PART 37

LATER THAT NIGHT

"They should be here by now," Adam said impatiently, checking his watch for what had to be the eighth time in the last fifteen minutes.  Stephanie eyed him sympathetically.

"I'm sure they're fine Adam… maybe they're stuck in traffic, or they couldn't get out of the arena right away, or maybe Stacy didn't relay the message right away, or…"

"Or maybe Britney's trapped in some room with Paul and there's no one there who's going to stop him from doing whatever it is he plans to do," he interjected bitterly.  Stephanie winced at his words… she understood why he was a bundle of nerves, but it still hurt.  Adam turned to eye the brunette and upon seeing the hurt look she was sending him, he realized what he'd just said.

"Aw Steph, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to just bring him up like that.  I'm just scared," he said apologetically, offering her a small smile.

"Don't worry about it, I understand… believe me I do.  I'm just as scared as you are, maybe even more so.  I know what he's capable of better than anyone else… I don't want him hurting her either," she replied quietly.  The two of them sat in silence as second after agonizing second ticked away, Britney and Chris still not coming through the door.  Stephanie suddenly felt really bad about all this… if she hadn't made Adam bring her back to the hotel, he wouldn't have gotten stuck here, and he could have been back at the arena and none of this would be happening.

"I'm sorry Adam… this is all my fault.  I should have never made you bring me back here," she voiced with guilt and concern.  Adam shook his head at her.

"Stephanie, don't talk like that.  None of this is your fault… it isn't mine either.  The only two people at fault here are Heyman and Paul," Adam replied sternly.  "They are the creeps here, not you.  I'm still unbelievably pissed at what Paul did to you, and now this… this is just the icing on the cake.  He's swiftly moving up the list of people I literally want to strangle."  Stephanie eyed Adam wonderingly… he had to be one of the greatest men she'd ever met.  Next to Jay, he was the nicest, sweetest man she knew.

"Adam, you are so sweet.  You really are the greatest, most genuinely good man I have ever met.  I know this might not be the best time to go all mushy on you, but I am so grateful to have a friend like you.  I don't know what I did to deserve one, but I'm glad I did it.  You're like a big brother to me, and I love that.  Promise me that you will never ever change," Stephanie said softly, sending him a tiny grin.  Even in the circumstance, Adam offered her a small smile of his own. 

"Wow… thanks, Steph.  I mean, I guess I've thought of you as a little sister for awhile now, since we became friends, but I didn't know you felt the same way.  I'm glad you think of me that way, and I'm always here for you… remember that," he told her, reaching out to gently touch her hair.  As she softly touched his hand, there was a loud knock at the door.  In an instant, Adam was at his feet, taking a protective stance in front of Stephanie.  While he thought and hoped that it was Britney and Chris, he still was wary at the thought that it could be Paul Levesque on the other side of the door.

"Stay here," he said.  She obeyed his instructions and remained seated on the couch.  As he slowly made his way to the door, he tried to get a glimpse of who was on the other side, but he was unsure.  Those damn peep holes never worked right.  The Canadian slid the chain lock off and opened the door.

"Oh my God," he mouthed in a hushed tone, his fears somewhat being confirmed.  It was Chris at the door, and Britney was there, the blonde man's arm wrapped securely around her.  What scared him was the fact that she had obviously been crying, as her eyes were bloodshot and had a few stray tears hanging from them.  Chris let go of the death grip he had on her, allowing the young woman to collapse into her boyfriend's arms.  He held her for a minute, and she calmed down considerably.  Adam knew he would never get the story out of her, so he led her to Stephanie, having her sit down with her cousin.  He grabbed Chris and led him out into the hall.

"What happened?" Adam asked Chris fearfully, thinking the worst.  Watching Adam close the door behind them, Chris answered.

"I… Amy came to me with Stacy and she told me that you called.  They said Britney had gone into Bischoff's office, which I knew wasn't right cause he was in the ring.  I sent them back to the women's locker room, grabbed the Hardys, Rob, and a steel chair and headed out to the office.  That's when I, uh… found her.  And, um… Paul Levesque was in the room with her," he explained.  Adam's eyes widened.  Oh man… what the hell happened? 

