Thanks to those who've reviewed so far! And if you haven't, do you mind if I ask you why not??
"I think I saw her go over this way."
Essa Rios glanced over at the petite blonde who deemed herself his new partner and resisted the urge to smile, putting the hard look on his face instead. "Did you see if she was with anybody?" He asked gruffly, turning the corner Eleanor said she had turned down.
"I think I saw some guy walking with her." Elle revealed. "But it's nobody you couldn't take I'm sure."
"I'm sure." Essa repeated quietly, knowing that she was probably lying and he'd be more then twice his size, but it was good knowing he'd have an ally if he ever chose to come back to the federation. Elle sighed and he turned to face her again as they kept walking. "Just ask them already."
Elle's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Ask what?"
"The questions that I can tell you want to ask me." Essa clarified. "I could just tell from the way you keep sighing over there, it actually makes you seem pretty pitiful."
"And your hair looks stupid." Elle shot back quickly, not taking very kindly to people insulting her; especially to her face.
Instead of the cursing she expected him to retaliate with, he laughed. It was a low sound, so quiet she wasn't sure if she had heard it at all, but it was a laugh nonetheless. "Thank God I found someone who can take insults as well as send them right back."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment now and be happy for the rest of the day." Elle replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes as he looked to see if she was being serious or not.
Essa shook his head at the companionable interactions he was having with this girl he'd known for less then an hour. He didn't watch where he was going and bumped straight into Elle as she came to an abrupt stop. "You need to warn people before you do that, especially if it's going to be a habit of yours."
Elle ignored the remarks and instead pointed to the parking lot, a smug look on her face. "Told you I knew where she was heading to." She added as they both caught sight of Amy loading the trunk of her silver rental car, a blonde haired guy standing next to her, looking over his shoulder every once in a while. Essa scowled and was going to approach them at a run when she grabbed a hold of his arm to hold him back. "Sure, let's draw complete attention to ourselves."
"I wouldn't care if the entire backstage crew saw me right now." Essa snapped, his eyes blazing. "You have no idea what that bitch has put me through; she needs to pay."
Elle, who was usually so up to making somebody's life a living hell, drew back at his completely sinister attitude and unforgiving look on his face.
"And if you're with me, then I need you to be behind me one hundred percent of the way." Essa kept on, as if he didn't see her flinch back from him.
"Are you recruiting me or something?" He nodded and she smirked, holding her hand out for him to shake, which he accepted after a few second of silence. "If you want me to be in then I'll be in and help you out."
"You could be useful." He commented.
Elle looked him straight in the eyes and resisted the urge to smirk. "Sweetie, you have no idea how useful I can be, but that is so for another time. Right now we have to take the opportunity that presented itself before us."
Surprising both of them, Essa reached over and grabbed her hand as they approached the two almost silently until they were right behind them.
"Amy, so nice to see you again." He said softly, the sinister tone back into his voice. The red-headed diva froze in mid-movement and Elle reveled in the fact that Amy looked like she was going to be in a permanent state of shock.
"What do you want?" Amy's accompaniment, 21 year old Gerrod Szatskowskie, demanded of the former cruiserweight champion as soon as he heard the words directed towards Amy.
"I believe that's between me and the woman." Essa responded easily, seemingly undaunted by anything.
"There is nothing between you and me anymore." Amy said boldly, turning around to face him with her hands on her hips. "You made that choice when you attacked me in the ring so I would very much appreciate it if you would just go back under whichever rock you crawled out from and leave me and my friend alone and in peace."
"So it seems you've grown a backbone since the last I saw of you."
"And" Elle added eagerly. "Not to mention the last time you saw her she was flat on her back in the middle of the ring writhing in complete agony because she let you down."
"What part are you playing in this at all?" Gerrod asked her. "Are you his new puppy dog or something?"
"I could ask you the exact same thing." Elle answered back. "She has Matt Hardy, what would she want with you."
"He has a little bit of taste, what would he want with you?" Gerrod shot back with a smug grin on his face.
Elle balled her fists at her sides and was in such deep concentration, thinking of new ways to insult Gerrod that she didn't notice Amy's fist make contact with Essa's cheek until he staggered back and bumped right into her. "Don't you dare touch him like that!" She yelled indignantly, launching herself at the unsuspecting Amy.
They both fell to the floor and were trading slaps, punches, and kicks, when Amy felt arms encircle her waist and lift her off of the blonde who had started the impromptu fight.
"Let me go Gerrod." She demanded to her long-time friend's brother. "This is between me and that blonde bitch."
Elle was prepared to run after Amy again but was held back by Essa's hand on her shoulder and she sneered at the girl instead. "You're lucky your pretty boy boyfriend was here to protect you or else you would have been a goner."
