Pairings - EB/VKM, SMH/HHH, HHH/SM
Series - TNA/WWE
Rating - M
Warnings - Language, Slash Themes
Disclaimer - I don't own anything. It is all owned by the WWE.
Summary - Eric violates the code and lands himself in a rather unusual situation.
Author's Notes - This is a work that involves slash fiction. If this is not your thing, consider yourself officially warned.
Word Count -
Perched high atop a concrete bench, the Undertaker yelled out loudly across the crowd of wrestlers gathered from both the RAW and Smackdown locker rooms. "I hereby start the bidding at twenty-five dollars! Do I have twenty-five dollars?" His voice carried like a rolling ocean wave, loud enough for all to hear, yet somehow muted in its delivery, attracting the attention of every blood lusting man and woman within earshot. The response was instantaneous.
Leaning against the set of tan lockers, Chris Jericho called out his acceptance of the Undertaker's generous offer, his thoughts of revenge clearly written into each corner of his cheshire grin.
"Bite me." Eric Bischoff spat quickly, looking first to Jericho, and then around the room, openly daring anyone else to say another word. Standing next to the towering auctioneer, who had one hand on his shoulder, he wondered just how he had gotten himself into this mess. It was one thing to be on the receiving end of one of Taker's order keeping punishments, but this was ridiculous. All he had done was rat out Shawn Michaels and Triple H's little love affair to Stephanie McMahon. After all, she had a right to know that her husband was sleeping behind her back, he had reasoned. Although, if he was completely truthful with himself, the idea of getting rid of both Shawn and Hunter, when Stephanie's father, Vince McMahon found out, was more than just a silver lining to his plan. With those two troublemakers gone, and Stephanie an emotional wreck, his place as the General Manager of Raw would finally be secure. At the moment, however, he was feeling far from secure.
"Pipe down boy! You know you got whatever it is that's coming to ya!" The Undertaker hissed as he tightened his grip on Eric's shoulder, causing him to grimace.
He wasn't quite sure how he knew, but somehow, The Undertaker had figured out that he was the one who had let things slip to Stephanie. If there was one thing that The Undertaker believed in, it was adhering to 'The Code'. Part of The Code being that fellow wrestlers were never supposed to talk about each other's extra marital affairs to anyone, let alone to go and tell another man's wife to their face. He had broken The Code, and not only had he ignited the wrath of The Undertaker, he had managed to capture the hatred of everyone in the back who had been friends with the two degenerates that he had sold out. Finding himself being auctioned off to the highest bidder in some dismal locker room full of individuals who would love nothing more than to see him humiliated in the most horrible ways imaginable, with no escape plan in sight, and yet unwilling to give in, he settled for the only thing he could do, which was to stand there quietly until he could find a way to talk himself out of the situation.
Waving an arm up high, Ric Flair confirmed the next bid. "Fifty dollars!" He shouted, his other arm around Roddy Piper who, like Ric, was also grinning in a most evil way.
"I have fifty dollars, do I hear seventy-five?" Taker inquired, preparing to accept the next eager bid.
"No chance in hell." Vince McMahon growled from the entry way, facing forward as he began to make his way past the wrestlers who were now parting like the sea to make room for their power walking promoter. "This ends right here right now, you understand me?" Vince said, stopping to stand before the much taller man, and a very confused looking Bischoff, craning his head back to meet Taker's eyes, making it clear just who was the boss around here.
After several long moments had past, with neither man looking away from the other, Taker merely nodded his head and hopped down from the bench. Casting a glare straight at Eric, who was now busy straightening out his jacket, before leading his fellow wrestlers out of the room, many of whom, were mumbling curses under their breaths.
"Vince McMahon, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Eric beamed down at his rescuer, a smile of relief crossing his face as he stepped down off the bench, before extending a hand out, always ready to attempt to endear himself to any man signing his paychecks.
"Cut the crap, Eric." Vince said bluntly, glaring at Eric, who now was looking more confused than he had only a minute before. "You made a HUGE mistake, while me and Stephanie don't always get along, she is a McMahon, and we McMahons always stick together." Vince stated clearly as he looked down at Eric's hand, waiting for him to put it down.
Despite the feelings of confusion that now swept through him, Eric took a deep breath and tried to regain his usual poise. Erasing the unease from his face, he merely cocked an eyebrow at his boss, waiting for him to explain exactly what had just transpired. If he was as furious with him as he claimed to be, then why had he stared down The Undertaker, sparing him from his punishment?
