"We're willing to talk if you are!" Lita yelled at the assembled men on the other side of the barricade. "Please, just hear us out!"
"Take aim!" Austin yelled.
"Please! Would you shoot an unarmed woman?"
Austin grit his teeth.
"Look, no weapons. At all. I promise you, I'm not going to do anything rash! Just listen to what we have to say to you!"
"Hurry up and talk!"
Hunter heard the voices fading into the background as he ran, following Tori's instructions on how to get to the McMahon house without encountering the guard. He rushed through the streets, hoping that nothing would go wrong while he was gone. Of course she would have to be crazy enough to try and distract them while he ran for home.
"Just...don't let her get shot while I'm gone," he pleaded with the sky and whoever was up there. "Even if she doesn't care for me...I care for her. I think I might even love her. If you need to kill me, kill me. But don't kill her. Let her live."
Hunter rounded the corner to see a seething Vince. "And you!" Vince yelled at him. "Running off to fight some stupid battle you can't win. Abandoning your wife to a former criminal..."
"Vince," Hunter interrupted, "if you don't move out of my way, you're going ot regret it."
"I never regret anything, I'm Vince McMahon dammit! I'm..."
Vince was silenced when Hunter's fist met his face.
Hunter ran into the house. "Is it over?" Stephanie asked, rushing down the stairs.
"We'd best hope not. They've run out of ammunition. I need to grab whatever you have here."
"It might take awhile to find," Stephanie informed him.
"I don't have awhile," he rushed up the stair and towards Vince's rooms. "A life is danger because of me."
"It's hers isn't it?" Stephanie yelled back up at him. "It's Lita's?"
Silence.
"She loves you Hunter! Whether she'll admit it or not, she loves you!"
More silence.
"Hunter?" She rushed back up the steps to find Hunter fuming.
"Stephanie, what you just said, I want you to take it back. I want you to tell me that she thinks of me as nothing more as someone who helped save her."
"Why?"
"Because, it'll hurt worse when she dies if I know she loved me. This way, in a few years, I can keep pretending that she didn't...that she never looked at me like that."
"So you see, this wouldn't have had to happen if you hadn't arrested my friends falsely! They weren't harboring the criminal, she was harboring herself."
"Did that make any sense to anyone?" Tori asked the rest of them.
She was met with shakes of the head.
"Just making sure."
Lita kept yelling. "I mean, this can all really be traced back to a misunderstanding..."
"If you aren't off of there by the count of 10, we will open fire! 10!"
"I'm not moving!"
"9!"
"Forget it!"
"8!"
Hunter heard the counting and broke out into a run.
"4!"
"VIVA LA RESISTANCE!" Lita screamed back at them.
Hunter reached the barricades and snuck in the same way he'd left.
"This is everything I could find," he gasped, dropping it.
"3! 2!"
"LITA!" Hunter screamed up at her.
"Hunter?" she yelled back down, turning her head to face him.
"1! FIRE!"
The revolutionaries all heard the shots ring out.
And they all watched Lita's face crumble.
Grabbing the provisions Hunter had brought with him, they returned the fire, while Hunter ran to the top of the barricade to grab Lita, who had fallen to her knees.
When he'd gotten her to the ground, Chris was hovering over her. He took one look at her chest and grimaced. Blood was soaking into the now ripped silk dress she was wearing, turning it a macabre purple.
The others stopped firing and gathered around the doctor.
"All right, we've got to stop the bleeding," Jericho told her. "This is nothing to fret over.
"Jericho, I took a bullet to the chest. I think it's something to fret over. I knew going into this I knew I would die. There was never any doubt. If I had wanted to live I would have stayed with you."
"They would have arrested you," Hunter protested.
"You would have stopped them, just like you stopped Vince before," Lita swallowed a bit. "Listen, Hunter, Jericho, I want you to leave."
"But,"
"Look, you," she turned her head to Hunter, "have to be a husband. And you," this was at Jericho, "have to be a father. You can't do that if you're dead. This isn't your fight, no matter how bad you want it to be. You didn't come here to die. They," she indicated the others, "did."
Tori felt Raven's hands on her shoulders. She was barely aware she'd begun to cry.
Hunter held Lita close. "Lita...is there anything..."
"Yes, there's something you can do. You can hold me. I don't think I'll be frightened if you're holding me."
Hunter's eyes teared up. "I promise...I'll hold you."
"Forever?" she asked.
He nodded.
"A little of fall of rain can hardly hurt me now," she whispered.
Her eyes lost their focus. Her body slumped against Hunter's.
Reaching over, Chris closed her eyes.
Matt and Jeff turned their heads away as they looked at their childhood friend's body, `Just her body now' Jeff thought.
Hunter let only two tears fall from his eyes. Then, he watched as Lita's friends lifted her body from him.
"Come on Hunter..." Jericho said, quietly. "We've got to go."
Hunter let his friend lead him away, disconnected with anything going on around him.
As soon as Hunter and Jericho were gone, the others looked at each other. "What...what do we do now?" Gregory asked.
Jeff reloaded his rifle. "We die, looking them right in the eyes."
By the time the sun came up the next morning, everyone beyond the barricade was dead, left hanging on the now blood debris.
Often the word hero is synonymous with dead man.
Two years later, many people had forgotten the youths on the barricade. Forgot their names, their faces, and their mere existence. However, Hunter Hearnst Helmsley, his wife Stephanie, and her lover Christopher Jericho could never forget those who lost their lives. Those who braved death for a cause that was laughed at. They were never children; they had lost their innocence too early.
"Innocence always deserves a second chance," Hunter commented as he watched his wife with her child.
