"You alright?"

Dave turned around to see Stephanie looking at him, concerned. "Yeah," he nodded. "It's just not everyday that you con over a dozen people."

"You'll pull it off," Stephanie assured him.

Dave inhaled deeply. "I sure hope so."

Looking past the curtain, Stephanie saw the fans gather in the arena waiting for the show to kick off. Looking at her watch, she saw that it was ten minutes until the dark matches would start on Raw. "I'll be right back," she told Dave, who nodded, as she headed towards her office. She looked around and quietly slipped into an empty office. Shutting the door and locking it, she turned to Heyman, who was sitting in a chair.

"I thought I told you to lock the door," she sneered at him.

Heyman shot her a cocky look. "You afraid people are gonna see you with me?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not everyday that I backstab everyone I know and work with."

Heyman snorted as he stood up. "Is that so? Changed your ways have you?"

"Go to hell, Heyman."

"Why exactly are you working with me?" he asked.

Stephanie sighed. "How many times are you going to ask me that?"

He studied her before nodded. "Alright…I won't ask anymore."

"Good," she snapped. Before either could say anything, they heard a knock on the door.

"Stephanie?"

She cursed, hearing Chris's voice on the other side. "Hold on."

"Expecting anyone?" Heyman chuckled.

"Shut up," she barked. Opening the door, she stepped out quickly and slammed the door shut behind her, Chris raising his eyebrows at her.

"What the hell is going on?"

"What do you mean?"

Chris looked at the closed door than at Stephanie. "I heard voices."

"It was the TV," she lied.

"Steph…you know that if someone sees you here…"

"I know," she said quietly.

"What're you even doing here?"

"I…" she sighed. "I can't tell you that Chris."

"What?"

"I can't tell you."

Still looking at her, Chris shook his head slowly, knowing that Stephanie would say nothing else about it. "Look, someone said that they saw Heyman in here earlier. Heard anything about it?"

Stephanie shook her head. "Nope."

Chris swallowed hard before saying, "Look, Steph, you hired me to be the GM, and that's what I'm doing. If you're hiding anything or not telling me something…you know I have to say something, right?"

"Yeah," she said softly. "And I expect you to, Chris."

"So…you're not hiding anything?"

Stephanie didn't say anything for a minute until her phone began to ring. Grabbing it from her belt she looked at the number, than at Chris. "I'm not hiding anything," she answered.

"Okay," Chris nodded and walked away as Stephanie flipped open her phone.

"What?"

"You think she'll actually do it?" Kurt asked Heyman as they sat in their seats.

Heyman shrugged, unbuttoning his suit jacket, and replied, "She better."

Kurt nodded. "But…what if she doesn't?"

Heyman raised an eyebrow and looked at Kurt. "Then I guess that'll be a big mistake on her part, now wouldn't it?" Kurt smiled and nodded while Heyman looked at him, or more precisely, his disguise. Kurt was wearing a wig, one that resembled him having short black hair. "That has to be the stupidest disguise I've ever seen," he mumbled, turning his attention to the ring.

Kurt rolled his eyes and subconsciously touched his wig when Heyman turned around.

About two hours later, Stephanie was pacing an office nervously. Hearing a knock at the door, she froze, until she heard a familiar voice. "Steph?"

Sighing, she opened the door and let Trish in, locking the door behind her. "Hey."

"Hey," Trish replied back, hugging Stephanie. "How are you?"

Stephanie chuckled nervously. "I complete wreck."

"How's Marissa?"

"She's in ICU. Shane's been with her the whole time."

"And the kids?"

"They're staying with Chris's family right now until all of this blow's over," Stephanie answered.

"Do you think it will?" Trish asked. "Blow over?"

Stephanie bit her lip nervously and shrugged. "I don't know," she admitted.

Trish sighed. "Have you talked to John at all?" Stephanie shook her head.

Before Trish could ask anything further, Stephanie piped up. "Is everything set?"

Trish nodded. "Amy's taking care of it."

"Does Paul and the others know?"

"No," Trish said. "But I really think they should."

Stephanie waved her hand. "They can't right now."

"How's Dave doing?"

"He's nervous."

"Of course," Trish noted. "I would be too. Hell…I am."

"Yeah…I'm sorry for bringing you into this…"

"No, I understand…"

"It's like a bad movie," Stephanie added. "Conning the people I care about."

Trish giggled. "It is a mess," she said. "Such a mess that I forgot whose side I'm on."

"You're on mine," Stephanie reminded her.

"Let me just get this straight," Trish said slowly. "You and your family are working together to bring down ECW and Heyman so you being fired was just a play?" Stephanie nodded. "But then, you and John schemed a break up, to make your family re-think the strategy?" Again, Stephanie nodded. "But, your parents being your parents, they didn't re-think it, so you and John got angry and decided to make a plan of your own. But then John acted out and made his own plan by quitting and vacating the title so then you had to go to Dave?"

"Yeah…"

"So you decided to align yourself with Heyman and work with him to get back at your parents and John. But then Heyman nearly killed Marissa so now you're rethinking your plan...again"

"Yep…that's just about it."

Trish rolled her eyes. "This is giving me a headache."

"Scheming is hard work," Stephanie said, slightly amused.

"But…what does Dave have to do with it? Where does he fit in? And…what about Chris? Why did you even hire him…?"

Stephanie raised her hands. "Too many questions, Trish. Once I hired Chris, all this happened. Believe me, I don't like keeping him in the dark, but I don't have a choice right now. I don't like lying to anyone."

"Still…what about Dave?"

Stephanie inhaled deeply. "Tonight….you'll find out."

