Backstage was quiet as a graveyard. Lita had watched the whole speech on the monitor in shock.

It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

Freyja wasn't supposed to declare war on her, she wasn't supposed to make nice with the Devil, she wan't supposed to fight back. She was supposed to be the new, easy prey, the one who'd go quietly, the one who'd fade at the will of Lita's ex-husband.

Color Lita surprised.

The redhead shook her head slowly, "Wow." was all she could breathe out.

"Oh, relax!" Edge laughed easily. "What the hell could they possibly do?"

Lita smiled up at him, reassured. He was right, they couldn't do anything. As long as Lita kept out of the ring with her, and stayed protected in the arenas, Freyja couldn't do shit to her. Not unless she wanted the police involved. And hell, the last thing Freyja needed in her current situation was to end up in jail. Lita wpuld come to find that Freyja had much more entertaining things in mind.

Her boyfriend clasped her on the shoulder, "C'mon, let's go back to the hotel. I happen to know what'll get your mind off all this Freyja business..."

Lita chuckled, turning to her love, to wrap her arms around his waist. "Oh? Hm, and what is that, exactly?"

"Psh, well, that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?" The young man shot back, jerking himself from Lita's grasp and making for the door.

"Hey!" His girlfriend protested playfully and chased after him. Down the corridor she ran, finally catching up to him and grasping at a toned arm. She stumbled, finally finding the balance to walk alongside him, interlacing her fingers with his and gazing up at his face. But his expression held something other than adoration. His jaw was clenched, staring straight ahead, every muscle in his body had tensed, regardless of how he tried to mask it.

Gazing down the hall, Freyja and Kane sauntered towards them. This was the way to the locker rooms, after all, and it was also the only way out of the particular part of the backstage area Edge and Lita had taken up residence. They were going to have to pass, to retreat would be to be cornered like mice.

Freyja smirked at the two approaching. She knew what was on their minds. The demon and his bride come to assault their sensibilities. No, Lita was unaware that tonight wasn't about "straightforward".

Still, Edge clutched Lita tighter and Kane placed a guiding hand on his young wife's shoulder, a silent warning not to engage. As they neared, the tension in the air was palpable. Lita's eyes were trained on Kane, trying to mask her fear. Edge felt a little bad that he chose to leave when he did, they should have waited until the Demon and Lita's new worst nightmare were long gone. He knew how Lita was fearless, able to handle anything but Kane? She was terrified of Kane.

Edge was more concerned with Freyja. Rage just seemed to radiate off her tiny frame, and it was all ready for Lita, when the time was right.

But the time was not right.

The two women made eye contact, and time seemed to slow. Everything throttled back and all eyes were on the two women in the nearly empty hallway. Freyja held Lita's gaze, walking like she was moving through water, any moment ready to break from Kane's grasp.

But she never did. The most Lita got was a scoff as they passed, Kane pushing her forward to avoid extending this encounter. Time sped back up, and Lita's sigh of relief was audible, and after that, the only sound that could be heard was the heavy footsteps of the two couples. Edge relaxed, but neither of them said a word about it. The arena felt unbearably heavy still, and Lita was never happier than when they finally exited to the parking garage.

~O~O~O~O~O~O~

Big Show set the catalytic converter on the locker room bench. The gang was all here, and he had to admit he was pretty proud of his quick work. Freyja smiled the widest smile he'd ever seen, eyeing the engine part.

"Great job!" She commended from her spot near her seated husband, his arm thrown about her possessively, like a child with a toy. She was half-leaning on him, half standing. "They're going to be in for quite a shock when they get to the car."

Show chuckled, "Guess I'm glad for all those summers I spent at the auto body shop as a kid now." he joked.

"Wait, wait, hold up!" Hurricane interjected, "You didn't tell me this was the plan?!"

"I'm sure you can understand why not." Kane taunted, fingers playing with the hem of Freyja's shirt. She tried to bat his hand away, to no avail until eventually she gave up.

"I said I'd help you, Freyja but, theft and illegal property damage? What's up with that?" Shane's arms crossed indignantly.

"Hurricane," Trish held up her hands at the man, approaching him in his incredulity. "Doesn't vigilante justice require you to bend the rules sometimes? Think, like, Batman! Right?"

Trish was, of course, in support of any and all horrible things the team could possibly do to Lita. And it wouldn't do to lose a team member already. Hurricane looked thoroughly unconvinced, but simply un-crossed his arms and did a little grumble instead of walking out the door.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, guys, we can't afford to pussy out just because we stole a cheap car part." Freyja piped up, smiling, thuroughly pleased with herself. "Lita deserved it, she did. And the only thing out of this whole debacle that I'm going to take laying down... is Kane."