"Yeah, that's what you like to think." Amy muttered under her breath, seeming to be perfectly fine with Gerrod's arms loosely around her waist as if to still be protecting her from anything else they might throw out.
Elle opened her mouth to respond when she caught sight of a very angry person stalking out to the parking lot, with his very timid looking girlfriend trailing behind him.
"Elle!" Andrew called sharply, and then came to a quick stop when he saw her company. "Essa." He acknowledged tersely before turning back to his younger sister. "Please tell me what I heard about you attacking Amy isn't true."
"Ask her for yourself." She said non-chalantly, brushing a stray piece of hair back up into her ponytail.
Andrew turned and looked at the former woman's champion who was presently leaning against some guy he wasn't familiar with, and the small line of blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. "You, I have to send you back home or something. I cannot deal with my work and having to baby-sit you 24/7 too."
"I wouldn't mind taking on those duties." Essa spoke up from his place to the side, to which Andrew responded with a cross look.
"He'd be sure to keep me out of trouble." Elle added, hoping to sway her brother's decision so he wouldn't send her back home to Australia.
"And you'd still be doing your parents a favor while keeping her away from us." Stacy said to him quietly, and he grinned for one of the first times when he first met Elle at the airport a few weeks ago.
"I'm trusting you with her." He told Essa simply. "As much as she annoys every fiber of my being, she is still my baby sister and if you do anything to her I will personally hunt you down and kill you. Do you understand me?"
"Perfectly." Essa responded smoothly, his smile only wavering slightly when Andrew got closer to emphasize his point.
Andrew turned towards Elle, who was actually smiling at him over the little emotionally display of big brother feelings. "Call me if you ever need anything and make sure to leave your cell phone at all time incase I need to get a hold of you for something."
"I will, I promise." She said, reaching over and giving him a quick hug before turning back to Essa, who held out his arm for her. She linked he arm through his and they walked back into the building as if nothing unusual had happened in the last twenty minutes.
"I apologize for her." Andrew said, turning to face Amy who was looking after the girl with a bitter look on her face.
"Don't worry about it." She said softly after a minute. The look on her face turned into a smile when she looked back at Gerrod. "I'm just lucky I had my bodyguard with me today."
Stacy looked between the two and noted how cozy they had gotten in the last few minutes. Amy was still close to him and his arm was rested around her waist loosely; they looked every bit the new happy couple and she smiled. "Drew Hun, I think we should leave these two alone."
Realization dawned on his face only after she nudged him in the ribs and he slung his arm over Stacy's shoulder. "I'm sorry about that again. And it was nice to meet you…" He trailed off after realizing they had never been formally introduced.
"Gerrod." He supplied. "Gerrod Szatskowskie."
"Rob's brother?" Stacy guessed and he nodded. "See you guys around then!" She called as they walked away. "I still can't believe the nerve of your sister to do something like that, especially to Amy."
"What I can't believe is that she willingly wants to spend time with Essa Rios." Andrew said incredulously, to which Stacy shrugged.
"You said yourself; you can never be to sure of what your sister is planning on doing next."
*~*~*~*
"So then do you know what that guy had the nerve to say to me?"
Caitlin Stratus shrugged her shoulders lightly. "I have no idea. Why don't you tell me?"
"He wants to make me his sidekick!" Hayate exclaimed, oblivious to the bored look on her face. "Can you believe it? And I just found out the other day he was trying to do that to your sister too which means," He stopped abruptly and turned to the blonde. "This means you could be next."
Instead of the shocked reaction he was expecting, she burst out laughing.
"Caitlin this isn't a laughing matter. He's dangerous!"
"Hayate, Sweetie, listen to me." She started. "The Hurricane is not dangerous. He's harmless. All he does is go off in his own world and pretend to save people from evil and then he reads comic books."
"Where do you think he gets those crazy ideas?" Hayate fired back, running a hand through his already disheveled looking hair. He was about to go on another tangent when a hand clamped down on his shoulder and he jumped almost a few feet in the air.
Trish laughed at his haphazard appearance. "Are we managing to stay away from the superhero?"
"Barely." Caitlin answered for Hayate, who was presently peering around corners for any sign of said person sneaking up on him. "Apparently he's slept a grand total of ten hours in the past four days and Amy is about ready to smack him for keeping all the lights on in the hotel room and he won't let anybody else in and goes down to pick up the room service himself because he's afraid the Hurricane will try to sneak in that way."
"Do you think I should go have a talk with Shane then?" Trish asked her sister quietly. "I mean, just to see if that really is the case and all."
Caitlin shrugged again. "It's up to you. But if you want to, I'm not about to stand in your way."
