PART 32
LATE THAT NIGHT
"Baby?" Britney called into the darkness. She had only just returned from the club she was at with Chris, Amy, Jeff, Matt, and Trish a little while ago. She had only been laying in bed with Adam for about five minutes, and the uncomfortable silence was already unbearable.
"Hmm?" he asked. His voice sounded calm, but the rapid heartbeats against her back told Britney a different story. She hesitated for a moment.
"Are… are you okay?" she asked finally. Her boyfriend just hadn't been the same for about a week now. In fact, he had been unusually quiet and distracted since the night of Wrestlemania. She didn't know what could possibly be going on. She was sure, though, that what happened to her on Thursday night didn't help to calm his nerves in the least bit. Sighing, Adam pulled his arm from around her waist and sat up.
"What do you mean?" he asked, though he knew he wouldn't be able to keep up the charade for too long.
"Well, you've been acting… different lately. You're so quiet, and so distant, and… well, I'm worried about you. I mean, you've been like this for a week now… I just don't want to see you upset. Please, Adam, if something's up, tell me," Britney said, propping herself up next to him. Adam sighed loudly, if you only knew what was up. He knew what he had to do, and he knew he had to do it soon, but he just wasn't sure if he could do it. He'd spent days and hours thinking this over. In fact, it was all he thought about while Britney was out that night. Deciding on whether or not he would listen to Brock and leave her was without a doubt the hardest decision he would ever make.
"Brit, I… it's nothing. Just a bunch of stupid shit, that's all. A lot of dumb stuff's been bothering me lately, and then with what happened Thursday, I don't know, I've just been a little depressed," he lied. Yeah, right. A "little" depressed is a million times too weak to describe how I feel right now. I can't do this… there's no way I can do this to her. But her life might depend on it… God, how the hell did I get into this mess?
"So, tell me about it. What kind of stupid shit is going on?" she asked, a wave of uneasiness coming over her as she realized he wouldn't look at her… like he couldn't look at her. What the hell is going on?
Staring at the ceiling, the Canadian replied, "Don't worry about it, Brit! I don't wanna talk about it!" Britney frowned at him.
"Adam, that's not fair! You know how many times you've made me talk when I didn't want to. You have to tell me, that's not fair," she complained.
Adam closed his eyes momentarily. Yeah, well, life's not fair sometimes. Britney looked over at him, and she noted the almost pained expression he was wearing. Uh oh… she didn't like where this was going. Adam's heart was going a mile a minute, but his brain had completely frozen. He didn't know what in hell he was going to do. The blonde man wanted nothing more than to just grab her and kiss her, tell her everything would be fine… but it wouldn't be fine. He wanted nothing more than to hold her and make her believe that all of this would just go away… but it wouldn't go away. If things went Brock's way, it wouldn't be over until she was dead. "Axe the relationship… or I'll axe Britney." He couldn't get Brock's voice out of his head. That one statement had been ringing in his brain all damn week.
"Adam, please say something," she begged.
When he didn't respond, she pulled her knees up to her chest and gazed out the window, a lost expression on her face. She didn't know what to do. Adam opened his eyes and glanced over. As the silver moonlight lit up her face, he studied her intently. She was so beautiful… like an angel or something. She was also so innocent, so unassuming and unsuspecting. If she had any inclination as to what he was thinking, he didn't know what she'd do. He knew it would crush her… it was already crushing him. He hated being torn like this. He absolutely hated the idea of breaking it off with her to meet Brock Lesnar's demands. Hell, he absolutely hated himself for even thinking about all this. Axe the relationship or I'll axe Britney. He had to do it… he had to protect her. But God, how the hell wasn't he going to do it? The mere thought of being apart from her wrenched at his heart. This wasn't fair… I can't do it. He loved her so much… he just couldn't do it. Think about her safety, Adam. The Canadian had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. He took a deep, shaky breath.
"Brit, I…" he started, causing her to turn and face him.