The team's brows furrowed in confusion at Freyja's declaration, then realization, then disgust. A chorus of "Ohh, Freyja!"s and "Don't be gross"s rang out in the otherwise empty locker room while Freyja cackled at the innuendo. This went on until Kane's nerves got the better of him, Lita might be bursting through that door at any moment, looking for her catalytic converter, and here they were joking around with the damn thing in plain sight.

"Rob," Kane barked, and the whole room, including Freyja jumped a little bit, he hadn't said a single word since walking in backstage. "Get rid of that thing. Before someone comes looking for it."

"Oh, uh... yeah, okay. Hand it here," The man in question held his hand out for the part, but Show retracted, grabbing it for himself.

"These are worth money, I think we should sell it."

"Maybe, oh, here's a thought!" Hurricane interrupted, "Let's give it back, eh? Eh? Ow!" The green-clad young man doubled over after a sharp elbow from Trish.

"I don't care what you do with it!" Kane snapped. Freyja could tell he was losing his temper and she swore she felt his skin get hotter. "Just get the fucking thing out of here!"

RVD and Big Show held their hands up, backing away slowly, "Alright, alright okay..." they said almost in unison, leaving the room. Shane continued to hold his ribcage, playing up the dramatics and inadvertently asking for an apology from Stratus. He didn't get one, instead getting grabbed by the arm and dragged towards the door with her admonishing him.

"Oh, you big baby, lets go get you some ice." The young woman reached for the door handle, rolling her eyes, but before she could open it, it swung wide quickly. The first person Lita saw was Trish, and she immediately jumped on her with a fierce,

"Where is she?!"

Trish remained silent, eyebrows raised, until Lita's eyes found Freyja on their own. On the bench, she sat on one of Kane's legs, her own legs crossed daintily as his fingers twisted in her hair. Both of the pair stared hole straight into the redhead, as Trish slipped out with the Hurricane and Edge came stumbling shortly after his girlfriend.

"Alright, where the hell is it?" The older woman demanded, only to get even more worked up when Freyja tilted her head, brow furrowed, seeming confused.

"The fucking car part, you bitch, out with it!" Lita fumed, each second the couple's smirking faces driving her further into a rage.

"Catalytic converter's a very commonly stolen vehicle part." Freyja tilted her head innocently, "What makes you think I had anything to do with it?"

"I never said it was the catalytic converter!" Lita announced, to which Freyja only smiled and blinked innocently. "Do you think I'm stupid?! After you just announced I've got a target on my back, suddenly we start up the rental and it makes some god-awful noise and we find out and entire piece of the engine is MISSING?" Lita flung her arms out wide, livid at Freyja's nonchalant attitude.

"Come on, Lita, you know what kind of man Kane is, you really think we'd waste our time fucking with your car?" Freyja smoothed, her voice so sweet and soft it made Lita's teeth hurt. She stood from her perch on his knee, and he followed soon after, looming behind her like her own personal body guard.

"This isn't over!" Lita spat fire at Freyja, who smirked and was moved to the side by a large, rough hand, one that soon after came to grasp Lita's chin, and all right in front of Edge.

"You're right, this isn't over." He sneered, barely getting the sentence out before his hand was batted away roughly by the tall blonde Canuck.

"Hey!" He snapped at the older man. "Don't fucking touch my girlfriend!"

The Big Red Monster stood back up to his full height, staring down the other man with immeasurable intensity. "I'll do whatever the fuck I want and you're welcome tell me what you're going to do about it." he snarled.

"You want to see what I'm gonna do about it?" Edge puffed up his chest, taking a step towards the taller man, despite Lita's plea of,

"Babe, don't..."

"Well? Kane raised his eyebrows, looking his adversary up and down, smirking with condescension at his balled up fists. "I'm waiting."

"No." Edge backed down a bit, succumbing to the soothing hand his girlfriend had placed on his forearm. Now was not the time, Kane was trying to get him worked up, and he wasn't in the mood to give the man the satisfaction. "Not here. I'll see you in the ring next week."

Kane scoffed. "Great. See you next week then. Come on, Freyja." he ordered.

Freyja was happy to concede, but only after biting at Lita, "My husbands going to wipe the floor with your little boyfriend. Hope you bought the insurance on the rental."

The WWE's newest couple laughed an almost downright-evil laugh as they exited the locker room. Lita let out an exasperated sigh.

"You're really going to get in the ring with him?" She couldn't believe it, he gave in to Kane's goading so easily.

"No man touches you and gets away with it! Especially not him!" Edge snapped, cooling off when he saw Lita draw back a little. "Look, I'm sorry. But I can't back down now."

His hand cupped her cheek reassuringly. "I gotta protect you, babe."

Lita nodded her head. "I know."

"Hey," he laughed nervously, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "Still need a distraction?!"