Chris woke up, half expecting her to be curled up against him, sleeping soundly. He was more or less disappointed when he turned over and felt the emptiness beside him. He knew he was going to suffer if he slept. She haunted his dreams, and now the realization of what happening was finally sinking in when he woke up and still found his personal hell still there. This was not a dream like he kept hoping it was.
He suddenly became acutely aware that there was pounding on his door. He sighed wearily, pulling himself out of bed. He glanced towards the clock; he had been asleep for 3 hours. He had been awake for almost two days before that 3 hours. That can't be healthy. I thought I might be able to get a little more sleep then that—who the hell is knocking on my door? He stretched, sleepily opening the door.
"It's been awhile, man." Chris couldn't help but smile. This was exactly what he needed.
"Chris!" he exclaimed, surprised, even though he knew Lita had told him his best friend was flying in.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were actually happy to see me." Benoit chuckled.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He laughed. "Come on in."
"All right." He nodded, stepping inside. Chris closed the door behind him. "Say, since I flew all the way here for you, you're going to pay me back by letting me use your room."
"It's not like I need any extra beds anymore." Chris sighed, his mood quickly dampening. Benoit patted his back.
"Don't worry about it, man. You've got me now. I'm smart." He grinned, trying to cheer his friend up.
"Vince called a meeting for tonight." Chris shrugged lightly. "We're gonna plan out the strategy."
"You actually got McMahon to agree to help you?" Benoit raised a brow.
"Yeah." He nodded. Benoit smiled, even though the mood was obviously depressing.
"You've really changed since the last time I saw you." He pointed out. "I hate to say it, Chris, but you were a self-involved prick before. But now it's a little better."
"You really need to learn how to cheer people up." Chris replied tersely.
"I'm kidding." Benoit laughed quietly. "Seriously, though. You're pretty different now. I've been watching you dominate with that belt of yours. Still, there was something else that always made you have that smile on your face—even before you and her eloped."
"I'm so worried about her." He sighed.
"I wouldn't be. I'm sure she'll be fine." He tried to sound upbeat. "I'm sure it'll turn out all right."
"I'm hungry." Chris suddenly said, trying not to think about it anymore.
"Well, I'll watch your room and you can go to the vending machines—" he offered. Chris shrugged.
"I guess so." He responded with a nod. "I'll be back, all right?"
"I'll unpack." Benoit responded. Chris pulled on his shoes, not bothering to change out of his sweatpants and sweatshirt. He didn't care. He walked out into the hallway, then down it. Lita's advice to him was in his head—he had to eat something; Stephanie would want him too. Still, he didn't know if he could get it down without feeling sick to his stomach. How could he eat at a time like this? When he got to the vending machine, he found it was filled with junk—most of the stuff he hated.
He got a granola bar, which was probably the only thing that he could swallow. It was small, but it would fill him up. Just as he bent down to retrieve it, he suddenly had a feeling someone was watching him. He stood up, not moving, trying to use his other senses that he always relied on more then his eyes. He suddenly turned around and found his eyes meeting none other then Rob Van Dam himself.
He felt every muscle tense, and the silence between them was prolonged. RVD looked at Jericho coolly, his indignant smirk on his face. Chris had no clue what this guy wanted, but decided to let him talk before Chris based the judgment of if he wanted to kick the guy's ass or not. Finally Rob spoke, now looking at Chris semi-cautiously, like he was trying to decide the best way to put what he was saying.
"Before you kill me, hear me out." He put his hands up, trying to show that he meant no harm.
"You have 5 seconds before I rip your throat out." He spat. Rob gulped, looking even more nervous. Even he knew Jericho was a little out of it because of what happened.
"I'm on your side, Chris. Really." He explained. "And you can't hurt me, because without me, you can have every plan in the world—but you'd never find Stephanie."
"You know where Stephanie is?" he asked, now tensing even more.
"You don't want to attack me." Rob pointed out. "You need me. I am the most important ally you could have. They trust me, Chris. I can get all the information you need."
"How can I trust you?" he asked, raising a brow, looking highly suspicious.
"You don't have a choice, now do you?" he pointed out. "But to make you feel better, I honestly and truly do want to help. I know it's hard to take my word but I never lie."
Chris continued to eye him cautiously. He knew he always thought Rob was on the wrong side, especially because his tendency to show compassion when things happened—including when Jeff got pretty hurt during one of their matches. Still, could he trust him now? Chris wasn't completely sure. He did seem to sincerely talking, but still—well, he DID have a reason to wonder.
I should at least hear him out. He's right; I really don't have a choice. "I'm listening." He responded lightly.