Their eyes met, and he choked. You're an asshole. Don't do it… there are other ways to protect her. Don't do it. Adam was even more perplexed than before. At first, this whole thing had been a battle between his mind and his heart. Now, his mind was going back and forth, like it was playing tricks on him. How the hell do you make a sound decision when all your thoughts contradict each other? They kept their eyes locked intensely. God, I love her. Suddenly, it was like he underwent a system failure… everything crashed down on him. Britney's life depended on him, and he had no clue as to how to defend it. Someone's life was in his hands, and he had no idea what to do to save it. It was too much for him to handle. Finally, after all these months, it was just too much for him. Everything inside of him exploded. Tears sprung to his eyes and he fell apart.
"I'm going crazy Brit! I can't do this anymore! I… I just can't take it! I… I talked to Brock last week," he said, her eyes widening, half at what he said, half at the tears sliding down his cheeks. "He… he gave me an ultimatum. He told me I had to leave you, and if I didn't… well, he would make Smackdown look like a piece of cake. I just… I don't know what to do anymore. I love you so much, and I want to be with you more than anything, but I don't know. If my being with you is going to get you hurt… I just don't know."
He fell forward, leaning into her as she wrapped her arms around him. She had never seen him like this before, and it was scaring the hell out of her. She sat there with him for a minute as he sobbed against her, when suddenly, what he said hit her. She came to the realization of what his statement meant. Tears escaped her eyes as well. He's going to leave me.
"W-what are you saying? Adam, please don't do this… don't tell me you're going to leave me. You can't… you can't leave me," Britney said in utter disbelief, pushing him off of her as she did so. He wouldn't break up with her… he couldn't. Didn't he know she would just die? He was like her oxygen, her life support… without him, she was nothing.
Adam's heart sunk as she pleaded with him. Bastard. Stop right now… don't hurt her anymore, you stupid bastard. He met her eyes once more, looking away instantly when he saw the tears falling out of them. He was breaking her heart already, and he hadn't even said anything yet. If only he could make her see that this was killing him too. It was easily the hardest thing he'd ever attempted to do in his life.
"No, no… Britney, I don't want to leave you. I just want you to be safe sweetheart," he said honestly. He looked up again and saw her expression growing to desperate.
"Well than keep me safe! I don't feel safe anywhere else but with you, Adam. You can't leave me… he'll… he'll get me if you leave Adam. Please, just please stay. I'll do anything for you… just please don't leave me," she begged. As she looked at him with those big, teary blue eyes, he melted. Fresh tears filled his eyes as he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her as both of them broke down. How the hell did I ever think I could go through with this? I've officially lost my mind if I thought I could actually leave her.
"Jesus, Brit… I'm staying. I'm staying. I'm not going anywhere baby, I swear. I'll never leave, you, ever. I…"
"I love you, Adam."
The Canadian did a double take… what? Did she just…
"W-what did you just say?" he asked in shock. His heart, which had been beating rapidly, skipped a beat. He hoped to God that he had heard her right.
Sending him a teary, almost shy smile, she repeated herself, "I… I love you."
A wide grin formed on Adam's face as his heart swelled with pride. He forgot everything that had just happened, everything that had been happening for the past week and got completely swept up in that moment. He knew what it meant for her to being saying that to him… she had to have meant it. She wouldn't give out those three words if she didn't mean it… she couldn't.
"Oh Brit, that's great! I mean… you… you… I… oh man. I love you too," he said.
Tilting her face up, his brought his down to kiss her softly. As their kiss deepened, he pulled her into his lap. After a few minutes, he flipped them over so that he was on top of her. Her hands went up and around his neck, twisting into his long hair. She pulled the rubber band out of his hair, letting it fall down over his shoulders, shielding her from everything. His hands went to her waist and his mouth moved to her neck.
A few hours later, they lay in each other's arms, Britney's head resting on Adam's bare chest. The young diva sighed contentedly as Adam lazily stroked her back. It was a very peaceful, blissful moment, much calmer than it had been earlier. A summery breeze blew into the room as Adam grabbed Britney's hand, entwining her fingers with his.
"I'm so glad you didn't leave," she said softly. The tall man laughed softly. He was glad, too. Screw what Brock Lesnar wants… this is what I want… and that's all that matters.
"I never would," he said. "And I never will. You're stuck with me forever… I love you, Princess."
RAW-THE NEXT NIGHT"So, you all understand what it is you have to do?" Vince McMahon asked the group of wrestlers in the locker room. As the men nodded, one of them spoke up.
"So wait… Brock has no idea any of this is going to happen right?"
