TITLE: My Enemy's Enemy (9/?)
AUTHOR: Bellerophon
EMAIL: bellerophon_666@hotmail.com
CATEGORY: WWF
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. I don't really own much so not worth the effort.
DISTRIBUTION: If you want it, just let me know. It can be found on fanfiction.net.
SUMMARY: What could've happened during the 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 progresses. 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.
CHAPTER NINE
The taxi ride back their hotel was quiet and uncomfortable. Stacy sat tensely next to Test, biting her lip and tapping her leg quickly. Her ankle was was throbbing and although she didn't want to admit it, Stacy was terrified. That chase through the Alliance hotel, having to watch Triple H beat up Test, the thought of Triple H and the rest of the Alliance after her, it was all a bit scary.
Test had his eyes closed, trying to ignore the red hot pain that had spread from his ribs to envelope his whole body. Triple H definitely knew what he was doing with a sledge hammer. He tried not to aggravate his injuries as he moved his hand to cover Stacy's. The lanky blonde looked like she was about to faint.
Chris and Stephanie were trying to avoid contact. Stephanie's thoughts were caught between worrying about Test and all the bruises, and between trying not to think about Chris kissing her. She could never understand why he did it. If it was to humiliate and enbarrass her, well, there were far less intimate ways to do it. And it obviously wasn't because he liked her because it was public knowledge that Chris Jericho hated Stephanie McMahon.
So why did he keep kissing her?
While Stephanie was musing, Chris was yelling inwardly at himself. He just couldn't understand why he kept kissing Stephanie, nor could he figure out why after each time he told himself it was the last time, he did it again. For God's sake, she was Stephanie McMahon. She was a bitch. She was a heinous hell-bitch. She was fucking evil. It had to stop. No more of this kissing the enemy business.
But one question kept bugging Chris. Was Stephanie McMahon still the enemy?
The hotel came into view and the cab pulled up in front it. Stephanie paid the driver and hustled out of the car. Chris stood out after her, helping Test with him. Stacy stood out the otherside, walking with a pronounced limp. They huddled in a group.
"We'll have to be careful going through the hotel." Stephanie stated. "If any possible defecters or if Hunter's insider sees any of us, then it's going straight back to him."
The taxi pulled away from the curb leaving them standing on the corner, Test leaning against a lamp post and Stacy trying hard not to put any weight on her left ankle.
"Well, you two aren't exactly in a position to make a quick dash to my room." Chris gestured to Stacy and Test. "Test, you'll lean on me for support and Stephanie, you look after Stacy. Walk quickly as possible and, uh, with as little moans of pain as you can manage. They tend to attract attention."
Test nodded humourlessly and gritted his teeth. He hoped Jericho's hotel room wasn't too far away.
***********
Jeff, Matt and Lita were talking amongst themselves, Edge was flipping through a magazine and Rob was watching television when Chris, Stephanie, Test and Stacy staggered through the front door of the hotel room. Shock silenced the room for a moment.
"Honey, I'm home," Chris groaned as he helped Test to the couch.
"Did you have any trouble?" Jeff eyed Test, and the bruises. "Or did you just get into a fight with a bus?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle." Test closed his eyes. "Or at least run away from."
"So what happened?" Edge raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing much." Chris gestured for Stacy to sit down. He walked into the bathroom and came out with a bandage. "I'll just tape this ankle for you."
Stacy nodded. "Thanks."
Chris wrapped her ankle quickly, alleviating some of the pain. "It looks like you just sprained it. Should be alright as long as you don't twist it again for a while and keep it bandaged for a while."
"Okay." Stacy tried not to let her nervousness show. She was in a room full of people who hated her. Nothing to be worried about at all.
"Well, we know that Test was working for you, McMahon, but why is she here?" Lita eyed Stacy in distate.
Stacy looked down and bit her lip. She had known Lita didn't like her. After all, she had done some pretty mean things to Lita. "I, uh, I came with them."
"Why?" Lita narrowed her eyes. "Why would you come to us?"
"Why don't you leave the questions to me, Lita?" Stephanie glared at the redhead, before taking Stacy's arm and leading her into Chris's bed room. "We'll talk in here." She closed the door on the living room.
Lita glared at the closed door. Silence filled the room.
"So..." Jeff tried to start a conversation. "You've been helping out Stephanie?"
"Pretty much." Test nodded.
"So you didn't really turn on the WWF?"
Test groaned as he shifted on the couch. His ribs had been taped but they were really killing him. Not to mention the black eye that was forming. "Well, I actually did."
Lita scowled and glared at him. "Why would you betray everyone like that?"