*~*~*~*
Amy stalked through the backstage halls, peering into random rooms and down hallways as her search for the Hurricane kept on. She was about to give up when she caught sight of a flash of green tinted hair sprinting down one of the corridors. She took a deep breath and began running after him. "Shane! Hold up!" She called out.
"No time Amy!" He yelled back. "My Hurri-senses are tingling and that means someone is in trouble!"
With a surge of energy, she sped up and dove at him, grabbing his legs and sending him sprawling on the ground.
"Shit!" He exclaimed, holding his hand up to his nose. "Shit why'd you do that? I think you broke my nose or something!"
"What is your fascination with my brother?" She demanded, pulling him up and jabbing her finger in his chest. "You've turned my brother into this paranoid maniac who won't sleep or go anywhere by himself because of you now what did you do to him?" She asked, emphatically poking him in the chest after every word.
The Hurricane pulled away from her grasp and brushed some dirt off of his shirt slowly before looking back up at her. "I've done nothing." He answered simply, turning to run away again.
Amy was prepared this time and grabbed him by the shoulder before he could escape. "I don't believe you."
"That's not my problem." He replied. "I merely asked your brother Hayate if he'd consider being my sidekick. You know, to help me fight crime and stuff. I didn't think that would mentally harm him or anything."
"You scarred him for life!" Amy exclaimed.
"My dear Amy, I have asked plenty of people to be my sidekick and they have not been scarred for life. In fact, he seems to be the only one."
"Why do you think nobody talks to you unless they're forced to?"
"They're intimidated."
She started laughing. "News flash Shane, that's not the case and it never will be. Now would you please just leave him alone and stop stalking him or whatever the hell it is that you're doing. I would greatly appreciate it."
"Sure thing." He answered, giving her a quick salute before rushing back off to stop the evil of backstage life in the WWE.
"That was too easy." Amy noted out loud as she watched him disappear.
"It won't be the end of that." Trish said, seemingly materializing out of nowhere next to her friend. "Last time I made him promise to leave me alone, he still stalked me a month and a half later."
"A month and a half?" Amy repeated dumbly. "Hayate is going to be admitted into an insane asylum before that."
Trish shrugged. "Well, we're just going to have to keep an eye out for him then won't we?"
"I guess so." She replied, looking down at her watch. "Well I have some training to get done but I'll keep my cell phone on incase anything happens, kay?"
"Yeah, I'll make sure to keep you informed Ames." Trish said, waving her away. "Now go and condition for your return back into the federation." She watched her friend disappear and pulled her jacket tighter around her as she began walking back towards her room.
"Trish!" A voice called out from behind her.
She brushed some hair over her shoulder and spun around to see Matt Hardy rushing towards her, his breath coming out in small gasps. He came to a stop in front of her and managed to catch his breath before continuing on.
"How's your sister doing after that pleasant fight last week?" He asked looking concerned.
"What are you talking about Matt?" She asked, drawing her eyebrows close together in a sign of confusion. "Caitlin didn't get into any kind of fight."
"Then she must have some twin and that was the person I saved when she got kicked in the head by Dawn Marie." Matt replied sarcastically.
Trish's eyes got wide when he revealed that last bit of information. "Dawn kicked my sister in the head?" She asked incredulously. "How dare that stupid bitch had the audacity to put—"
"So I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Caitlin interrupted, walking up from behind her sister. "Honestly though, I'm fine." She looked over at Matt and smiled. "He rescued me and made sure I didn't get hurt even worse."
"Wait." Trish stopped her as she let these facts sink in. "I'm still trying to figure out what was going on in the first place to lead to this." She looked at Caitlin expectantly and rolled her eyes when she saw Matt had already put his arm over her shoulders and was whispering something in her ear, causing her to laugh. "Caitlin!"
The blonde girl jumped and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry sis. Well Torrie and Dawn started to fight—"
"Big surprise." Trish muttered.
"And I accidentally got in the way and got kicked in the head by Dawn."
"And Dawn was really nice about it, she apologized and looked after her while I went to go get some ice. Matt added helpfully, pulling Caitlin closer to him.
Trish studied the two of them critically and ultimately decided that it was best for her stomach that she just let them go off on their own before the full blown PDA would get a chance to start. "Alright well Caitlin, you know where my room is and if you need anything just call my cell." She turned to look at Matt and gave him a simple warning look; the one recognizable by all siblings young and old that simply warned them to 'take care of her or I will castrate you'. Matt nodded shortly and smiled as Caitlin practically dragged him down towards some of the restaurants.
"You better watch yourself Hardy." Trish muttered as she watched them disappear around the corner.
*~*~*~*
"Dude, my hair looks so hot, doesn't it?"
Chris Jericho looked up from the magazine he was flipping through and at Christian, who was running his hands through his new, shorter hairdo and nodded. "It does look so hot, you're right."
