Deceiver of Fools

By Kyizi

Disclaimer: The WWE and all related items do not belong to me; only the story is mine. No copyright infringement intended.

Rating: 12A/PG-13

Distribution: Please ask.

Pairings: Lita/John, Shawn/Lilian, other pairings possible, I haven't decided yet.

Spoilers: Set during Wrestlemania 22, but with a few differences. The rosters have joined up again, so everyone's been working together for a few weeks. The match for the Women's title is a triple threat; Trish vs. Mickie vs. Victoria.

Feedback: Please, it makes me smile :)

Notes: This is a response to the Lita/John and Lita/Randy Ficathon.

Written for: Brokengem (Kristi)

Quotes:

03 "It says she thinks you're an annoying jerk." // "It's a pet name." (Wilson and House from House, MD)

32 "If I didn't love you so much, you would have been dead."

15 "I'm not here for your entertainment. You don't really want to mess with me tonight" (U and Ur Hand, Pink)

Must Haves:

21 Bittersweet, happy ending for the couple

08 Party with a game of "I Never" causing some secrets to come up and people to get really drunk.

Title comes from the song 'Deceiver of Fools', by Within Temptation

A/N: I didn't really want to make Edge a bad guy again, but it worked and I had to go with it. Sorry.

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Prologue

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She took a deep breath, trying not to flinch at the sight of the bruises on her cheek and shoulders, trying not to imagine what she was likely to look like if he found out what she was planning. What they were planning.

Tonight was the night. It was all going to end, but she didn't know if she was ready, didn't know if she could remember what it was like to live a life without him. He was comforting, in a twisted sort of way. She knew what to expect and it wasn't as if he hit her all the time. He rarely got drunk and angry and she consoled herself with the fact that, if they were truly an item, she would have walked away from him. She'd never put up with that kind of relationship again, not even for all the protection he supposedly offered her. But things were rarely that simple, not in her life.

They'd tried at first, tried so hard to be the item they pretended to be, but it was too much. They weren't in love and they soon discovered that they weren't even really friends anymore. No, she reasoned, that had come after, when he had realised that pretending to be with her meant he couldn't, in good conscience be with anyone else. Well, that hadn't lasted long and she'd been the one to suffer. She didn't stay with him because she loved him; she stayed with him to punish him. He'd promised to make her life better and all he'd done was offer her a new life she could hate with an equally reverent passion. The fact that his 'protection' put him in the firing line was an added bonus.

She was expected to treat him with respect, to do everything he told her to do; his obedient little puppy. And, oh, she played the part, but she hated him. Every time he did something that made her feel cheap, every time he hit her, every time he got drunk and had sex with another skanky, nameless slut that would spread rumours about her…every time… he just added fuel to the fire that was burning inside her.

She'd tried to keep other people out of it, she'd pushed people away and acted her part to the point where she almost believed it herself. But he had forced his way into anyway; he'd got through her defences. They both had and now she had them championing at her back, despite her attempts to push them away. And they weren't the only ones. They all had their ideas, they had each planned everything out…she only wished she could go along with it. But she wouldn't let them get hurt.

This was her cross to bear and she was going to do it alone…she had to, because she didn't think she could handle being disappointed again. And she was always disappointed. People always left or betrayed her and she couldn't go through that, not again.

She picked up her make up bag and took out the contents one at a time, with methodical precision, and slowly started covering up the small bruises on her face. It was time once again to become the person she hated.

It was time to start learning to do it alone.

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TBC...

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