"Well, no offense or anything but the APA accusing me of being the mole and no one standing up for me was a bit of kick in the teeth." Test glared around the room. "Figured I wasn't wanted there so I left. And it's just as well for you bastards that I did. Otherwise you might never have known about Triple H and all this other shit."
The room remained silent and Test cooled down quickly, returning to his casual mood.
"I guess it's ironic that the only time I even thought of defecting was after I was accused of being a traitor. The APA only have themselves to blame for losing the tag titles." Test rolled his eyes and sat slowly back against the couch, trying not to strain his aching ribs.
"And on that light note, do you happen to know who Triple H's insider is?" Chris asked.
"No idea." Test shrugged. "Sorry. Rob?"
All eyes turned to the man who was sitting quietly next Test, just taking it all in. "Nah, sorry. I wasn't much for the secrecy and intrigue until Stephanie pulled me in and got me to help. I don't think I would've noticed if someone did act suspiciously."
"Well, let's just hope that Giraffe legs has done more than just suck up to Triple H." Lita muttered.
Test glared at Lita. "Hey, Red."
"Yeah."
"Giraffe legs is going to save your ass. You might want to be a little nicer." Test smirked, as Lita's eyes darkened in anger.
"Time to eat some humble pie, Lita." Edge sniggered. "Hope it tastes good. I get the feeling there's going to be of where that came from."
Jeff held back a smile. This had to be killing Lita, being helped by Stacy Kiebler, one of her biggest enemies on the Alliance.
"You know what though?"
All the occupants of the room turned and looked at Matt, who so far had remained silent. He eyed the door. "Triple H will probably know what hotel the WWF is staying in. And I'm guessing that his insider will be able to tell him what room we're all staying in."
"You think we should get out of here?" Jeff sighed.
"I think we should definitely get out of here. What's the next town we're going to?"
"Tampa." Test smiled. "Which is perfect because Christian has a place there."
"He does?" Edge looked puzzled and slightly left out, before noticing everyone staring at him. He ducked his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I...uh...I didn't know."
Chris cleared his throat to steer the conversation away from the direction it was taking. "I was thinking that we should get Stephanie to get in contact with Shane.
"Isn't that a bit dangerous for her?" Lita interrupted. "What if Shane tracks her down or convinces her to go Alliance again?"
"The Princess can take care of herself." Chris frowned.
"I'll go tell them." Chris stood up and gestured for the rest of the guys to go. "The rest of you should go and pack up your things. We'll meet back here and then get the hell out of dodge."
Matt, Jeff and Lita left quickly to go to their rooms but Edge lingered in the doorway. "Hey, Jericho."
"Yeah?" Chris frowned as he looked at Edge. He looked tired and weary as he leant against the door frame.
"Could you...could you watch Christian til I get back?" Edge seemed reluctant or hesitant to speak.
"Don't worry, man. Stephanie, Stacy, Rob and Test are all here so nothing's gonna happen to him." Chris's brow wrinkled as he realised he would be alone with four former Alliance members. "On second thoughts..."
"It's just that I've never seen him beaten up that bad before," Edge mumbled before backing quickly out the door and closing it behind him.
Chris smiled slightly. Edge and Christian were morons. Maybe a betting pool on how long it would take for them to reconcile would be a good idea. Walking back inside, he decided to pack up his things in the livingroom while Stephanie and Stacy talked.
Then he'd tell them the team was moving out to a new secret location to come up with a plan to put the Alliance out for good.
**********
Stacy sat uncomfortably on the end of the bed, trying not to bother Christian who was sleeping on the same bed. She eyed Stephanie who was pacing before her.
"Test's going to be okay, isn't he?" Stacy questioned tentatively. "He got beat up pretty bad by Hun...uh."
"It's alright. I know Hunter did it. I know what he's capable of." Stephanie frowned. "The guy is a sadistic bastard who get off on screwing around with people's minds and their lives... it's somehow suitable that he's my husband. Soon to be ex."
Stacy stayed quiet.
"I couldn't help but notice a little thing between you and Test." Stephanie stopped pacing and stood before Stacy. It reminded Stacy of her days as a school student when her teachers were yelling at her. "Are you two...?"
"Why do you care?" Stacy tried to be defiant, but it didn't come naturally to her. Instead she just sounded childish.
Stephanie sighed. "I care because he is a really good guy who's gotten a raw deal. He lucked out in getting into a relationship with me and I'm sure you know how that turned out, Then he got screwed over by his partner and that bitch, Trish. I thought he would've had better sense than to get involved with that slut. I'm counting on him having common sense when it comes to women from now on."
"Are you saying that..."
