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"Hey Dia, can you help me stretch that leg out?" I ask over my shoulder, having just finished getting into my ring gear

"Sure" Dia chirps, hopping off Jamie's lap and standing beside me, hands on her hips "so what do I do?"

"Hold my leg just there" I say, thrusting my leg into her hands

"This reminds me of that scene in 'Dance For Me' when Vanessa Williams' character is stretching before the big dance competition....."

I quickly tune out Dia's voice and concentrate on the stretching. I don't know why but I feel like this match is important. Yeah, you heard me right, match. Miss Billion Dollar Bitch has given me a match at last. My first on- screen match in a long time. Apparently, she liked how the audience reacted last week (though she's made at me and Dia for apparently 'ruining' the bikini segment by attacking Torrie, hello? Sable asked us to do it) so she's taken the ban off momentarily. Urgh she was wearing a black net top that looks like the one Lance bought me. Trying to imitate me is flattering though she can never achieve my perfection. Only for a while she said with a smirk on her face. She might as well have said 'until you screw up' after that but wisely decided not to since Nidia and Jamie were with me and have a tendency to be fiercely protective of me. It's kinda sweet though it means Jamie gets in a lot of fights. According to Dia he's always getting in a lot of fights. Right now he's reading a magazine, a bag of pork rinds having appeared from somewhere open and balancing on his knee. I lower my head to my knee and push harder, feeling the muscles stretch. Tazz told me to stretch no matter how tired I am before and after a match to make sure I'm ok. Lance told me that too

Lance. I've been thinking about him a lot lately. Maybe it's the sex with Sean that's brought it on. I mean I don't feel guilty because the sex makes me feel real good and I know Sean's enjoying it. He gave me this blood red rose a couple of days ago without any reason why. I like the way he's so mysterious and different to any man I've been with. He's very different to Lance, unafraid of his sex appeal and willing to do the work he has to do to get to the top. I'm very proud of him. He says he's proud of me for last week. But still I miss Lance. He still calls me and we talk but I think someone's said something to him. He's guarded, less open than usual, like he can tell something's changed. I haven't told anyone in the Raw network but people like Tazz who see me and Sean backstage know what's between us and as I've said before, nothing stays a secret in the network. I feel like I'm losing Lance. I don't want to but its happening and I can't stop it. Sean has opened something in me that I love and don't want to lose. Maybe it's for the best

"...and then they dance in the club and all these people form a circle around them" Dia finishes, her voice appearing very suddenly in my thoughts "it's a great movie, Jamie and I saw it at the cinema"

I lift my head and grin at her briefly then drop my leg and offer her the other one. She takes it with a smile as I lower my head to stretch it out. I want to feel fully flexible. It's me and Dia against Sable and Torrie. It should be interesting. I haven't really seen Sable since last week when we went shopping together again. I did see her earlier today when we passed each other in the corridors and she said 'let the best women win' with a charismatic wink. I don't know if that was a challenge or not but either way, Nidia and I are up for it. I know Sable's got something up her sleeve.

Everyone's still recovering from Backlash. You may have seen me there trying to stop the two Barbies Torrie and Stacy from completely wrecking our locker room along with the rest of the women's roster. Geez those two can brawl if they want to. Sean won his match too. I was so proud. We had a great celebration afterwards. Dinner, a club and then sex. Perfect.

I drop my leg unceremoniously and begin stretching my arms. Dia stays by my side, her hands slip deep into her pockets and she carries on chattering to me, punctuated by her gum cracking. It's kinda comforting to hear her. If she isn't talking about something that reminds her of something else then I'd worry about her. It's the background to my life really. I don't usually spend this long stretching but earlier I had this marathon training session with Tazz. He insisted that I stretch properly before I started and I felt so much better than usual afterwards. He said I should do that before every match so that my muscles know what's coming. He's the boss. I just obey. Kinda kinky-sounding now I've thought about it.