Jericho's daughter.
Lita Victoria Helmsley.
"Take aim!" Austin yelled.
"Please! Would you shoot an unarmed woman?"
Austin grit his teeth.
"Look, no weapons. At all. I promise you, I'm not going to do anything rash! Just listen to what we have to say to you!"
"Hurry up and talk!"
Hunter heard the voices fading into the background as he ran, following Tori's instructions on how to get to the McMahon house without encountering the guard. He rushed through the streets, hoping that nothing would go wrong while he was gone. Of course she would have to be crazy enough to try and distract them while he ran for home.
"Just...don't let her get shot while I'm gone," he pleaded with the sky and whoever was up there. "Even if she doesn't care for me...I care for her. I think I might even love her. If you need to kill me, kill me. But don't kill her. Let her live."
Hunter rounded the corner to see a seething Vince. "And you!" Vince yelled at him. "Running off to fight some stupid battle you can't win. Abandoning your wife to a former criminal..."
"Vince," Hunter interrupted, "if you don't move out of my way, you're going ot regret it."
"I never regret anything, I'm Vince McMahon dammit! I'm..."
Vince was silenced when Hunter's fist met his face.
Hunter ran into the house. "Is it over?" Stephanie asked, rushing down the stairs.
"We'd best hope not. They've run out of ammunition. I need to grab whatever you have here."
"It might take awhile to find," Stephanie informed him.
"I don't have awhile," he rushed up the stair and towards Vince's rooms. "A life is danger because of me."
"It's hers isn't it?" Stephanie yelled back up at him. "It's Lita's?"
Silence.
"She loves you Hunter! Whether she'll admit it or not, she loves you!"
More silence.
"Hunter?" She rushed back up the steps to find Hunter fuming.
"Stephanie, what you just said, I want you to take it back. I want you to tell me that she thinks of me as nothing more as someone who helped save her."
"Why?"
"Because, it'll hurt worse when she dies if I know she loved me. This way, in a few years, I can keep pretending that she didn't...that she never looked at me like that."
"So you see, this wouldn't have had to happen if you hadn't arrested my friends falsely! They weren't harboring the criminal, she was harboring herself."
"Did that make any sense to anyone?" Tori asked the rest of them.
She was met with shakes of the head.
"Just making sure."
Lita kept yelling. "I mean, this can all really be traced back to a misunderstanding..."
"If you aren't off of there by the count of 10, we will open fire! 10!"
"I'm not moving!"
"9!"
"Forget it!"
"8!"
Hunter heard the counting and broke out into a run.
"4!"
"VIVA LA RESISTANCE!" Lita screamed back at them.
Hunter reached the barricades and snuck in the same way he'd left.
"This is everything I could find," he gasped, dropping it.
"3! 2!"
"LITA!" Hunter screamed up at her.
"Hunter?" she yelled back down, turning her head to face him.
"1! FIRE!"
The revolutionaries all heard the shots ring out.
And they all watched Lita's face crumble.
Grabbing the provisions Hunter had brought with him, they returned the fire, while Hunter ran to the top of the barricade to grab Lita, who had fallen to her knees.
When he'd gotten her to the ground, Chris was hovering over her. He took one look at her chest and grimaced. Blood was soaking into the now ripped silk dress she was wearing, turning it a macabre purple.
The others stopped firing and gathered around the doctor.
"All right, we've got to stop the bleeding," Jericho told her. "This is nothing to fret over.
"Jericho, I took a bullet to the chest. I think it's something to fret over. I knew going into this I knew I would die. There was never any doubt. If I had wanted to live I would have stayed with you."
"They would have arrested you," Hunter protested.
"You would have stopped them, just like you stopped Vince before," Lita swallowed a bit. "Listen, Hunter, Jericho, I want you to leave."
"But,"
"Look, you," she turned her head to Hunter, "have to be a husband. And you," this was at Jericho, "have to be a father. You can't do that if you're dead. This isn't your fight, no matter how bad you want it to be. You didn't come here to die. They," she indicated the others, "did."
Tori felt Raven's hands on her shoulders. She was barely aware she'd begun to cry.
Hunter held Lita close. "Lita...is there anything..."
"Yes, there's something you can do. You can hold me. I don't think I'll be frightened if you're holding me."
Hunter's eyes teared up. "I promise...I'll hold you."
"Forever?" she asked.
He nodded.
"A little of fall of rain can hardly hurt me now," she whispered.
Her eyes lost their focus. Her body slumped against Hunter's.
Reaching over, Chris closed her eyes.
Matt and Jeff turned their heads away as they looked at their childhood friend's body, `Just her body now' Jeff thought.
Hunter let only two tears fall from his eyes. Then, he watched as Lita's friends lifted her body from him.
"Come on Hunter..." Jericho said, quietly. "We've got to go."
Hunter let his friend lead him away, disconnected with anything going on around him.
As soon as Hunter and Jericho were gone, the others looked at each other. "What...what do we do now?" Gregory asked.
Jeff reloaded his rifle. "We die, looking them right in the eyes."
By the time the sun came up the next morning, everyone beyond the barricade was dead, left hanging on the now blood debris.
Often the word hero is synonymous with dead man.
Two years later, many people had forgotten the youths on the barricade. Forgot their names, their faces, and their mere existence. However, Hunter Hearnst Helmsley, his wife Stephanie, and her lover Christopher Jericho could never forget those who lost their lives. Those who braved death for a cause that was laughed at. They were never children; they had lost their innocence too early.
"Innocence always deserves a second chance," Hunter commented as he watched his wife with her child.
Jericho's daughter.
Lita Victoria Helmsley.