"Right," Shane McMahon replied.
"And we're just going to go out there and literally beat the shit out of him?" another man asked.
"Right," Shane replied, grinning as he saw the nods of approval throughout the room. He knew that the men partaking in this little segment were just as happy as he was about it. Finally someone… or many someone's… will teach that damn punk a lesson. After tonight, he'll know this… you don't fuck with a McMahon.
"Alright," Vince cut in, "Brock's promo is almost over. You should all head to the guerilla position now. Just do everything we said, and make sure the specified people have a chance to do what was written for them." The men stood up, smirking as they filed out of the room. When they were gone, Shane turned to his father.
"Lets go find the big monitor… this I gotta see."
* * * * *
Down the hall, Amy burst into the women's locker room. She had also known what would be going down in a few minutes. She probably wasn't supposed to know, but Matt and Adam were so excited earlier that they just told her the whole thing. She couldn't wait to see what happened to Lesnar… especially after Smackdown, where he hurt Britney AND powerbombed her for trying to help.
"Brit! Where are you?" she called into the room. She better be in here.
"Right here!" she replied from the floor where she was sitting, going through her bag.
"Come with me… you have to come watch the monitor," the redhead said, pointing to the door. She frowned when she saw the look of disinterest on her best friend's face. Amy knew that Britney was well aware of the fact that Brock was out in the ring.
"I'm, um… not particularly interested in this promo Ames,"
she stated plainly.
"Trust me, it'll be worth your while. Matter of fact, all of you come on… you'll be glad to see this, I promise. Shane and Vince are already on their way there," Amy answered. Britney sighed, giving in and standing up… if Shane was going to be out there, she supposed it would be okay to go. Watching the young woman stand and follow the redhead, the other divas stopped what they were doing and headed out with them.
* * * * *
Out in the ring, Brock was finishing up his promo. He had gone out their to "explain his actions" from Smackdown the past Thursday night. He was a little surprised creative actually played off of what he did to Britney. That meant he could play off of what they wrote for him to see, make a little more into his own words. Vince had to be fuming right about now. There was a deafening round of boos going through the arena as Brock explained why he attacked Britney. The writing team had put together a little speech about he wanted Britney but she turned him down time in and time out, and that she confided in her friend, Edge, about the whole matter. Brock stated that along the way, she decided that she was in love with Edge and that he would not allow that to happen. Brock thought the explanation to eerily resemble the truth of their situation. The relationship Brock spoke of on TV was close to their real-life relationship, if you could call it that. He also went on to say that he realized that maybe attacking her in the ring was a little too drastic.
"So, I'd like to conclude by saying that I am sorry…" he watched and listened as the boos decreased a little. "…sorry that that bitch had the balls to turn down Brock Lesnar for a loser like your precious Edge." The boos increased rapidly, and Brock smirked. His work for the night was done. He headed to the other side of the ring, dropping his mic in the center on the way. As he was going through the ropes a burst of cheers erupted, causing him to freeze… they couldn't be cheering for him.
As he stepped back into the ring and looked to the top of the ramp, he immediately realized why everyone was cheering. At the top of the ramp a group of wrestlers had formed. Though the pack was a mix of faces and heels, the fans knew why they were all out there, and they went nuts. To them, they saw Edge, Christian, Jericho, the Hardys, Undertaker, Kane, Rhyno, RVD, the Dudleys, John Cena, Rocky, Rey Mysterio, Hurricane, Test… everyone you could possibly want to see in a whole night, let alone one segment. To Brock, however, it was a large pack of guys who hated him for what he did to Britney and for scaring the divas… all led by Adam Copeland.
Brock swallowed nervously as he watched the men glare down at him from the top of the ramp. They made their way towards him, slowly at first. Adam stopped in the middle of the ramp, allowing the other men to run past him. He would certainly get his chance with Lesnar… for now, he just wanted to watch. Wrestlers entered the ring from all directions as to ensure that Brock had no way of escaping the ring. He looked at the men in disbelief… so this was Vince's idea of a punishment. He had to get out of the ring… though it didn't seem that that would be an easy task. He couldn't go straight, as Mark Callaway and the Dudley's were directly in front of him. Glenn Jacobs and the Hardys were on the left and Terry Gerrin and Jay and Chris were on his right, not to mention the superstars behind them and the ones waiting outside the ring. Brock turned around to see who was behind him, and he smiled. There was only one man there, and that man happened to only be about 5 foot 3.
