TITLE: My Enemy's Enemy

AUTHOR: Bellerophon

EMAIL: bellerophon_666@hotmail.com

CATEGORY: WWF

DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters, nor do I claim to.

DISTRIBUTION: Anyone can have this story as long as they ask first.

RATING: PG

SUMMARY: What could've happened during the whole Alliance debacle.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:This doesn't follow any particular time line, I've kinda taken artistic license and made a whole lot of stuff up. But hey, it's fiction so I'm allowed. It should become clear what's going on as the story progress's. Team Xtreme are still together, E&C have broken up, Jericho hasn't been the Undisputed Champion and the whole alliance thing is still going on. Make sense? Don't worry, I'm sure it will sooner or later. Thanks to everyone who offered to beta for me when I asked and also to those of you who have helped me with finding out a whole lot of stuff I didn't know. Also, apologies to Karen because I keep forgetting rules. I'll try not to break any this time.

CHAPTER 2

Jeff and Chris tried to restrain their laughter as they leaned over Matt, who was laying back in his chair snoring. Jeff reached out his arm again and poured some more liquid out of the bottle into Matt's hair and both he and Chris snorted as the smell rose from his hair. Jeff was about to hand the bottle to Chris when someone came running in.

"Sorry I'm late, guys. I know, excessive shower time." Lita paused as she looked over their frozen poses. "What the hell are you two doing to Matt this time?" At that point, Matt woke up sniffing the air. "What's that smell?" He looked up at Jeff and Chris and frowned at their contrived innocent faces. "Smells like Lita's old perfume. Is she using that gross pongy crap again?"

Jeff and Chris sniggered. Matt stood up and saw Lita, pulling a double take when he saw her very unimpressed face. "Uh, Lita, hey. I didn't know you were here."

Lita glared back at him. "Obviously." Jeff and Chris looked at each other and nodded towards the door. They were about to make their escape when they both felt hands on their backs. "What the hell is this shit in my hair?"

They turned and looked back. Behind was a stressed Matt followed by an angry Lita. Jeff patted Matt on the shoulder. "It's just some of Lita's lovely perfume. How did you describe it? Uh, gross pongy crap?" Matt glared at Jeff until he was disturbed by Lita jumping on his back and tackled him to the ground. Jeff immediately jumped on the fallen pair screaming, "Stacks on!" Chris watched, bemused, as the would-be fight turned into a tickle fight. He was about to leave when he felt a hand wrap around his ankle. "Not so fast, Jericho." Matt pulled him off his feet to the floor.

Chris would've continued the fight but at that point they were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in!" Lita yelled, though it came out smothered by Jeff's torso.

To all of their surprise, it was Edge coming through the door. He looked down at them and sneered. "What a shock, Lita on the floor with three guys."

Chris stood up, dusting himself off. "Smart move, Edge. Four on one and you bag Lita? Real clever."

Edge grinned his toothy grin and shrugged. "Just couldn't resist. And it's sooo too easy." He adjusted his shirt and continued, "I do have a reason for coming here, because like I'd ever want to be seen with you lot without a good reason."

Jeff, Matt and Lita stood up and glared at him. "Just tell us what you want and get lost," Matt ordered.

"Meeting with the Man. He says it's real important and to get to his office like our jobs are on the line." Edge was about to say more when he sniffed the air next to Matt's head before recoiling in disgust. "Dude, take a shower first, your hair is totally rank!" With one last grossed out cough, Edge left, leaving the door open behind him.

Jeff and Chris burst out laughing, Matt lifted a string of hair away from his nose and Lita yelled in frustration, "My perfume does not smell bad!" Matt gave Chris and Jeff a dirty look before heading to their adjoined bathroom. Chris shrugged, "I guess once Matt rinses his hair, we'll go see what Vince's problem is this time." He sighed as he thought of something. "Who wants to bet it's got something to do with Slutanie, the Princess Bitch?"

**********

Stephanie sat next to her father, trying to be discreet as she checked her watch. She hadn't expected the meeting to take this long to get started so by the time she managed to leave, it would probably be too late to call any of the guys. Sighing, she shook her head as she realised something she hadn't even considered before. Because she had run out of the hotel so fast, she had taken only the bare essentials with her. Thank God she took her Amex with her so she could go shopping and book a new hotel room some place away from Hunter. Probably not tonight but tomorrow she'd have brand new fabulous things. If anything cheered Stephanie up as much as kicking some one's ass, it was a shopping trip.

She was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of the door opening. Finally, they could start talking. Edge walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Where is everyone else? We've been waiting here for too long!" Vince yelled, becoming aggressive.

