A/N : To make my story easier alot of the women that would normally be on Raw are on Smackdown,that way Valerie has some competition.

Smackdown : 03-10-2002.

Valerie's brow furrowed in concentration as she scanned through her address book.Her mother had changed her phonenumber and had called Valerie to give her the new number.Valerie had written it down but had forgotten where.Taker walked into the room and closed the door.

"Hi dad" Valerie said without looking up.

"Hey babygirl" Taker said as he sat down.

Valerie smiled as she kept searching for the number.She was glad her father was no longer upset with her, he had been released from hospital two days after the previous Smackdown and he had been pissed off at her for letting him go to the hospital while he was supposed to wrestle the tag team match with her.

Valerie had argued that he had been in no shape to wrestle any kind of match and she had found herself another tag team partner anyway but he wouldn't listen.He insisted that she had been foolish and he made her promise never to let it happen again.She promised but she still didn't understand why he was so angry, she did what she had to do.Taker sat there looking at his daughter for a while.

"Whatcha doing joyful?" Taker asked after about a minute.

"Looking for mom's number" Valerie answered,still scanning the small book in her hand.

"066-TROUBLE" Taker said.

"Dad" Valerie scolded softly.

Taker grinned as Valerie sighed.

"I can't remember if I put it under 'm' for mom or…"

"'B' for barracuda" Taker filled in.

"Why are you so bent on insulting mom?" Valerie asked.

Taker shrugged and Valerie shook her head.

"When's your match?" Taker asked.

"In about an hour,it's the last one on the card" Valerie said "Ah,here it is"

Valerie picked up her mobile phone and dialed the number.She waited for a few seconds and then said:

"Hi mom,it's Valerie"

Her mother immediately started ranting and Valerie leaned back with a sigh.Taker chuckled and mouthed 'Barracuda'.

***

Valerie jumped up and down trying to loosen her muscles up,she was tense and she didn't wrestle very well when she was tense.She had a match against Victoria for the WWE title,which Victoria had won off Jazz not long before.

Valerie knew that it would take her all she had to beat Victoria and there was no telling if it would be enough.Valerie was also worried about who might interfere during the match,she had alot of enemies and she feared they would pick that precise moment to get even with her.

She knew that Christian was pissed off after losing that match to her.Chris Benoit had a serious score to settle with her and Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar were definitely up to something and she knew they had something bad in store for her.

She forced herself to shrug it off as she heard her music cue,she would deal with whatever came but for now she had a championship match to wrestle.She stepped out as her music grew louder and the fans went wild.Valerie had noticed an increase in her popularity ever since she broke up with Brock and she smiled when she heard the crowd chanting her name.

Valerie frowned as she looked at her opponent,Victoria was standing in the ring waiting for her with a focused look in her eyes and a meanstreak a mile wide.Valerie threw Victoria a cheerful smile making Victoria quiver in anger.

"That's right,smile bitch" Victoria yelled at her.

Valerie decided to waste no more time and stepped into the ring.This was going to be tough.

***

Valerie went down hard and winced.She knew that was it,she wouldn't be able to get up fast enough to beat a pinfall.She waited for Victoria to cover her,praying she would have the strength to throw her off and when nothing happened,she frowned.Out of nowhere the bell rang and the match was over.

Valerie blinked in confusion,the bell had rung but there had been no pinfall.She looked around and saw Victoria laid out on the mat,obviously unconscious.Valerie slowly got up and turned around,gasping when she saw who was standing behind her.

Brock's eyes were a little unfocused as he stood there looking at Valerie with a gloating Paul Heyman right beside him.Valerie swallowed hard as Heyman mouthed 'I told you' at her.Valerie took two steps back but she was far too weak to run away.

She looked around but knew that no one would help her,Taker wasn't there,he had been taken to a hospital with a broken hand and most of the other wrestlers had already headed for the hotel.Brock stepped to Valerie and without saying a word lift her onto his back.Valerie yelped as she realized what he was going to do and squeezed her eyes shut.

Suddenly she found herself falling backwards,Brock fell flat on his back and let go of Valerie who rolled away from him.When she looked up she saw Edge beating on Brock.She wanted to warn Edge to get out of there but she couldn't find the strength.To Valerie's surprise Brock retreated along with Heyman and Edge stepped to her.

"Valerie,are you okay?" Edge asked as he leaned over her.

Valerie nodded weakly and allowed Edge to help her up.The fans cheered as Edge helped Valerie to the back,some of them were chanting their names,others were chanting 'kiss her' or 'go for it Edge'.Valerie smiled a little,those fans would do anything for a little entertainment.When they arrived outside Valerie's lockerroom Valerie heaved a trembling sigh.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Edge asked,worriedly.

"He was going to…" Valerie choked out.

"I know…but he didn't" Edge pointed out.

"Thanks to you" Valerie whispered,throwing Edge a grateful smile.

Edge smiled brightly and spread his arms to his friend.Valerie smiled and stepped into his embrace.They held onto eachother for a while until Valerie giggled and said:

"I better take a shower,I smell terrible"

Edge grinned and Valerie smiled as she opened her lockerroom door.

"Mental note : he did not argue with me when I said I smelled terrible" Valerie joked.

Edge chuckled but still didn't say anything,he knew that if he would he would either insult Valerie or embarass himself.

"Well…I'll be seeing you" Valerie said.

"Yep" Edge said,wanting to say more but not knowing what.

Just as Valerie was about to step into her lockerroom,Edge found the courage to ask her something.

"Valerie…when the fans chanted…you know 'kiss her',did it make you feel uncomfortable?" Edge asked, immediately wanting to slap himself for asking her that.

Valerie smiled and stepped forward,she brought Edge's face close to hers and planted a gentle and sweet kiss on his lips.

"Does that answer your question?" Valerie asked.

Edge nodded dumbly as Valerie stepped into her lockerroom and closed the door.Edge stood there for a while,savoring the memory of Valerie's lips on hers and trying to recall how many butterflies he had had in his stomach.He smiled as he thought of the kiss itself.Maybe…after all this time there was still hope.Maybe.

A/N : Please,please,please read and review.