"Rey Mysterio… come on Rey-Rey, be a good kid and get out my way so I can…"
"Fuck off Brock," Mysterio replied nastily, bringing his leg up and kicking Lesnar as hard as he could in the groin. "That… was for Britney."
As soon as Brock keeled over in pain, the men jumped, attacking from every direction. As Adam slowly made his way to the ring, he took great pleasure in watching Lesnar get the shit stomped out of him. As first, it was very chaotic, with everyone taking a shot in where they could. When it became obvious that he wasn't fighting back, some of the guys backed off, allowing each other to take hits in small groups. Mark Lamonica, Devon, and Drew had Brock pinned to the floor, allowing John, Shane Helms, and Glenn to kick him pretty much everywhere. Those men then slid out of the ring, watching as Jeff, Matt, and Rob approached him. Everyone knew Rob had the swiftest, stiffest kicks in the business, so Matt grabbed one of Brock's arms and Jeff grabbed the other, and Rob backed up and nailed him in the face.
Adam grinned widely as he watched the kick… he was almost positive Rob had broken Lesnar's cheekbone. If only Kurt had been here… he could have taught the kid a thing or two about wrestling, that's for sure. He talked to the Olympian earlier in the day, and he had said that he felt horrible about not being able to be there to join in, but his doctors simply wouldn't allow it, not a week after surgery. He paid close attention as Jeff kneeled down and got in Lesnar's face, trying to make out what the younger Hardy was saying.
"I have one thing to say to you, Brock. I will tell you what I've so many times told your friend Paul Heyman. I find it funny that people call me a freak when there are people like you walking around in it," the rainbow haired man said angrily, standing up and exiting the ring with his brother and Rob.
Next, Dwayne and Terry came to the center of the ring. As Brock attempted to stand, staggering slightly, they stood on either side of him, taking turns punching him in the jaw. That couldn't be good for his cheekbone. They realized that they were running on a clock, so after a few moments they reluctantly slid out of the ring, allowing Chris and Jay to come to the center of the ring. The two Canadians had been discussing what they'd be doing all night… they wanted not only to hurt Brock, but also to hurt Brock's ego. Jay went behind him and grabbed his arms, twisting them and holding them tightly behind his back.
"Get the fuck off me!" Brock screamed as he struggled to free himself from Jay's grasp. This was humiliating… he was being held down by a man who once through temper tantrums in the ring when he lost a match. Jay smirked at him.
"I really don't think you're in the position to be making decisions, Brock. Now, shut the fuck up and listen to what Chris has to say," he said, watching as Chris went and picked up the microphone that Brock had dropped earlier.
Coming to the center of the ring, Chris taunted him, "Ooh everyone look, look at big, tough Brock now! Not so big and bad now, are we Brock? Listen you little assclown, you wanna go out in the ring and embarrass people? You think it was funny to go out in the ring and embarrass and hurt Britney last week? Maybe it's time for YOU to be embarrassed!"
With that, he shifted the mic to his left hand, using his right to slap Brock across the cheek. The crowd loved that, and they reacted favorably, even though Chris was usually a heel.
"I know I'm supposed to be a bad guy and she's supposed to be a good guy, and good guys and bad guys don't usually get along… but damn it, Britney is one of my best friends! This…" he slapped him again, "…is what you get for screwing with one of Chris Jericho's, or better yet, Chris Irvine's best friends!"
The crowd cheered even louder, and as Jay continued to hold Brock for Chris to slap and add a few punches, the Y2J chants started. When Jay saw Mark head towards them, he let go, allowing Brock to fall to the mat. He motioned to Chris that their time was up. The two blonde men exited the ring as the big Texan stepped in front of Lesnar. Brock felt a shadow cast over him and he looked up, his stomach dropping as he saw Mark Callaway. Oh shit… this guy nailed Adam in the eye… and he LIKES him! Shit, I am in so much trouble. He winced in pain as he was picked up and launched into the corner, the same corner he had Britney in the previous week. He closed his eyes in pain as Mark starting wailing on him with lefts and rights.