Edge shrugged, "I found the Hardys and Lita with Jericho and told them but the APA are gone already. The extreme doofs will probably be here soo…" Edge's words ran out as he first saw Stephanie sitting beside her father. A puzzled expression came to his face as he pointed to Stephanie. "Dude, did you notice she's here?"

Vince rolled his eyes at the blonde Canadian. "What do you think, Edge? Stephanie here is the reason for this meeting." He didn't continue, instead opting to wait for the other wrestlers to arrive before explaining.

Stephanie met Edge's stare. She was surprised to see careful consideration and wariness in his hazel eyes. It was a major contrast with his usual dopey, cheeky appearance. It looked like Stephanie was going to have to adjust her mental judging of Edge. But then she *was* a threat to him and his job. Any person who wasn't a complete moron would look at her the same way. Stephanie stared back until Edge looked away, and she broke off smirking. No one could take looking a McMahon in the eyes and beat them.

She was still smirking when the door opened again and her least favourite person in the building walked in, arms spread in the air.

"The Ayatollah is here! Now we can begin!"

*************

Chris had finally managed to herd the Hardys and Lita together, making Matt apologise to Lita and Jeff apologise to Matt. After Matt rinsed his hair, Chris had pushed each of them out the door. Sometimes he thought it'd be easier to count ants than try to organise Team Xtreme. Checking his watch, he figured they were at least fifteen minutes late. Vince was gonna steam when they came in.

They reached the door to his office and Chris pulled a face at the others, making them snort with laughter, before pushing the door open, pronouncing, "The Ayatollah is here! Now we can begin!" He entered flamboyantly, winking at Vince and pulling up a chair. He then noticed he had sat down directly across from the Root Of All Evil herself, Stephanie. She was sitting there smirking at him. Chris smirked back before speaking, "Stephanie, what a surprise seeing you here. But then Wednesday nights aren't usually too busy on your corner, are they?"

Stephanie rolled her eyes and yawned. "Can we get on with this now!?"

Vince glared at Chris and began talking. "Before I tell you what this is about, you all understand something. What we discuss in this room doesn't leave this room. Got that?" Everyone in the room nodded. "Good. The Alliance apparently poses a bigger threat than we originally thought. My daughter has come to me with information concerning insiders in the WWF. The Alliance is planning a take over of WWF. And Stephanie is going to be the one who saves all your jobs."

Stephanie smiled as she looked around and was confronted by four pairs of eyes staring disbelievingly at her. "She's….helping you. Helping us?" Lita questioned, her voice laden with suspicion.

Stephanie sneered at Lita, "I really try not to think of it that way because, well, the idea of helping you makes me feel slightly nauseous. I prefer to see it getting some revenge."

"Why are you doing this? You are the Alliance. You're an owner," Matt asked, glaring at her for her crack at Lita. "Why do you need revenge?"

"I am no longer an partial-owner. My shares have been bought and I've rejoined the WWF." Stephanie narrowed her eyes and leant over the table to glare in the dark Hardy's eyes. "Who I want revenge on and why is my business. Not yours or anyone else's, so keep your greasy little head out of it." She clenched her jaw and refrained from smirking when Matt sat back in his chair and held his hands up. Intimidation was fun.

However, Stephanie was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of Edge snorting and clapping. He began to grin his crazy grin and chortled with laughter. All the other occupants of the room stared at him in surprise.

Edge came out of his fit long enough to point at Stephanie and laugh some more. He saw the looks the others were giving him and the unimpressed 'hmmph' coming from Vince. "You guys are totally brain dead. Don't you get who it is? Hahahahahaha, Stephanie got done!"

Jericho tried to figure out what the blonde idiot was talking about. "What the hell is your little, little mind thinking?"

"Dude, it's gotta be Triple H. Why else would she be so pissed? What did he do, Steph? Buy ECW from you?" Edge broke off into laughter, not realising he had guessed the truth. But the others had noticed Stephanie's thunder filled face and grinned at each other. Jericho was grinning ear to ear. "Oh, jeez, Stephy, did the Game play you? Looks like you and hubby weren't meant to be after all." That of course made Jeff, Matt and Lita laugh harder. Edge had disbelief in his eyes. "No way. That dumbfuck got one over Stephanie McMahon? But then how supremely stupid do you have to be to have your company bought out from under you? Especially by that caveman" Stephanie was frozen, a horrible feeling race through her veins. Jericho reached over, patted her hands and she jerked away. "Not everyone has that kind of stupidity, Steph. You should be proud."

She turned to her father, asking silently for help but he just stared back. Then Stephanie understood. This was penance. Her punishment for trying to do something for herself, sitting there taking every thing they said and knowing it was true. Well, screw that. Denial was not just a river in Egypt.

