Chris kissed the soft skin just underneath her breasts before letting his lips linger in between them and then over her collarbone and finally up to her neck and her jaw and her mouth. She laughed breathlessly as he deepened the kiss and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he stared down at her face. She opened her eyes and looked up at him.

"Why did you wake me up?"

"Because I felt like it, is that a problem?" he wondered. Her eyes were sharp, even though she'd just woken up. He wondered if they would always be like that, sharp and calculating, even when she could let her guard down. He hoped, vainly maybe, that when this was all over and their revenge had been had her eyes would lose some of that guardedness they held. But even if they didn't, he'd still love every part of her.

"What time is it?"

"Early, but I've got a morning surprise for you," he grinded himself against her and she closed her eyes as she moaned softly. "I'm insatiable, what can I say? I mean, wasn't it just last night we found proof that your brother is a liar?"

"We knew that already."

"But he tried to send me to jail," Chris said, "that bastard actually tried to get me sent to jail. Doesn't he know who he's dealing with? The naiveté of that asshole, thinking he can fuck around with me. I can bring him down."

"And we will," Stephanie said, reaching up and placing her warm hands on his cheeks. "Our lawyers called a meeting today to discuss it and then we'll have the evidence they can use in your defense. Shane has nothing and after today, the only thing he'll be is a douchebag in a hospital bed. Plus, this won't get him out of a match, will it?"

"It might, not that I needed the match, I just wanted to pulverize him," Chris said darkly. Every time he thought about beating up Shane, his thoughts went to a very dark place. That man had hurt his wife and for that, he wanted to kill him with his bare hands, but that was too good for Shane. Anything but a lifetime of misery was too good for Shane. Better to have him rot in prison with nobody to talk to than dead.

"I know, but maybe we don't need that," Stephanie deflected.

"I want that though. I can wait until he's better to be put into a match with him. No holds barred, maybe it would be one of those unsanctioned matches where anything goes and he can't do a damn thing about it."

"Would you just get inside me already and stop talking about my brother," she said and it was a dirty tactic and she knew it. As he sunk into her, she knew his mind would flit away from Shane and everything that was going on in their lives. She let herself fall into him, moving in rhythm with his body. Everything else could fall away for a while. She wrapped her arms around him and let herself forget about all her troubles.

Chris slapped her ass as they walked into their lawyer's offices. She turned to glare at him, but he just winked at her and then stared down at her ass. She turned back around, but put an extra swing into her steps, which she knew he would appreciate. The lawyers were waiting for them and they were led immediately into a small meeting room. Chris pulled Stephanie's chair out for her, letting his index finger run the length of her back as she sat down.

"So what's going on?" Stephanie drawled as Chris sat down next to her, across from their two lawyers. "I can't believe anyone would ever want to frame my husband."

"Well, Shane McMahon does want to press charges for aggravated assault and assault and battery on you, Mr. Jericho. He says that you two argued and that you later ambushed him outside the building and beat him and with him in the hospital, he obviously has evidence of his injuries."

"Well, we have proof that it couldn't possibly have been Chris," Stephanie explained to them.

"You do?" one of the lawyers asked.

"Yes, we do," Stephanie pulled out the DVD from the security cameras and placed it on the table, sliding it across to the lawyers. One of them excused themselves to grab a TV to push it into the room. Chris smiled over at Stephanie, who looked as cool as one could be at the moment.

They put the DVD into the player and Chris and Stephanie both pointed out what you could see in the background. The lawyers smirked at each other as they realized Shane's case had no basis. They explained that Shane, if they ran with it, could be convicted for perjury. Stephanie looked to Chris and she didn't want Shane going to jail just yet, not just yet.

Chris spoke up first, "If he agrees to drop the charges against me, can we not have him go to jail just yet."

"What?" Robert, their lawyer, asked. "But he's obviously lying about what happened. This could send him to jail."

"We don't want that, not right now," Chris said, "we've got some things that we suspect about him and we've got some corporate lawyers looking into it and we'd rather he be charged for that."

"We could have him on all the charges," Robert said.

"Could you hold off on the charges?" Stephanie asked. "Chris is out on a bond and it would take a little while for him to actually go to court, wouldn't it?"

"I guess…but why would you want to wait, what do you have on him?"

"We've got a lot of stuff on him, actually," Chris said, "we suspect him of embezzling large quantities from the company. We've got people looking into it. We're having the corporate lawyers making a case of it."

"Well, that does change some things, those are far bigger charges than this would be. I guess we could hold off on this, but I seriously wouldn't suggest it. If you want to go ahead and have him cop the deal with not being charged, it probably would be better, as long as you think he really will be charged for embezzlement."