"You… no good… son of a… bitch. You just… couldn't keep… your grubby paws… off her, could you? Look at you… you little bitch. Now so big and tough now… are we?" he said, pausing after every couple of words to punch him. He stopped punching him, allowing him to drop down to the second rope, leaning on it for support. He grabbed Brock by the throat, laughing as he saw the blood dripping from his nose… he hoped he broke the damn thing, to go along with that cheekbone that wasn't looking so good. Still holding him at the neck, Mark leaned down and picked up the mic that Chris dropped.
"If you only remember one thing from me, Brock, I want you to remember this," Mark called. "If you EVER lay a finger on her… no, if you so much as THINK of laying a finger on her, what happened to you today will be a walk in the goddamn park." He turned to walk away, but then a thought occurred to him. He remembered Britney's ribs, which had never properly healed. Before exiting the ring, the Deadman turned back to Brock, kicking him in the ribs with all his might, eliciting a sharp cry of pain from the WWE Champion. Brock fell to the ground, clutching his ribs in agony. He shut his eyes, thanking God it was all over. Opening his eyes, his stomach dropped again… it wasn't over. Towering above him was one very angry looking tall, blonde Canadian.
"Hi Brock," Adam said, smiling tauntingly.
As Brock struggled to get up, Adam kicked him… not hard, with just enough force to knock him back to the mat. They continued to do so for a few moments, like a little game of cat and mouse. Every time Brock would get about half way off the ground, Adam would give him a little boot and knock him right on his ass again. Then, Adam dropped to his knees, kneeling directly in front of Brock. He thought of grabbing the microphone that everyone had been using, but he decided against. He wasn't out to embarrass Brock, as the others were… he was there to just flat out hurt him.
"Not so fun, is it? It isn't fun to get the hell beat out of you by a force that's so much stronger than you, is it? It's not fun to get knocked down every time you try to get up. Well, that's exactly what you did… that's exactly what you did to Britney," Adam said, stopping to kick Lesnar in his most likely bruised ribs.
He looked down at Brock… he was a total mess. Swollen cheekbone, blood pouring out of his nose, a bleeding mouth, a nasty bruise forming under his left eye… he was definitely going to be in some pain tomorrow morning. Then, for what Adam perceived to be the first time since they'd met, they locked eyes. It was the first time they'd held gaze for more than two seconds. He was locking eyes with the man who had caused his Princess such sheer physical and emotional pain and suffering. The enjoyment he was feeling was suddenly shifting to white-hot anger.
He had visions of what happened on Thursday. He could picture Brock strangling Britney in the ring, where no one could protect her… if only he hadn't gone into the shower. He didn't see what happened live, as when Matt and Rob ran into the showers to tell him what was going on, he didn't take any time to watch. He simply threw his pants on and got out there. Shane had shown him a tape of the attack… Adam had to tell him to turn it off… he couldn't bear to watch that bastard wrap his monstrous hand around her tiny neck and try to squeeze the life out of her. Suddenly, Adam got a look in his eye… that animalistic glare that Brock was so familiar with. Brock's eyes widened as much as they could at the sight… for the first time in awhile, he was legitimately scared.
"Adam… please… don't… you guys win for tonight. Be reasonable," he said in fear, hoping Adam's compassion would keep him from doing anything crazy.
Adam shook his head in disbelief. Be reasonable… what a crock. Taking both of his hands, he wrapped his fingers around Brock's neck tightly, squeezing the life out of him. The crowd went crazy, loving the way Brock kicked and flailed his arms, desperately trying to get Adam off of him. The Champion felt himself going faint. The guys watched for a little while, but when they saw that Adam wasn't letting up, they knew they had to stop him… he would kill him if they didn't. It took Jay, Chris, Matt, Jeff, and Mark to finally pry Adam off of Brock. Lesnar fell to the ground, passing out from loss of blood and lack of oxygen. As he assured his friends he was done attacking, they let him go. He slowly walked back towards Brock, kneeling in front of him. To be safe, Jay and Mark stayed right behind him, in case he decided maybe he wasn't done attacking. Adam eyed Brock for a moment, hoping he could hear what he was saying.
"If you still want to play games Brock, there's a slight problem for you… I'm ready for them."
Hey guys… here yah go.. you know the drill… let me know what you think, and I'll put the next part up. 33
