Hands Down

Rating: PG

Characters: Lita, Christian, Trish Stratus, Jericho, Molly

Disclaimer: All characters are property of WWE and themselves

Summary: A short series, taking place in October of 2003. (This was actually written around then as well, I just never got around to posting it here). After Christian comes to Lita's aide, the redhead begins to experience some unexpected feelings...

PART 1

Lita walked briskly through the backstage area, running her hand through her hair. She had no idea what to make out of what had happened only a few minutes earlier in the ring. She was in the ring, getting the crap beat out of her by Molly Holly, Victoria, and that creep Steven Richards, when something that she certainly hadn't expected to happen did. She thought it was all over – her vision was getting darker, and that wasn't just because Molly had placed the belt over top of her head. From the distance she could hear cheers, and when she finally got a chance to see her who her savior was – after he helped her up – she was shocked...

It was Christian.

Christian... she had always seen him as Edge's annoying younger brother, the one who was constantly whining and being a pain in the ass about something. And now, he had saved her from what could have become a very bad situation for her. Lita knew she should be happy that he was nice enough to help her, but she couldn't help but wonder... why? They had never been friends – in fact, they had more or less always been enemies. Why the sudden change of heart? What was even weirder about it was that all this happened only a week after Chris Jericho pulled a similar stunt with the redhead's best friend, Trish Stratus. Shaking her head, Lita told herself not to worry about what had happened so much. He came out and helped her when no one else would, that was all. There was nothing more to it, he was just being a nice guy, that was all... or was it?

"Stop it Red," she warned herself. There was no way in hell that Christian saw anything in her. She didn't know why he cared all of a sudden... or why she found herself caring that he cared. After all, nothing was going to come of it... they weren't friends, they never would be. End of story. She had reacted on instinct when he helped her up in the ring. That looks he But then why did she feel like there was something else there? The way he looked at her, the way he placed his hand on her shoulder and asked if she was alright – what was all of that supposed to mean? And why was it that now, after all the years of bickering and fighting, and pretty much hating his guts, did she suddenly find him to be a little cute? Why did she feel a spark of electricity when he touched her? Ever since her relationship with Matt Hardy soured, Lita had vowed to never fall in love with anyone in the business again. Was one little incident with an old enemy really going to change all that?

Lita sighed, pushing open the door to the Women's Locker Room. She had to get out of the arena. She needed to think. She quietly made her way over to her stuff, grabbing her bags and turning to head out the door.

"Hey, Lita!" she heard a voice call, and she turned to see Trish, her tag team partner for the evening, standing behind her. "What are you doing?"

"I, uh... I think I'm leaving. I'll catch you later Trish," she said, patting the blonde woman on the shoulder before turning to walk away. Trish caught her by the arm, holding fast to her.

"Wait, before you go, I just wanted to ask... what was with Christian tonight?" she asked curiously. This situation with him and Jericho was getting more and more confusing by the minute. They had gone from being total asses to nice – almost sweet and caring – men in a matter of two weeks.

Lita shrugged, "I guess the same thing that's with Jericho." She hesitated a moment, and then spoke again. "Trish, I... can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," the Canadian diva replied. "Ask away."

"Well, I was just wondering," Lita replied, taking a deep breath. "When Chris came out and saved you last week – and when you were talking to him earlier tonight – did you... did you feel anything?" she asked. Trish raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean did I feel anything?" she responded with a question of her own.

"I just mean, when Jericho touched your face, and when he told you earlier on tonight that he respected you, did that... spark anything? Do you think that maybe there's..."

"Something between us?" Trish finished. Lita shrugged, nodding with a questioning look on her face. "No Li, I don't think there's anything between us. In fact, if you ask me, I'd say those two want something from us. Jericho and Christian haven't exactly been known for going around and being respectful and charitable to women."

"True," Lita agreed sadly. "But," she said, her eyes suddenly lighting up a bit, "Jericho looked really sincere tonight when he was talking to you. I saw the tape, and you looked like you were pretty sincere when you thanked him. Maybe there's..."

"No, Lita, there's nothing. I was sincere when I thanked Chris, but a thank you is all he's going to get from me. As much as I thought it was very sweet of him to come out there last week and help me, I still wouldn't trust him with my car keys, let alone my heart. I wouldn't make a big deal out of it Red... like I said, we must have something they want," Trish explained.

As much as she wanted to believe that Jericho and Christian had some kind of life altering experience that made them turn around and become respectful individuals, she couldn't help but be skeptical of the two of them. Maybe Lita was just more welcoming to the idea because she hadn't been back for that long... she hadn't been around to see Chris put Stacy Keibler in the Walls of Jericho, or to see Christian purposely injure Booker T to regain the Intercontinental Title. The men had given themselves a reputation of being assholes. They could save her ass every single week for the rest of their careers, but Trish wasn't planning on giving them a second glance. And if they really were turning around, that was just too bad... the past can really haunt you sometimes.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Lita said sadly, giving up on the notion that maybe, just maybe, Christian actually liked her.

Without saying goodbye, Lita turned away and continued on towards the locker room door. She would never say so to Trish, but the tiny blonde woman had just crushed her. For some reason, she had found herself hoping that Trish felt something for Chris. Maybe then it wouldn't be so odd for her to be liking Christian either... but Trish didn't like Chris – she didn't feel anything for him whatsoever. As she stepped out of the locker room and pulled the door shut behind her, the redheaded diva sighed. Why did things like this always seem to happen to her? Why did she always end up falling in love with the wrong people, and for the wrong reasons? All the man did was help her up off the ground for Christ's sake... she needed to get a grip. She needed to realize that he was just being a nice guy and, like Trish said, he was probably up to something. What she needed to realize more than anything was that he didn't like her. Now more than ever, Lita felt the need to get out of the arena. She didn't want to be around to see anyone at the moment, especially not Christian. As much as she felt that she owed him a thank you, she just couldn't bear seeing him, not now. She was so confused at what she was feeling. Half of her said to just play it off, that she was crazy for thinking that he would even look twice at her, but then there was that other half – the hopeless romantic side of her, the side that hoped that Christian did what he did not only out of the kindness of his heart, but because he had actual feelings for her. Who was she kidding? That sort of thing only happened in romance novels. She shook her head, picking up her pace as she headed to the back entrance of the arena. She needed to get out of there before she saw him. Just as she reached the door, Lita banged into someone. She looked up, opening her mouth to apologize, when she froze as her eyes met a pair of deep brown ones...

Christian took her by the arm, leading her out the door.