She stood slowly, letting her fury sink in, fury at her father, at Jericho and his stupid friends, at Hunter and especially at herself. She was the person who got suckered in by Hunter. She was the one who had thought he lov….Stephanie slammed her hands on the table. Jericho had been in the middle of saying something with the theme of 'Stephanie's an idiot, lets all laugh', but he was shocked out of his joke by the crack of her hands hitting the table.

She glared at all of them. Her father, Jericho, the Hardys and Edge sat there in silence. Stephanie walked around the table, letting her nails scrape along the edge. She stood behind them and grabbed the nearest thing she could to vent. Jericho's hair. "You think you're so clever. Make your jokes, have fun." She ran one nail down Jericho's face. "Keep it up and I'll leave. You can sit here in the dark, not knowing who is your friend and who is your enemy. I'll walk away with every thing I know and you'll all be screwed. No jobs, no money. And do you think the Alliance would give you a job? Fat fucking chance. Understand this. You piss me off and I walk. You treat me like fucking gold because that's what I am to you now!" She bent over and whispered in Jericho's ear. "I'm out for blood. Get in my way and you'll wish I was the Alliance. I am your God now and don't you forget that."

She stood back up and left the room, slamming the door behind her.

Those left in the room looked at each other with raised eyebrows. "Wow, she really had the crazy eyes going," Jeff commented quietly. Chris reached back and rubbed gingerly at the sore spot on the back of his head where she had almost pulled his hair out. Matt and Lita were both rubbing their ears in response to the level Stephanie's voice had reached. Matt eyed Chris and said, "Man, we're lucky the glass in the windows didn't shatter." Vince just rolled his eyes and indicated at them, "One of you go after her."

"Dude, are you crazy? If one of us goes, she'll rip our balls off!" Edge burst out. "No way am I going!"

"Well, someone has to go. I won't allow her to wander the halls unprotected. She's our meal ticket and whether you want to say it or not, we need her. One of you get going!" The four wrestlers eyed each other, none willing to speak up. Finally, Vince growled something under his breath and pointed at Jericho. "You. Go. Now!"

Chris stood, slowly and unwillingly. He figured Vince's intense dislike for him had fuelled that decision more than anything else. "So what do I do?" He asked for options.

"You find her, you take her back to your hotel room, you give her the bed, leaving the floor for you." Vince smirked, "Tomorrow I'll find her somewhere safe to stay but right now it's too late."

Chris gave the Hardys one last helpless look, gave the finger to a grinning Edge and walked out.

******************

Stephanie almost ran away from her father's office. She saw an empty room and slipped in closing the door quietly behind her. She twisted the lock and pressed her head against the dor before turning and sitting down against it. She breathed in deeply a few times and blinked to stop her watering eyes from letting tears run. Once she was sure she wouldn't cry, she pulled out a mobile phone from her pocket and called a number she knew too well. It rang twice before he picked up.

"What!?"

Stephanie winced. "Bad time?"

Test huffed before answering, "Christian and Rob are rooming with me, because one of them-and they won't tell me who-but one of them 'accidentally' set fire to the carpet! And so they were both ejected from the hotel and I had to sneak them back in! It was lucky for them I was just coming back to the hotel." He sighed and Stephanie could imagine him rubbing a hand down his face. "As if that wasn't bad enough, they've gotten hold of some old wrestling videos and some Tequila and are currently trying copy every single move."

Stephanie couldn't hold back a laugh at that. The image of Rob and Christian pretending to be old wrestlers while drunk was just too much. "Who are they right now?"

"Eh, Christian is being Doink The Clown and Rob's being the old Undertaker, pre-motorbike, including little impressions of Paul Bearer. I really wish I had a video camera." Test finally laughed and continued, "So what's up?"

"We finally had our meeting. I wish I could have one of you guys here now." Stephanie refrained from telling him about what really happened.

"Well, shouldn't be too long now. Hunter is going to start giving names soon. Then we can get the fuck outta there and to you." There was a pause and Stephanie heard a smash and raucous laughter in the background. "Shit! Sorry, Steph, gotta go. There's been a little accident." Beep.

Stephanie shook her head and put the phone back in her pocket. Having called the guys, she stood up feeling much better. That horrible ache that spread through her body was dissipating after talking to Test. After the whole fiasco with their would-be wedding, destroyed by Triple H, Test had hated her, watching as she turned to Hunter, loved Hunter instead of him. But they had come past that, they had reconnected and found that spark of friendship that had been what had joined them in the first place. Only one thing was different this time. Where before she had been in love with him for the fantastic boyfriend he had been, now she loved him for the loyal friend he was now. Sighing, she unlocked and opened the door.

"Well, Princess, fancy meeting you here."

Stephanie didn't have to even turn and face the owner of that voice. Rolling her eyes, she spat at Jericho without looking, "One more comment and your testicles are gonna sprout through your nose."

