Don't waste your time on a man who isn't willing to waste their time on you.' I guess time just ran out on you too."
Lita looked at John, Rey and Jeff. "Guys, let's go home."
"You aren't going anywhere." Matt told her.
"Can you see me, Matt? Can you see me like you once did? I can't see you like I once did, not anymore, Matt. You can stand there, right in front of me, and I can still remember how nervous you were the first time we went out, and I can remember talking all night, sleeping with you, Christmas, New Year's Eve. They aren't happy memories for me any more Matt. They're scars that I will bear until the end of time, because every time you gave me one of those memories, you followed it up with betrayal." She told him. "I'm not going anywhere, but I'm not staying here."
"Es vale, luchadora." Rey reassured her. "We all move on in time."
"Then my time has come, my song is sung, and I want to move on, all of that crap. I don't know how to stay standing still, so I'll move. I don't care where to."
"How about home?" Jeff suggested, bringing a smile to her face, a real smile.
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be, and no other people I'd rather be with." She hugged him, and then John, before walking down the hall, vanishing from sight.
"Who's going to be there for you now Matt? Who's going to stay with you when no one else will? I'm your brother, and even I've turned from your side when you've been an ass. She stuck by you no matter what you did." Jeff said to his brother.
"You don't need to worry about her no more." John told him. "She's got three guys who love her better than you ever could, and more than you ever did. Word Life."
Together the three men followed Lita down the hall, vanishing as she had, from the sight of the others.