As if reading Adam's mind, Chris continued, "I… I tried to ask her what happened right there, but she… she just kept asking for you.  I talked to her a little on the way back here, but all I got out of her was 'I'm fine, don't worry about it,' and that nothing too bad happened and she was just scared.  I think she was telling the truth… about nothing too bad happening, cause I did check her out somewhat.  That's all I can tell you."

Adam sighed loudly.  "Okay… thanks Chris.  For helping and bringing her back and… well, you're just always there for her, so thanks," he said graciously.  "I, uh… should probably take her back to our room now… try and get the story out of her." 

Chris nodded, "Okay… I'll stay here with Stephanie till Jay gets back," he volunteered as the two men stepped back into the room.  The women looked up to see them heading towards them.  Stephanie wasn't sure if Chris knew about her, but judging by the way he was moving so gingerly around her, she was guessing he did.  Adam took Britney's hand, leading her to the door. 

"Thanks again man," Adam said, waving to Chris and Stephanie as he and Britney stepped out.  Stephanie turned to face Chris, concern flooding her pretty face. 

"She's okay right?  I mean, you don't think he…"

"No… I think he scared her, I think he messed with her head, but I think that's it.  He scared the hell out of her actually, but I think we stopped him in time.  I swear, guys like him should all be castrated," Chris replied, scoffing at the thought of Levesque and all his self-proclaimed greatness.  Even Stephanie smiled a little at Chris's dry comment.

"Now that's a good idea."

*                      *                      *                      *                      *

Back in their hotel room, Adam had finally calmed Britney down.  He had gotten her crying to mostly cease and he was now trying to get her to tell him what happened.

"Okay, come on now… we're alone, no one else is around.  Tell me what happened," he coerced softly, watching her intently.  Sighing, Britney decided he was right, and that she would have to tell him eventually, so she should just do it.  Telling him stuff like this was getting easier as time went on anyway.

"I… I went into Eric Bischoff's office cause they told me he wanted to see me.  Only when I… when I went in there, he was there… Paul was," she said.

Adam nodded, "And then what happened?"

"H-he… he told me he was mad because I told Chris that he raped Stephanie.  He said my mouth was going to get me in trouble, just like it always does.  Then he started looking at me funny, with this… hungry gleam in his eyes.  He pressed up against the door, and he was hurting my arm, so I kicked him in the shin.  Then he… he picked me up and put me on top of Eric's desk and he gave me that look again… like he was going to kiss me," she paused, stopping to take a breath.  Adam felt his anger growing a little hotter. 

"I slapped him… and he slapped me back.  H-he told me things would go easier if I didn't fight.    Then he…" she trailed off, suddenly looking away.  Adam felt his stomach drop… he what?  He was almost too afraid to ask.  Still, he had to know, so he could know if she was okay… and so he could know what degree of retribution he would have to plan for Levesque. 

"Then he what?  Just tell me, come on."  Britney swallowed hard, feeling the tears finally spill over once more as she answered.

"He… he kissed my neck, and I… I punched him.  He got angry and he told me that I was just like Steph.  He basically told me that what he did to Stephanie would be nothing compared to what he was going to do to me.  He got really rough.  I-I tried to fight him, but… he's just too strong.  He… he started to put his hand under the bottom of my skirt, and that's when Chris showed up and whacked him with the chair, and I saw Jeff, Matt, and Rob," she finished.  As thankful as Adam was that Chris showed up when he did, he was still absolutely incensed that everything went as far as it had.

"I don't fucking believe this," he said through gritted teeth. 

"Adam, I'm so sorry," Britney said quietly.

He sent her a confused look, "What for?"  She eyed him for a minute, hesitating before finally answering.

"You're mad," she said meekly.  Adam sighed again, pulling her into his strong arms.

"Not at you… never at you.  Honey, I'm mad because Paul had no right to lay a hand on you.  I-I'm not even mad at myself like I usually am… I'm just mad at him.  I just can't believe that asshole put his dirty hands on you," instantly regretting his last statement.  He watched painfully as the tears slid down her cheeks.  "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry that all this happened," he said, holding her tightly against him.

"Adam, it's okay.  I just… I just want to go to bed, okay?" she asked suddenly. 