"Great." He looked around. "Wouldn't happen to have a bit more—secretive to talk, would you? If anyone saw me—"
Chris glanced around, then saw it. He grinned, taking Rob by the collar, dragging him into the men's bathroom. It was a single, so he was able to lock the door. "There you go. Now talk." Rob adjusted his shirt.
"Easy there. All right, Stephanie's been taken captive because Hunter wants it." He explained. Chris's eyes grew large.
"What do you mean Hunter?" he asked, feeling his heart skip a beat at the name.
"Hunter. HHH. The guy with the big sledgehammer. That guy." Rob frowned. "He went ballistic when he saw you and his girl making out on screen. 5 minutes after that one kiss, he called Shane and Shane set it all up."
"That bastard—" Chris mumbled under his breath. Chris nodded his head.
"Yeah, exactly. Listen, Hunter's been pretty rough with her. She refuses to listen to him, talk to him right—keeps saying she loves you. That isn't flying well with him. She's real beat up right now. I keep trying to tell her to just agree with him for the sake of her safety, but she refuses to lie. That and she doesn't trust me for a second."
"What has he been doing to her?" Chris asked. This is not good—it sounds like he's hurting her. Son of a bitch—
"Hitting her—especially with stuff. She has a lot of black and blues. I'm starting to wonder if he's getting really desperate now. He obviously doesn't want people to think you could steal someone from him like that. Definite form of weakness." Rob sighed. "They have her in this real high security place uptown. But they're moving her soon, to around the next area. It's a place called Al's Barn. She'll be there by tomorrow."
"Al's Barn?" he repeated. Rob nodded.
"Yep. It's gonna be heavily heavily guarded by a few chosen wrestlers, including Hunter himself. It's a death mission without help, so I suggest you find someone." He cautioned.
"And why do you care so much?" Chris asked, raising a brow.
"Well, obviously it's because I like her. She's a good person; I've always known that. A little out there, but still pretty good." Rob shrugged. "And nobody deserves to be treated like that anyway."
"So you're positive she's going to be there?"
"Positive." He nodded. "Oh yeah, and by the way, she told me something to make you believe me. She said that she never wants to get lost in Canada again."
Chris stopped short, his mouth slightly gapping. He hadn't told anyone about that. He's got to be telling the truth; she wouldn't just say that for any reason. He was about to say something but Rob had all ready left. Chris shook his head, knowing now that he had to believe him. He was right anyway; he didn't have anyone else to look to. Spying was too dangerous, and they needed to get her back as soon as possible.
Chris walked back to his room, his mind on the meeting. How would he explain this to everyone? He opened the door to see Benoit sitting, reading something. Chris came closer, blinking at the pink book.
"What's that?" he asked.
"Stephanie's diary." He nodded.
"Oh, that's nice, Stephanie's—WHAT?!" he snatched the book. "Where did you find this?!"
"It was under my pillow." He grinned. "Come on, it's not like she's going to catch us."
"I can't believe you said that. That's a comment I would make!" Chris groaned.
"I know. See? You're a bad influence on me." He chuckled. "Come on, you know you wanna read it—you can hear her voice through her writing."
"I don't know—" he trailed off.
"She says your hot every other sentence—" Benoit enticed.
"Really? Wait, no, this is private." He tossed it to the side.
"So what took you so long? The choice of junk food too great for you?" he asked.
"I bumped into Rob Van Dam." Chris explained.
"Oh really?" he asked, then looked at Chris oddly.
"What?" he inquired.
"I'm looking for the blood that splattered on you when you killed him. You cleaned up pretty well." He commented.
"Funny." He smirked. "Seriously, though—"
"Who wasn't being serious?" Benoit inquired.
"He told me where she's going to be tomorrow." He explained quietly.
"She meaning Stephanie, right?" he asked.
"Of course I'm talking about Stephanie." Chris rolled his eyes.
"But the last time I checked, he's the enemy." Benoit pointed out.
"Apparently not." Chris shook his head. "It seems that Mr. Three Letters does have a conscience, or at least pretends very well. Stephanie's being taken to some barn in the next town."
"Like an old McDonald barn?"
"How the hell is I suppose to know?" Chris huffed.
"Touchy." He smirked. "It's probably a trap, though. Don't let your guard down because of your emotions."
"No, I thought about that. And then he said something." Chris responded quickly. "He said something I never told anyone about, the only person who could have known was her."
"So you actually think someone like HIM could be trusted?" he asked, sounding surprised.
"I think so." Chris cocked his head. "He's a little like me, you know."
"A cocky, arrogant guy that uses three letter initials as a nickname?" Chris shot him a look. "Kidding."
"Either way, I think he actually may be on our side. And with that, that means getting her back is going to be just a little easier." He paused. "Because I know exactly where she's going to be tomorrow. Exactly."
