A/N: Okay, so I lied. This chapter will be from the taping of Smackdown on Wednesday to Armageddon. I haven't been into wrestling for ages or anything, and I can't get pay-per-view, so I'm not quite sure of how you win Hell-in-a-Cell. I think I know, but I'd feel more confident if someone told me. Anyway, hope you enjoy this boring chapter…
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Started: 4 – 13 – 03
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Dangerous Business
Chapter 10 – Friends
Liz shifted on the leather couch of her hotel room, cursing her aching back. She blinked her eyes open and saw the credits to some movie she and Rob had rented – that was extremely stupid, no matter what the critics had said – rolling past. Liz lifted the pillow off Rob's lap to see that he, too, had fallen asleep during the movie. The brunette sighed to herself, looking down at her watch. It was 9:00 on a Friday night, 2 days since the taping of Smackdown and her back still hurt. Liz sighed, her doctor's voice echoing around her head as she searched for the orange pill bottle.
"You can wrestle, but if you take one bad fall – you'll be out for at the least a month or two." The Diva's eyes settled on a small pile of ten or so cards from her friends – get-well cards and good-luck cards. Just as soon, a loud rapping on the door jarred RVD awake. He grumbled something incoherently as Liz opened the door, revealing some of the wrestlers. HBK stood in front of them, tapping his foot.
"Hey Shawn," Liz said, trying to keep the surprise out of her voice. She had met Shawn a few times backstage – and he seemed like a nice guy.
"Hey," he responded, "Me and some of the guys," he motioned to the others behind him, "Were going to go out clubbing. You and Rob want to come?"
"What makes you think Rob is here?" she asked, raising her eyebrow, knowing that Shawn couldn't see inside the dark room.
Shawn rolled his eyes in response, "Where else would he be?" Liz mock-scowled at him for a second. "Gonna let us in, Smithy?"
Liz's gaze shifted behind him, studying the people behind him. There was Adam, Jeff – with Trish hanging on to his arm –, Amy Dumas, and Shane Helms. She grunted, opening the door.
"Quite the cavewomen today, aren't we?" observed Adam as he filed in with the others. Liz rolled her eyes, assessing her own dilemma: she didn't have anything to wear. Sighing, she pried Trish away from Jeff. She knew Trish pretty well, because of Jeff. Trish lit up as Liz whispered to her. The blonde Diva shouted something to the guys and dragged Liz to her room.
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Liz tugged on the silver halter-top warily as she nursed a half-full mug of beer. She glanced down at the matching silver pants that were pulled together by glittering gold string at the outsides of her legs. She guessed it was at least midnight. The group had gone to a few clubs, but now they had decided to go to this place to have a drink. Liz forgot the name, but it was pretty nice. Through the open silk curtains that formed a doorway, you could see the other half of the building, a nice diner. The group had seated themselves at a large table on the "club/bar" half of the building. Once they got there, Liz had sat down, frozen to her seat, telling the others that she was just tired from dancing. Of course, they had bought it, after all, she had danced with just about everybody in their group twice – and Rob more than. The real reason, however, was that her back had begun to ache once more, and she decided to rest it. Shane and Adam were the only ones that remained at the large table. Jeff and Trish had disappeared to have a private moment, and Shawn and Amy had dragged Rob to the dance floor, after much persuading by Liz. Meanwhile, Adam and Shane were looking at the bar, or rather, at the women at the bar.
"She looks a little young to be at a bar," voiced Shane, motioning with his refilled glass to a blonde sitting at the bar, hunched over. Liz followed his gaze, and her jaw dropped. She felt the breeze of someone waving their hand in front of her face. Irritated, Liz slapped Adam's hand away and walked toward the blonde. She grasped her shoulder and swung her around. As Liz had suspected, two sky blue eyes looked up at her.
"Dominique?" Liz said. The blonde – Dominique – nodded. Liz put her balled hands on her hips.
"You're underage. The family rooms are over there," she pointed to the other half of the room. She definitely wondered what the 16-year-old was doing.
"What family?" snapped Dominique readily, "A sister who's never home, another sister who runs away from everything, a mom who's too afraid to stand up for herself, and a dad who's – " Liz grabbed her sister's arm, pulling her away from the bar and into the parking lot, ignoring the chill wind that nipped at her.
"What'd your dad do?" she asked, her tone gentler this time. She bit her lip in anger, thinking of her step-dad.
"Nothing!" responded Dominique, shielding away from Liz.
"I may not be home all the time – but I still know when you're not yourself," Liz bit out. The indirect insult bit at her sister, who slumped her shoulders quietly.
"He hit me again," she whispered quietly. Liz stepped forward and hugged her tightly. Her eyes had a faraway stare, her jaw clenched as Dominique pulled away. On instinct, Liz lifted Dominique's shoulder-length, fairy-tale blonde hair up, and spotted the ugly, purplish bruise forming on her neck. Liz stalked off, looking for her car. "Don't!" yelped Dominique suddenly; knowing that Liz would've drove over to their house – seeing as it was not far from there. "Just wait until after Sunday," she whispered. Liz bowed her head, continuing to nibble on her lip.
"You're not going back there," she responded warily. "If you won't let me talk to Mark, then at least stay with me."
"What?" Dominique's voice cried out eagerly. Liz nodded at her. She glanced at the bar's doorway, noticing a certain blonde Canadian raising her eyebrow at her. Liz tugged on a strand of hair, and pointed to the ground. Adam nodded and turned back. Dominique whirled around. "What was that about?" she questioned.
"Nothing'," responded Liz. "I should be able to get some extra clothes for you so you don't have to go home," she told her sister.