"We're fairly positive," Chris said.

Their lawyers thought this was very unusual, but Chris was a high-paying client so they pretty much had to listen to what he wanted and if he wanted Shane not to be charged, then there wasn't much they could do about it. They weren't the ones who had been accused of beating someone up to within an inch of their lives. They kept the DVD and promised they would contact Shane's attorneys as soon as possible to get things in the works. They were all sure Shane would rather take the deal than go to jail…for now at least.

"They thought we were crazy," Stephanie said.

"I know, but we've got bigger plans for him," Chris said, holding her hand, "but what are we going to do about that other guy who you hate and want to suffer?"

"Oh yes, I've almost forgotten about that pathetic excuse for a human being," Stephanie said, then saw something up ahead. She gave Chris a coy look before walking quickly to the phone booth on the street (a rarity nowadays, but perfect for her at the moment). She grabbed the phone and rooted through her purse for some change.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked her.

"Something to keep up with that other guy," Stephanie said as she put the change into the phone. She pressed her finger on his lips to keep him quiet before she dialed Hunter's number.

"Hello?"

"Hunter, is that you?" Stephanie said in her normal voice.

"Stephanie?" Hunter asked in horror. He pulled the phone away from his ear and stared down at it like it was made of something horrendous. He shuddered and couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. He had to be dreaming; this was a dream or a nightmare, it had to be, this could not be Stephanie. There was just no way. He pulled the phone back to his ear. "Stephanie, is that you?"

"Hunter…Hunter, where are you? I can't see you."

Chris started laughing and had to take a step away because he didn't want Hunter to hear him. The last thing he wanted was for Hunter to suspect anything. Stephanie was very good at disguising who she was. The plastic surgery had helped, but when she was acting as his fake wife, she had this entirely different air to her that made her seem like another personality altogether. She deserved an Oscar for her performance.

"Stephanie, where are you?" Hunter asked desperately. "Can I get to you, tell me where you are! I'll come get you, wherever you are. Did someone take you? You didn't die, did you? I knew you didn't, I just…I mean, I saw, but I never believed…I hoped…someone took you, someone took you somewhere, where are you?"

"Hunter…help me…" Stephanie looked at Chris and he was doubled over in laughter and she was having a difficult time not laughing herself. Hunter's voice sounded so sad and hopeful. She loved crushing him like a bug. Was this an appropriate response to him tearing her away from Chris and trying to change her entire personality? Perhaps not, but she couldn't help the way she felt she needed to get revenge. That was how she worked, that's all.

"I would, baby, but you have to tell me where you are?"

"I don't know…it's so cold, so dark…it's so dark…"

"Stephanie, I don't…I don't understand…"

"I don't…Hunter…"

"Stephanie, please, just tell me where you are!" If there was even the slightest chance that she was alive, he would scour the earth for her. He would search everywhere he could. He would do anything to have her back. His life felt wrong without her. Of course, there was the fact that Chris loved her or she loved him, but if he found her, if he was the one who got to her first, saved her from whatever was hurting her or keeping her, there's no way she would want Chris over him. There was just no way she wouldn't love her savior.

"I don't…it's so dark, I feel so cold…I can't see anything…I just…please…"

"Stephanie," he started to cry now, his voice becoming choked with tears. Stephanie bit her lip and looked over at Chris, making a crazy sign by spinning her finger around her ear. Chris just shook his head and came back over, leaning against the booth. "Stephanie, please, just tell me anything about what's around you."

"So small, cramped…so…dark…dark…help…"

" Baby, I want to help you, I really do want to help you! You just have to help me too. Do you hear anything? Is there anything you can hear and tell me about what you can hear, are there voices? Is someone trying to talk to you?"

"Quiet…it's so quiet…no sound, can't…nothing to hear…there's nothing to hear…"

"Okay, well, you managed to call me, so you have a phone, right? You have something you can call me on. Just…I don't have caller ID, but I can get it, I can get it and you can call me back and then I can know where you are. I can call the cops and everything and they'll help and everything."

"Hunter…please…" Stephanie hung up the phone and then started laughing. "You should have heard him, thought I was being held somewhere and that I was in trouble and said he would find me whatever it took, come on, I want to go talk to my dad about getting Shane charged for stealing millions."

"Okay," Chris said, "I love when you're a horrible person."

"Then you must love me all the time," she said as she heard the pay phone ringing behind her. They both looked back, but neither one of them went back to the phone, instead letting it ring.

Neither one really even cared.