"I can't do this anymore, Mr. McMahon." The young woman sitting across his desk rubbed at her temples, eyes boring holes into the polished mahogany. This should be an Eric Bishoff thing. But, Lita had insisted on the big boss. And now, he could see why.
Vince pursed his lips, tapping absentmindedly on the wood. He gave the redhead a good once-over, regarding her as she sat across from him. She'd lost a bit of weight since the wedding, no matter how much concealer she used her eyes seemed outlined in deep purple, her once-full, lustrous hair had dulled and flattened. He truly did feel sorry for her, but a contract was a contract, and that peice of paper was as binding as selling your soul to Satan Himself in this industry. Especially when she was contracted to arguably the most dangerous man on the RAW roster.
Man. That was a gross mislabel of who Lita's husband really was.
"You understand what you're asking me to do, right?" he cocked an eyebrow. "It won't make the big guy very happy."
The woman tilted her head up, but her face was buried in her hands, turning red as the skin of a beet. "Vince, look at me, I-"
"It's in my best interest to keep him happy, Lita." Vince interrupted. "He's been preforming immaculately since the wedding. The Monster wants to impress you. Besides, I was told you two were finally on good terms." He gave the woman a quizzical look.
Lita sighed. "I tried, I really did. A part of me felt sorry for him..." Lita trailed off, making a little tent with her fingers.
"You felt sorry for Kane?" Vince stated in disbelief and laughed once, eyebrows raised. Lita looked up, her eyes wet and red but gave no other indication she had been weeping, her face was dead serious.
"We both lost a child that night, Vince."
Her words dropped like dead weight, and it shut up the CEO's laughter. The man sat back in his office chair and sighed. A pregnant pause followed Lita's declaration until she piped up again, "But the man is insane, he's a monster. Please, I wouldn't be asking you to do this if it wasn't important. I'll do anything."
Vince thought, and eventually vocalized his thoughts, "So, his monstrous behavior no longer benefits you? Don't think anyone's forgotten about your little trist with Trish."
Kane enjoyed having things to torment. He took particular joy in tormenting people, though anything with a pulse would do. He wouldn't be happy with Vince for taking away his plaything. But he had to have the wellbeing of his stars in mind, at least a little bit. If this was to happen, there would need to be damage control.
He wasn't so sure he wanted it to happen at all. Dear Lita wasn't in danger per se. And this little soap opera was still raking in ratings. He needed to come up with terms. Impossible terms. Terms that would rake in the viewers no matter what.
"Please." was all Lita could force out.
It was an eternity before he looked up, catching Lita's gaze and stated, "Find a replacment."
Lita gave a bewildered look. "What?"
"Find a replacement." Vince said, a little louder this time. "The Demon has gotten quite used to domestic life, I hear. If you're so desperate for an out, I'm sure you'll have no problem damning some other girl to the torture of marrying Kane for the world to see. Find someone else."
Lita gazed long and hard at the McMahon. He certainly wasn't joking. "I wouldn't do that to another person, Vince, I couldn't-" she stammered.
"I've told you my conditions." The boss interrupted.
Lita looked about the office, at a loss for words. Would she really have the ability to gamble another person's life and happiness away? What if Kane didn't like who she chose? What would he do to her?
She shook her head, thoughts and doubts creeping up and clouding her vision, she could feel her heart beating fast and hard, her limbs shook, the clock above the entry door ticked at a glacial pace. Finally, Lita took a ragged breath and willed herself to push out the words, "Okay."
Vince nodded, knowing what this meant for some poor girl out there. "You have three weeks, I'll set aside a segment for you, if you don't find her, I'll fill it with someone else. Take this-" Vince tossed her a packet of paper, which she knew well was a contract for RAW, "And find Kane a woman."
Lita nodded and scurried out, glad to be away from that God Forsaken office. Cathing her breath, and looking around to make sure the coast was clear, and finding no big red monster in sight, she went off to recruit. She thought hard about where she would find a woman that would go along with this and realized there probably wasn't a woman on the planet that would marry a right stranger, and a stranger like Kane at that. No, Lita had to be a little less honest.
With shaking limb and pounding heart, Lita went to choose a victim.
~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~
"I need to find someone else." Lita tilted her chin up, Edge's lips and teeth crashing down on her neck. She was trying desperately to be in the mood, she was trying desperately to forget. Kane could come back at any time and she and Edge got so few chances to be together, not when her husband watched her like a hawk.
Edge hummed in acknowledgement and backed his girlfriend up to the hotel bed, her knees hitting the edge and lowering her back onto the cushioned surface. He continued to romance his woman, stopping to suck lightly on her exposed collar bone.
Lita wanted to enjoy it but was overcome with a fear that he may leave a mark for Kane to see, and placed her palms on either side of his face, redirecting his attention.
"Watch it, mister." she teased, but it came out soft and mirthless.
Their lips connected again, Edge's hand wandering up her side and stopping right at her waist. He stopped, and rose from his position atop her to sit back on his knees, tilting his handsome blonde head.
"You aren't into this right now, are you?" he breathed.
Lita fixed him with a sympathetic look. "No, sorry."
Edge rolled is eyes, exasperated. "Don't apologize. You may have to do it what that demon bastard around but you don't have to do it with me." He flopped on the bed next to her, staring up at the ceiling with Lita.
"I have a lot on my mind right now, babe." Lita turned to her side to face the taller man, whose head turned just slightly to look at her.
"I know." was all he said.
They stayed that way for a while, with Lita gazing up at her man, and him gazing at the ceiling, hand reaching to stroke her hair soothingly.
"So," it was he who broke the silence. "What are you going to do?"
Lita thought for a few moments. "What Mr. McMahon told me to I guess."
"Who are you going to choose, then?" He queried.
Lita shook her head furiously, for the umpteenth time, she didn't know what to do. So often under Kane's thumb she felt helpless, and here she was with a way out and she still felt hopeless, and alone. Edge could never understand. "I don't know."
"Trish?" Edge suggested. But no, just offering up her worst enemy wasn't going to fix this mess.
"No."
Edge furrowed his brow at the ceiling. "You hate Trish."
"He'll kill her. She sucks but..." Lita propped herself up on her elbows. "I don't want her to die."
"You sicced him on her before." Edge shrugged.
"To scare her, Edge!" Lita snapped, flopping back onto the bed. "But whoever I choose... they could get hurt... I don't know what to do, Edge. I feel trapped, like, I can't get out of this situation without doing something unspeakable to someone else and I have nowhere to turn-" Lita could have gone on but Edge flipped around and placed a large, warm palm on her cheek, interrupting her woe.
"I get it. But, desperate times baby, desperate times. And I understand why we have to sneak around now, but I don't wanna be your back door man forever." He bent down to kiss her quivering lips. "I'll help you, okay? I'll help you."
Lita drew in breath and relaxed her muscles. Looking over to the radio clock on the bedside table, she turned back to Edge. "You should get out of here, before he comes back."
Edge nodded and kissed her once more. "Make sure the coast is clear for me?"
Lita smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. "Always."
O~O~O~O~O~O~O~O~Thank you all for reading. As I announced earlier in the month, I wrote this story back around February. I originally wrote it having NOT watched the entire Kane/Lita/Edge storyline. But, I think I can do a better job on it now.That being said, the story of Wicker Man is currently under construction and is being rewritten entirely. I still have the old files, which I may re-upload at a later date to mark progress but for now I'm taking the original Wicker Man chapters down.If you're an OG, you'll notice a bit has changed, but the general impression is still there and I do hope you guys still enjoy the fic.Thanks again for reading,Wren.