"You think I had let you off the hook didn't you?" Vince asked rhetorically, almost as if he had been reading Eric's thoughts at that very moment. "Well, I'm here to tell you that you can just get that idea out of your head, my little Stephanie came home to me last night, crying her eyes out, do you know what that does to a father, Eric? To see his little girl crushed right before his very eyes? Well, do you?" Vince questioned, his face taking on a reddish hue as he looked down at Eric.
"No, Sir, I don't." Eric stated, unsure of what exactly he needed to say in order to get out of his latest predicament.
"Of course you don't!" Vince seethed, before taking a deep breath of his own, trying to calm himself down. Grabbing both of the lapels on his jacket, Vince straightened himself up further than he had before, if that was even possible, and suddenly beamed down at Eric, giving him his best smile. "You know what you're gonna do now, Eric?"
Vince's voice had taken on a much calmer tone, indicating an unspoken danger to Eric, causing him to cringe inwardly. He knew that whatever it was that Vince was going to say next, was not going to be any good news to his ears.
"You're going to dedicate the rest of your tenure as the RAW general manager, to making sure that not only does Triple H get exactly what he deserves, but that my daughter Stephanie is well protected at all times until his contract expires next month." Vince stated, watching as Eric's cautious neutral demeanor changed to one of outright dismay, delighted that he had gotten just the reaction that he was looking for.
"Sir, with all due respect, you have got to be kidding me, I thought you got rid of him already? Your telling me that I have to put up with a pissed off Triple H for another month, and that I have to protect Stephanie from him? Your joking, right?" Eric was barely able to contain the strain he felt from seeping into his voice, not only had his plan blew up in his face, but it had backfired on him completely. Failing to get rid of Stephanie was bad enough, but Hunter was bound to go after Stephanie for trying to get her father to fire him, and once he hears from his fellow wrestlers that it was him who had told Stephanie about his and Shawn's little rendezvous in the first place, he was no doubt going to come after him too. Not to mention whatever it was that Shawn would have planned for him. If the Undertaker thought he could do any worse to him, he was wrong.
"I could always just fire you instead." Vince stated flatly, knowing full well that Eric wouldn't give up his position of power and authority without one hell of a fight first. If there was one thing that Vince enjoyed about having him around, it was that he knew exactly how to get under his skin and he loved every minute of watching Eric squirm. After all those years of him running WCW, and nearly throwing his father's legacy into financial ruin, Vince was going to personally see to it that Eric finally got the long over due misery that he had coming to him.
Pacing back and forth in front of the bench he had been standing on minutes before, Eric realized that he needed to calm down and formulate a plan. Stopping to run both of his hands through his hair, he let out an exasperated sigh and looked over at Vince who, if he wasn't mistaken, was smiling. That miserable old bastard was smiling! No doubt thrilled to finally have him at his mercy, he thought bitterly. Sure, he had known that this was bound to happen eventually when Vince first approached him to work for him over a year ago, but that did not mean he had to enjoy it so openly. It was without a doubt, a direct slap to his face. While he knew Vince wanted to give the dirt sheets something to buzz about, he knew that it was about more than that. He wanted to finally feel like he had defeated WCW and how better to do that then to humiliate the man who driven his company into the ground for over a year and a half? He, however, had bigger concerns at the moment than to dwell on his old competitor's spiteful hatred of him and the challenge he somehow believed he represented to him. He knew that if he wanted to keep his job, he was going to have to keep calm and resign himself to whatever it was that Vince wanted him to do.
"No, Sir, that won't be necessary," Eric said, acquiescing himself to his fate. "You said that I need to protect Stephanie, where is she?" He asked simply, shoving both hands in his pockets as he rocked back and forth on his heels in an attempt to quell his animosity for his current state of affairs.
"Now, that's a little more like it, Stephanie is at the family mansion, having left to get away from Hunter until I can get rid of him, you are to pick her up and see to it that she has everything that she needs, if she should inform me, at anytime, that you have been anything less than a perfect gentleman then I don't think I need to tell you what will happen to you and your place here at the company now do I?" Vince said as he looked Eric in his eyes, making him a bit more uncomfortable than was necessary.
"No, Sir, I will see to it that she has everything that she needs." Eric replied, shifting a bit under the scrutiny of Vince's searching eyes.
"Good, I'm off for a meeting with creative, I will be back in a couple of days to check in and see how things are going, I look forward to hearing only good things when I get back." Vince said before quietly excusing himself, leaving Eric alone in the silence of the locker room.