"I'm not saying anything. Not about you." Stephanie shook her head. "Just that Test has had bad judgement in the past. Look at his choices. Me, Trish Stratus. I'm asking you not to do the same thing we did."
"I wouldn't do that to him." Stacy unintentially answered Stephanie's question.
"I don't think you would either. But I'm telling you now, if you do hurt him then you'll have me to deal with and trust me when I say you don't want that."
Stacy eyed Stephanie. "I believe you." She looked down before speaking again. "Do you still...you know..."
"No." Stephanie sighed. "I did love him way back when. Seems like a lifetime ago though. Test...he was the first man that I loved, that I was in love with. But after everything I've put us both through, everything that's happened, we couldn't ever be together like that. I ruined what we could've had a long time ago..."
Stacy swallowed under the weight of Stephanie's frank speech. She'd never really talked to the brunette before and she was slightly embarrassed to admit to herself that Stephanie was a bit intimidating.
"So no. No, I'm not in love with Test. I love him like a brother now." Stephanie smiled slightly before it drifted from her face. "And he deserves better than me."
Breathing out shakily, Stacy gave a small smile. "I couldn't help but notice that Jericho gave you a big smooch while Test was hauling me out of that hotel."
"Ugh...don't remind me." Stephanie frowned. "He seems to get a kick out of messing with my mind."
"Well, it looked to me like he was kissing you because he wanted to, not because of any ulterior motives." Stacy withheld a smile.
"I doubt that." Stephanie rolled her eyes. "To Jericho, I'm the scum off the mould on road kill. He's just going light on the insults until he doesn't need my help anymore."
"I want...I want to help..." Stacy spoke hesitantly and quietly. "But, well, I don't want to..."
"You don't want to get hurt," Stephanie finished for her. "I completely understand. And you're surrounded by people who are going to stop that from happening. But if you don't help stop the Alliance, if you don't tell us what you know, then they win. My plans are shot to shit, my father doesn't have any idea about who the insiders are, and Shane has gone AWOL. McMahon's can scheme with the best of them, but we need the information for us to come up with a plan."
"You promise you'll keep me safe?" Stacy questioned.
Stephanie sat down next to Stacy. "You already have a job in the WWF, I'll speak to my father later. Next week you get a paycheck and next week you're walking out with everyone here. If you want to. And I don't want to pressure you, or make you do anything you don't want to do, but we need your help." Stephanie looked Stacy in the eyes. "We need you."
"One of the insiders is Dudley."
Stephanie frowned. "What?"
Stacy looked Stephanie full in the eyes. "Spike Dudley is feeding information to the Alliance."
"Spike? Oh god, no one would ever, ever think of..."
"That's because he doesn't want to do it. Bubba and D'von are making him." Stacy's eyes narrowed. "They've told him that if he doesn't give them info, they'll go after Molly. So he's doing it but I don't think he's telling too much, just enough to keep Molly safe."
"So they have someone else too?" Stephanie caught onto the subtext.
"Yeah. I don't know who, though." Stacy shrugged half-heartedly. "Triple H is keeping their identity a secret. In fact, I don't think anyone knows except him."
"Typical." Stephanie scowled. "Much as I *loathe* to admit it, Hunter's called the Cerebral Assasin for a reason. He's smart as hell, and he knows how to mess with people. We're going to have come up with a plan. We need to do something before he does."
"He's going to be coming after us now, isn't he?"
Stephanie nodded grimly. "With his guns blazing. Hunter can't afford to have any one trying to bring him down. The Alliance is in a precarious position at best. He's going to try and take out any threat to complete success."
"Would he...attack anyone?" Stacy asked, already knowing the answer.
"He'll do anything it takes to win. Whatever it takes." Stephanie sighed. "Stacy, don't go anywhere without someone with you. Hunter knows you're our informant. And he's going to want revenge."
"Oh god, they're so horrible. So horrible." Stacy moaned and covered her face in her hands.
Stephanie figured it couldn't hurt to be nice. And Stacy did look really vulnerable. Stephanie sighed and pulled Stacy into a hug. "Don't worry, okay? My Dad will give you a job and everyone here will protect you. Nothing's going to happen, okay?"
"Everyone will hate me." Stacy mumbled.
"No, they won't." Stephanie pulled Stacy out to arm's length so she could look her in the eye. "Stacy, if the Alliance goes under, if we beat Hunter, it'll be thanks to us. Me, Christian, Rob, Test and you.
Five defectors from the Alliance."
"If we beat them?"
Stacy and Stephanie looked at each other with new determination.
"When we beat them."
Christian, under the guise of drugged sleep, listened with interest from where he lay on the bed.
***********