"Hey, Qui!" Dominique turned around at her nickname to face her cousin. "Jeff!" she cried eagerly, running to hug him. Liz smiled as Jeff twirled Dominique around.
"Want to met some of my friends?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. Dominique looked around at Liz, who nodded her encouragement as the three jogged back into the building, glad to be out of the cold.
Liz looked at her watch, yawning as the others talked. Everyone had long since returned to their table, and had well risen to the task of cheering the friendly blonde up. 2:00 blinked back at her, causing her to yawn again.
"Tired?" asked Rob, who sat next to her. She nodded. "Hey guys," he said, gaining the full attention of the other wrestlers there, "Liz and I are going to head back, okay?" Liz saw Dominique sigh in disappointment, knowing that she would have to leave too.
"Hey, Qui," Liz said, "You can stay with them," she turned to Amy and Trish, "Bring her back safe and sound, okay?"
"Yeah," replied Amy, bobbing her head energetically. "Whatever."
"I think you're rubbing off," Liz teased Rob as they walked away, arm-in-arm. She heard Dominique comment on Rob, saying something about a half-brother. Liz decided not to comment. She ran her free arm through her hair, thinking about her family quietly.
"Hey," Rob said, nudging her with his arm. "What's up?"
"The sky," she retorted as she shoved the door open. Rob stared at her face quietly. Her lips were pressed against each other, her jade eyes glaring at something unknown. He decided not to push it as they went into their separate cars and drove off to the hotel, ready for bed.
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Liz woke up quietly, refusing to open her eyes. The steady beating of Rob's heart beneath her ear had disappeared, along with the aforementioned. She opened her eyes quickly, and shut them faster when the ceiling and hotel room spun nauseatingly.
"Hey," said Rob as he sat next to Liz on the bed, staring at Liz quietly, "C'mon… You got to get movin'… We'll be late as is!" Liz mumbled something, and Rob sighed, leaning backward, "Remember? Me and the other guys are going to show you some ring stuff…" he trailed off, brushing a stray strand of hair off of the brunette's face.
"I'll wait 'til it comes on DVD," she replied sleepily, closing her eyes, trying to sleep despite the lights that Rob had flicked on. Rob sighed, and with an almighty tug, ripped the covers off of Liz. She glared at Rob as she sat up, swearing under her breath as she looked around the room.
Besides the two queen-sized beds, there was a square wood table, two cushioned seats, and a small bathroom. She vaguely remembered being woken up about 5 or 6 o'clock to be told that there was a water problem and they had to be moved to a smaller room down the hall. The room itself was completely clean, besides the unmade beds and the small pile of luggage sitting in the small closet across from the bathroom.
"Hey Liz," a gentle voice called across the room. Liz turned to see her sister, leaning out of the bathroom, a curling iron in her silky blonde hair. Even from across the room, her sky blue eyes seemed to be as bright as ever. Dominique had her hair in a ponytail, with two strands of hair hanging down, accenting her face. She disappeared for a moment – wrapping up the iron – and reappeared seconds later, tossing Liz her duffel bag. "C'mon! Ya don't wanna be late!"
"You just want to see Shane," Liz retorted, her eyelids heavy as she rummaged through her bag. Sighing, she closed her eyes, grabbing the first few things that her hand grasped, and then headed into the bathroom to change. A few minutes later, she came out, stuffing various items in her bag, and grabbing a gym bag out of the closet. She was wearing light brown carpenter pants that flared at the edges, and a mid-riff revealing tank top that had "The more you disapprove, the more fun it is for me," scrawled across it in glittering silver letters. "Let's go," she mumbled, grasping the keys to her car.
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Liz made a perfect standing roundhouse kick, her nylon gym shorts swishing rapidly as she bounced her weight from foot to foot. Jeff stood across from her, his knees slightly bent.
"Ready?" he said. She nodded in reply. Jeff and her grappled, and Jeff got the upper hand, wrapping her into a headlock. She pressed her arms on his back and shoved him to the ropes. Jeff bounded back and slipped through her legs. He gave Liz a backwards 'monkey' flip, carefully as not to hurt her back. The red ropes slammed into Liz's throat and she stumbled back, temporarily stunned. "Here," he said, showing her the move. She nodded, trying it out on Jeff. Soon, the other superstars arrived, adding in their bits and pieces.
"Hey," Liz said, kneeling up on the mat after completely a successful "whisper in the wind", "Somebody ready for a match?" Jeff shied away – he didn't want to take the chance of hurting his cousin. Shawn responded with "I'm not going to hit a girl", and Rob said that he wouldn't fight her either. Edge had sighed and volunteered himself for it. It was an interesting match, to say the least. Of course, neither tried the ways they would in a real ring. It was Edge's strength and technicalities versus Liz's high-flying and evasive techniques.
Little known to the others, another superstar lurked near the exit. He watched Liz and Edge carefully. Liz went down from a full-body suxplex by Edge. After a few snapped words to Edge, she rose with a withheld anger. She became a highly trained machine…just like him. Once the match was over, the superstar decided to leave, his bag high on his shoulder as the door banged shut.
Jeff snapped his eyes to the exit only to see the hulking back of the retreating Brock Lesner. His eyes narrowed in protectiveness, but Brock did not come back. Slowly, he began to watch. But he was a bit worried.
What was Brock doing there, watching his sister?
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A/N: What a crappy chapter… I promise the next chapter will be Armageddon! Somebody just needs to tell me the rules of Hell-in-a-Cell so I can be sure that I'm not confusing it with something else. Hope you liked this chapter, and please review!