A/N: This is an old, OLD storyline. As silly as it was, I never get tired of it. I hope you enjoy my version of Kane and Lita's breakup from 8 years ago.

PROLOGUE

June 2005

Ω

"Kane…I never loved you."

She'd waited so long.

So many nights had she lain awake, with thoughts of revenge on the monster that slept beside her. He took everything away: her freedom, the man she loved, and most of her career.

She could never forgive him. At first he smothered her, not just with his size, and she prayed for an escape from this hellish relationship. Later he was reticent, even gentle, and she would almost forget their sordid past. But in the end Lita would hurt him as badly as he did her. When a blonde, grinning devil finally offered her a chance, and she betrayed that man in a way he would never forget…

"I could never love a sick, twisted freak like you!"

…She felt nothing.

There was relief at being free again, a bit of cheap pleasure in Edge's arms. But toward Kane…she was strangely numb. Killing his hopes of a championship and casting away his ring should have been wonderful. But as she'd mugged and preened for the cameras, Lita felt only a knawing emptiness.

And now, alone in a hotel room at night with weak air conditioning sputtering against the summer heat, she felt that emptiness giving way to guilt.

"I sincerely hope you rot in hell."

"Don't you dare try to make me feel bad," she whispered. Her hands closed into trembling fists. "I hate you." She jumped up, grabbed all the magazines she'd been trying to read and threw them violently across the room. The glass coffee table mocked her with her own twisted reflection. "I hate you!" She held up a kitchen chair and smashed it into the table, sending shards of glass everywhere.

Lita stumbled back into the wall, her face red with rage. "Go away," she hissed, blinking away tears. "I hate you…"

Maybe one day she could make herself believe it.

Ω

Ω

CHAPTER 1

DEARLY BELOVED

"Kane, we're not going to wait until after Vengeance, when Edge beats you. Live on RAW, we're getting married!"

Ω

An oppressive wall of noise, a kaleidoscope of faces. All protesting, disapproving, rejecting the scene before them. All judging her.

She didn't blame them. It was hardly proper conduct at a wedding, but then, this wasn't a proper wedding. The one she'd experienced last year had been different. Minus the packed arena and the wrestling ring, it had been almost classy. Horrible and disturbing as that was, Kane had made it…well, memorable.

Edge was not Kane. "Lita, everybody knows me as 'Money in the Bank,'" he leered, standing across from her in a cheap tuxedo. "And now you also know me as money in the sack. Tonight you'll be marrying a man, and not a monster."

The pastor gaped. He was a sad-looking older man who smelled faintly of booze. Lita felt sorry for him, but more for herself, as she postured in a scandalous white dress and groped for some words Edge would want to hear. "If falling in love with you makes me a slut…then I am proud to be the slut of the century!"

He flashed her that signature grin; the crowd booed in outrage. Perfect. What the hell was she doing here? Running, she decided. But from what? From those memories of her last husband that still frightened her, or—God help her—the ones that didn't?

The pastor fumbled with his book, eager to get this blasphemous farce over with. "Well then…if nobody objects…" he said hopefully. Of course the fans objected, but what did they know? "Then by the power vested in me…and the Lord Jesus Christ…!"

A hand was grabbing at Lita's ankle. A touch so hot it seemed to burn, searing her body with terror—him.

She struggled free and turned to see a face of pure evil. Kane climbed up through the ring as a demon from the depths, and the rest all happened in a rush that she couldn't clearly remember. His one good eye staring into hers, his hand around her throat. Edge carrying her away, Kane turning violently on the priest, and then…fire. It burst from all four corners of the ring, but did not stop there. She could feel it engulf her soul, twisting and blackening and—

"Lita!" Somebody was shaking her. Her eyes snapped open. Edge had set her down in a back hallway somewhere. "Snap out of it, toots."

She could hardly focus on him. "Oh, God…I can't believe he did that."

"You think you got it bad? You weren't the one who got hit!" he rubbed the swelling lump on his forehead. "Good thing I shoved that stupid pastor at him, or we never would've got away."

"You shoved the guy right at him?" her vision cleared, and she held his furtive green eyes for an instant. Forcing her flicker of a conscience where she knew there was none.

Edge resisted. "It was him or us, babe! Now get a grip. You're supposed to be on my side. We're hitched now, remember?"

"We're not," she mumbled, leaning back against the cement wall. "He stopped it…"

"That's not the point! Look, we'll be in Vegas the 26th. We can finish it then if you want."

Suddenly Lita felt exhausted. "For Vengeance. Vengeance in Vegas." She giggled and leaned against him.

"Yeah, babe, hilarious," He grunted as he picked her up again. "Let's get you back to the hotel before you totally flake out, okay?"

"Mmm-hm." She was already falling asleep.

The last thing she heard was Edge griping on his cell phone, trying to make somebody fetch his "Money in the Bank" briefcase.