"But would you expect anything less from the People's Champion?" Christian asked hypothetically, an arrogant smirk across his face. "Of course not." He answered himself.
"I have been listening to you two for the past ten minutes and you're like dumb and dumber in here." Jesse Irvine announced, standing in the doorway to the room looking amused.
"No this is nothing compared to some of the other stuff that's been going on backstage lately." Christian corrected her with a grin. "It's gotten a lot worse then us."
She smirked. "So the impossible has finally happened then?"
"Yeah you're so funny sis." Jericho said dryly from behind the magazine
Jesse let out a frustrated sigh and shared a look with Christian when they both realized Chris was comfortable where he was and wasn't intending on moving for a while, leaving her to do the unthinkable. "Um Chris." She started, clearing her throat.
He raised his eyebrows to acknowledge her and kept on reading.
"I think somebody said something about Rico wanting to find you about an angle McMahon was talking about with some of the creative team."
"You're so clever today Jesse, what gives?" He asked, not looking up. When he was met by silence, he peered over the top of the page and saw the sympathetic look both his sister and best friend were giving him. "You're joking right? Tell me I'm not doing an angle with Rico!"
Jesse shrugged. "This isn't really something even I'd joke about." She answered. "But maybe if you get to McMahon before Rico does you can stop this whole thing from happening." She suggested, trying to hide her delighted grin when the half panicked, half desperate look flashed across Chris' usually cool, calm, and collected features.
"I'll see you guys later." He spoke quickly, throwing down the magazine and nearly vaulting over Christian who was beginning to stretch out against the wall. The door swung shut behind Y2J and Christian turned to Jesse, who looked all too pleased with herself. "That was kinda cruel ya know?"
"The guy wasn't getting out of the room." She replied. "And I figured, what better way to get him moving then the idea of an angle with none other then Rico." She finished with a flourish. "Because that'd be enough to scare even the toughest superstar."
Christian allowed that to sink in, and then turned his attention to the brunette. "So are you gonna fill me in as to why you were so adamant about getting Jericho out of the locker room? Because if you don't have a good reason, I think I may have a few."
Jesse looked up in surprise. "Oh really, and what—" She was cut off when Christian strode the few steps between them and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her closer to him as their lips touched.
*~*~*~*
"Has anyone seen Vince around here anywhere?" Jericho called out shrilly into the crowded cafeteria. His question was met with the usual response of silence and a few scattered 'no's before he let out an agitated sigh and stalked further down the hall to the weight room. He pushed open the door and spotted Test, who looked like he was taking all his frustrations out on a punching bag and Stacy Keibler who was standing close by with a bored expression on her face.
"Hey, have either of you two seen Vince today?"
Test shook his head and continued to punch at the bag and Stacy looked up from filing her nails.
"I was told he wasn't coming in at all today." She told him. "Why, what'd you need to talk to him about?"
"Just some stuff." Jericho responded. "My sister told me that he was thinking about putting me into an angle with Rico."
Stacy burst out laughing. "Chris, that is the most absurd thing I've ever heard. I'm in that office all the time and not once have I heard him thinking about doing anything like that."
"But my sister said…" He trailed off and shot off the bench when realization set in. "Shit! Thanks Stacy!" He called and then sprinted out of the room. He maneuvered through the corridors easily enough and skidded to a stop in front of the room door and braced himself for what he might see when he pushed it open.
Taking a deep breath, he put his hand on the doorknob and turned it and pushed it open quickly, hoping against hope he wouldn't catch them in the middle of something and then laugh about how ridiculous the idea had been in the first place.
He wasn't so lucky.
"Get the hell off of my sister!" He yelled angrily, his hands reacting quickly enough as they flew up to cover his eyes to prevent any lasting damage. "I don't know what you were doing, and I most certainly don't care what you were doing but Christian, man you don't go doing that with my baby sister!"
Christian muttered something to Jesse that Chris couldn't pick up and then felt him brush by him and out the door. The only thing he could hear in the otherwise silent room was the tapping of a foot against the floor and he lowered his hands and opened his eyes slowly, catching sight of a very pissed off looking Jesse.
"What the hell was that all about?" She demanded sharply, startling Chris. "I am 24 fucking years old, you do not, by any means, go around telling me what I can and cannot do and with whom."
"But I was just trying to protect you." He replied meekly.
"From what?" She snapped, waving her arms around emphatically. "From a guy who really cares about me and who you know is a great guy? Or how about from a guy you know you can trust? Which is it Chris because I'm waiting?"
And for once in his entire life, Chris Jericho, Y2J, Mr. Highlight of the Night, was standing there speechless and felt like a complete idiot.
I'll just let you go on to chapter 8 with no begging or pleading or anything along those lines! Enjoy the rest!