Chris winced at the graphic image that had placed itself in his head. "Er, okay." Shaking his head, he decided insults and laughter were not the way to get Stephanie back to his hotel room. Time for something a bit different. He was going to have to be straight with her. "Look, Stephanie. I didn't come after you to rub it in…..not that I wouldn't enjoy that, but…"

Stephanie snorted and finally faced him. "Get to the point, loser."

Ignoring the little dig, Chris battled on. "Vince wants you to stay in my room tonight until he can find somewhere safe for you tomorrow. So gather your things and let's go. I do have things to do, you know."

Stephanie smirked, "Oh I'm sure. Places to be, people to do. And people say I'm the slut."

Chris gritted his teeth. Must not say derogatory comment, do not, repeat, do not call her anything at all. Just get her back to the room so you can leave. Chris smiled forcedly at Stephanie. "Where's your stuff?"

"I didn't bring any. I was kinda in a rush when I ran I left my hotel. But it's not like I'm actually going with you." Stephanie laughed. "Are you crazy? Like I want to be seen with you!?"

That did it. "You are coming with me, Princess, whether you want to or not!" Chris grabbed Stephanie around the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder, trying to ignore the shrieking. "Put me down! You lunatic! You crazy bastard!!! Get your hands off meeeeeeeee!"

The Hardys, Edge and Vince had been discussing minor details about upcoming matches when they heard some sort of screeching noise. They looked out the window just in time to see Jericho run past with a screaming Stephanie over his shoulder. Vince raised an eyebrow. Edge laughed and the Hardys eyed each other. Matt gave a half-hearted smiled, "Do you reckon he'll still come out with us tonight?"

Jeff shook his head, "I'll be surprised if he *survives* the night."

*****************

Chris took a quick glance at Stephanie as she sat on the lounge in his hotel room. Apart from the initial screaming, she hadn't spoken to him. Not one word. He had even attempted civil conversation in the car and her response was to turn the radio on and stare out the window. Chris shook his head as he pulled his shirt on. Enough of Stephanie McMahon. It was time to go out and party Hardy. "I'm going now, Princess. Now I've kindly decided to give you the bed so feel free to be asleep when I get back. You can borrow these track pants and this singlet to sleep in." He placed the gathered clothes on a mantle and walked to the door. He turned and looked back at the young McMahon. Surprising as it seemed, Stephanie actually looked kind of forlorn and vulnerable sitting there by herself. Chris sighed and spoke again, "You know, Steph. If you can manage to restrain yourself from jumping every guy in the room, well, I guess you could come out with us." Talk about good deeds, Chris felt like a saint.

He waited expectantly for gratitude from the princess. She stood up and walked over to him, smiling beguilingly. Chris nodded as he grinned and indicated to the door. Stephanie walked right into his face, said "You're too kind" and gave him the finger. Chris pulled a face drop as she stalked into the bedroom and slammed the door. He rolled his eyes. What was he thinking? Her? Vulnerable? Stephanie McMahon was about as vulnerable as a King Cobra. Chris shook his head and left the room, slamming his door as well.

Stephanie listened to the door slam from the bedroom. Thank God the idiot was gone. She left the bedroom, gathered the clothes he left for her and got changed quickly. Looking around the room, she tried to find something to occupy her time. In-house movies sucked and it wasn't like she could call Stacey Kiebler and ask her to come around. Stephanie flopped back onto the lounge and frowned at the thought of Jericho. The nerve of that guy! Insinuating that she would….ooooh! Stephanie threw a nearby cushion to the ground. It hadn't helped at all that he had walked around shirt-less for a good fifteen minutes before putting a shirt on. It was almost impossible to ignore someone with a body that good….

Stephanie swore under her breath and decided she needed something to get her mind off the loser. She eyed the room again, this time her eyes lighting up as she spotted the mini-bar. Smirking, she walked over and opened, smiling even wider as she saw all the little bottles clinking together. Well, as any self-respecting drunk would say, the best time to get drunk is when you really should be sober. Stephanie picked up a nearby pot pouri basket, dumping the crispy petals on the floor, before sweeping all the bottles into the basket. She sat down and twisted open the lid of the first bottle.

***************

I'm very sorry this chapter doesn't match the spoiler I gave. This story has already gotten a lot more complicated than I originally intended. That spoiler is now due in about 3 chapters. Sorry guys. But here is next week's spoiler and I guarantee it's correct.

SPOILER: The shit hits the fan when a certain someone finds another certain someone completely off their face. We also have a surprise visitor. I'll try to include a shopping trip, where two people see different sides of different people. More Vagueness, but then it leaves me room to make stuff up as I go. Another plus, it probably really annoys people.