Trish shook her head slowly. "Why don't I like the sound of that?"

It had finally come time. Stephanie knew, somewhere, her father, John, Heyman…everyone, was watching this match. The vacant WWE title was on the line in a battle royal. It meant something to ECW because of the Champion of Champions match that was coming soon. If ECW somehow managed to capture either gold of the WWE, it would tilt the balance and ECW would be able to put the company away for good. With two titles, getting the third one wouldn't be hard at all. It was a scenario that WWE never even thought of. That was one mistake in firing Stephanie; the idea was hers. The first superstar to enter the ring was Randy Orton. As Stephanie watched, she truly felt heartbroken. Randy was not only John's best friend, but she had grown to like him as a friend over the past few months. Once he had gotten his shit together, she promised him a chance at the title. Even though this was his chance…it also wasn't. After him, Shawn Michael's came out. Once more, a pang in heart. Seeing Shawn reminded Stephanie of Paul's sidelining injury. After Shawn's entrance, came Bobby Lashley. Stephanie personally never like Lashley, but he was a professional and he respected her, so in turn she did the same to him. After him, came Booker T. Even though Stephanie didn't like his character, she had granted it to him, because they were friends and he was an excellent wrestler. The next man was Chris Masters. Another ego character that Stephanie hated. As a person, he was sweet, but his character was such an ass that she wanted to puke.

She held in her breath as they waited for the next superstar. She already knew who it was, but everyone else didn't, and she took pride in that. Sneaking the man in the arena and hiding him until the end was pure genius of her. Once the music hit, the fans went wild. She could hear some workers in the back cheering in surprise as well as Batista came out. Going through his normal routine, he slowly walked down into the ring, taking in the cheers of the fans.

Because he knew it wouldn't last…

Once the match started…it was relentless. Batista clotheslined Masters so hard, it nearly took his head off. Once Batista stood up, Lashley decided to have his turn at him and got in a couple of good shots; big mistake. Incensed, Batista punched Lashley so hard, it shattered his nose. Bobby looked up at Batista as he leaned down to pick him up. "What the fuck is your problem man?" Bobby asked him as he held his bloody nose. Dave didn't answer; instead, he lifted Bobby up and painfully drove him into the mat. Picking him up again, he tossed him into the turnbuckle and began to beat on him. Randy, seeing the action that Dave was taking, grabbed him and turned him around, hitting him. Wrestling him to the floor, Randy knelt by his head. "What the hell are you doing, Dave? This wasn't in the script." Looking out in the crowd, Dave spotted Heyman and a disguised Kurt, both watching eagerly. Stephanie's words played over and over in his head and he swallowed hard. "Sorry," he whispered. "But the plans have changed."

Catching Randy off guard, he lifted him up and threw him into Booker and Chris, knocking both men down. Her rushed at a recovering Bobby, and rammed his shoulder into him painfully. Bobby cried out and dropped to his knees, in pain, holding his ribs. Seizing the chance, Dave grabbed him and lifted him up, hitting the Batista bomb and pinning him. Lashley was out. Getting up, he grabbed Michael's by the hair and threw him into the ropes. As he bounced back, Dave grabbed him, lifting him up, and dropped him on his knee. Michael spitted out blood as Dave pinned him. Now Michael's was out. Going back to work, he grabbed both Booker and Chris and lifted them up to chokeslam them. Randy rushed at Dave, kicking him in the stomach, but Dave lashed back and powerbombed him. Now Orton was out. Dave lifted up Masters just to slam him back onto the mat. He grabbed his ankle and twisted; hearing a 'pop', Chris cried out as Dave applied more pressure. With no other choice, Masters tapped. Dave then turned to the last person; Booker looked at him with anger, dread, and confusion. "What are you doing man?" If it wasn't clear to him now, then Dave knew that he wouldn't understand. He was doing what Stephanie asked him to do; and as a friend, you never questioned that. Especially if it was Stephanie. You never questioned a McMahon. Dave was living proof of that. As Booker rushed him, Dave ducked, bounced off the ropes and caught Booker in the throat, flipping him over. Stunned, Booker tried to take in some air, clueless to his surroundings. Before he knew it…it was over. Dave had won. Booker didn't understand why or how…but he did. The fans cheered and Dave greedily took the title and stared at it. He didn't jump the turnbuckle to share the glory with the fans. He just looked at Booker who was laying on the mat, still stunned as ever, who had sweat dripping off his body.

Before he knew it, the lights had changed, now flashing a strobe blue, and the fans had quieted down. Dave turned, toward the ramp, as Stephanie strode down the ring, a cocky grin on her face. Dave could tell though…she was just as every bit broken up about it as he was. But for the better of both worlds, he only met her cocky grin with his own, reminding him of the Evolution days.

It was probably then that the fans noticed.

Dave didn't come back their champion. Stephanie took the microphone and walked next to Dave. Grasping his hand, she squeezed it, and he squeezed back, as she raised the mic to her lips and proudly proclaimed, "Here is your new ECW World Champion…Dave Batista!"

To say that the fans, viewers, and WWE workers were shocked, would be an understatement. Nevertheless, the fans booed…loudly.

Heyman and Kurt stood up, pleased at the turn of events.

Shane stared at the TV, his jaw dropping to the floor.

Chris, along with the other few workers, could only watch in horror.

Linda stood next to her husband as Vince had a heart attack at the betrayal.

Dave, to add to the shock, did something that even shocked Stephanie herself. He leaned in and kissed her.

A thousand miles away, as John watched, a relationship that was questionable, surely now was torn apart.