Looking at her tired form, he silently agreed, pulling her up off the couch and leading her to the bedroom.  They got changed and separately went into the bathroom to wash up.  When Adam emerged from the bathroom, he found that Britney was already fast asleep.  Adam slid into the bed next to her, slowly pulling the covers over himself, so as not to disturb her.  The poor thing… she had to be exhausted.  Adam sighed quietly, wrapping his arm around her and following suit, quickly falling asleep.

THURSDAY- SMACKDOWN

Brock entered the arena Smackdown was being held in.  He walked briskly towards his locker room, keeping his eyes straight ahead.  After what had happened to him ten days ago, he wasn't in the mood to hear any crap from his coworkers.  He came across his locker room and pushed the door open, nodding hello to Paul Levesque.

"Hey man," Paul replied to the gesture.  "How's your head?"

Brock shrugged, "It's okay… been better and worse.  But I'm not walking around in circles or smacking into walls or anything, so I guess I'm probably okay.  Paul laughed, and Brock tossed his bag to the floor, stepping all the way into the room.  The huge man sat down on the bench, eyeing Paul as he sorted out his ring gear.  Paul saw Brock smirking at him out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" he questioned curiously.

"Well?  Don't you want to tell me about how your weekend went?" Brock asked.  A sly grin formed on Levesque's face as he turned to face Brock.

"Oh, I'd say it went well… exactly as I planned," he responded, grinning like the Cheshire cat.  Brock grinned, opening his mouth to speak, but the locker room door busted open.

"Paul!  Paul, I have to tell you something!" Heyman called.  The heavy man stopped, leaning over to try to catch his breath.  He must have been running or something.  Paul and Brock glanced at him expectantly.  

"Adam… and Chris Jericho… they're on their way here!"  Paul's eyes widened, but Brock raised an eyebrow.

"Why?  What the hell did we do?"  the WWE Champion asked, confused.  Levesque suddenly grew a little nervous.  He knew that if Brock found out about his attacking Britney, he wouldn't exactly be proud of him.  Hell, as delusional as Brock was about Britney, he'd probably get downright pissed off at him.  Of course, he couldn't count on Heyman to keep his mouth shut.

"Oh, didn't ya hear?  On Thursday, Paul trapped Britney in Eric Bischoff's office, and he…"

"He did what?" Brock said coldly, turning to glare at the third man.  Before Levesque could react, the door burst open again.  Adam, accompanied by Chris, stormed into the room, walking right past Heyman and Lesnar. 

"I was going to do this last night at the house show, but then I decided against it.  I'd much rather embarrass you in front of your pal," Adam said.  He pulled his right arm back and swung, nailing him hard in the jaw.  As he groaned in pain, Adam continued, "Stay the hell away from Britney."  With that, he turned and stalked out of the room.  Chris scoffed at Paul before following Adam. 

"Bastard," he said snidely.  After the two blonde Canadians were gone, Brock turned back to Levesque.  He copied Adam's actions, punching him right in the jaw.

"I never thought I'd say this, but Adam is right.  Stay away from Britney.  From now on, there's a new rule… keep your hands to your own bitch.  You can have Stephanie all to yourself, but Britney is mine," Lesnar said coldly. 

"I'm sorry man… I just… thought it would be good in the long run and…"

"Bullshit," Brock retorted.  "You were horny and high off of what you did to Stephanie.  Look, I've made it pretty clear that Britney belongs to me, and I don't want anyone touching her… not Adam, not you.  Don't touch my property again."

Paul groaned again, checking for any signs of blood, but it was clear.  "Okay, I get it.  I'll stay away from your little whore."

"Good," Brock said.  "Now that we understand each other, I say we cool it for a little while.  If word of any of what you did gets back to Vince, your ass is toast, and I'm almost positive that Vince will use that opportunity to bring me down with you.  We're gonna lay back, observe, and come up with a new plan." 

Both Paul's eyed him curiously.  "What kind of new plan?"  The grin Brock sent them put matching ones on each of their faces.

"Our biggest plan yet… our final plan."

Well, there it is… the next chapter.  There will happy ones coming up soon, I promise.  LOL, anyways, you guys know the drill.  Keep the reviews coming, I'll update soon!!  And I know I've said this before, but to the people who do take the time to review, I really appreciate it!!  33