"..then we got thrown out so Jamie brought the popcorn vendor out with us but then the cops came past so Jamie couldn't beat him up for getting us thrown out" Dia says with a sigh and a look at Jamie

"You're always getting thrown out of somewhere" I say

"Not everywhere, just places that don't like us" corrects Dia "like restaurants, theatres, cinemas, they say we 'upset the customers by being so public with our affection' I don't even know what that all means but I don't think they like us making out"

"Guess not" I reply with a laugh

"But that's ok, there's plenty of places that don't mind like the park, the garage, the beach, the trailer park, its all good"

"Ok I think I'm about ready" I say, shaking my arms a little to check their looseness

The door swings open and Sean walks in uninvited

"Good" is all he says as he walks up to me and snakes an arm dangerously low around my waist.

"Do you have ESP?" I ask with a teasing smile

"I just listen through walls" he replies with a matching smile

"Good to see ya boy" is the greeting Jamie offers him

I keep forgetting they worked in WCW together before Shane bought it. Kind of cool they know each other.

"Hey Sean" Dia says chirpily, her earlier dislike of him seeming to have been wiped away "that was a great match at Backlash"

"Thank you" he says, without even looking at her "I'm glad you enjoyed it"

"What you are doing tonight baby?" I ask him

"Piper needs me at the Pit again; apparently Mr America is going to make an appearance" Sean replies

"Really? I've heard all about him" Dia chatters, now sitting on Jamie's lap "Steph was so smug that she got him on contract"

I roll my eyes. Steph is always smug about something. Earlier it was because she was putting me in a tag match she 'knew' I'd lose since it was gonna be against Sable and Torrie, a team she thinks can't be beat. Who knows with Sable. I love her to bits but I never know what's gonna happen with her.

"Ruby red"

Sean's voice brings me out my daydream thoughts and into his powerful eyes. I smile and kiss him. I'm about to pull away when he starts kissing me back. Then it's hard to resist. Man he tastes so good to me. That's what's gonna stay with me like forever. His taste and his words

He gently pulls away

"Ruby Red" he says again, his eyes exploring my face "good luck in your tag team match tonight"

Untangling one hand from my hair, he produces another rose, the same blood red as last week's, from inside his jacket. I gasp and then laugh, leaning against him. Its represents him perfectly that he's so mysterious in his slight romantic nature. Its one of the reasons he draws me in the way he does.

"Thank you Sean"

I close my hand around the prickly stem and find that his hand hasn't left it yet. Both our hands are intertwined around the rose. It makes me smile. Then he lets go. Allowing me to put it down on the side where it won't get crushed or thrown away. Sean watches my movements with his eyes and smiles that smile when I look back at him

"Sable may try something" he warns quietly "just trust your partner but not too much"

I nod, knowing he is going into the rule of mentor again. It happens from time to time but I've gotten used to it. He does that to everyone. Then with a final kiss, he pulls away. His only contact to me is one of his hands intertwined with one of my own

"See you after I'm done" he says "dinner, a club and then.."

"Who knows?" I finish for him

It's what we always say since that's the way our conversation walking out of the building two weeks ago went when this all started. It kind of restarts everything for us. He nods and then slips silently from the room, leaving me smiling and silent. Dia is noisily making out with Jamie whose pork rinds are scattered on the floor forgotten. Guess the man's got his priorities right.

It can't be long before our match starts. I look at the match list taped up in our room then stick my head out into the corridor to glance at the monitor near by. Yeah we're next. I withdraw back inside and then tap Nidia on the shoulder lightly.

"Time to get to the curtain" I say

"Oh ok, you staying back here baby?" she asks Jamie after they break apart

"No way, I'm gonna be out there taking care of the ladies" Jamie replies, winking at me

I grin back at him. It's nice to know he cares. Dia's humming under her breath again as she slips her sneakers back on and Jamie's kicking the pork rinds under the benches for the cleaners to take care of. They're a picture of complete synchronicity, knowing what to do while the other's doing something else. They turn to each other at the same time so that they can kiss and head for the door with me behind them grinning. They really are two parts of the same person.

We reach the curtain and are told to wait by a crew member who waits for our cue. Dia, wrapped around Jamie, looks me up and down and then smiles

"You look like Tori" she suddenly exclaims

"What??!!" I practically yell

The last thing I want to do is look like the plastic princess. How can I? I'm brunette, I'm thinner and have better breasts than her anyway. I'm starting to panic now. Then Dia reassures me

"Not Torrie with an ie Dawn! Tori with an i! The one who X-Pac thought was sexy and was Stephanie's best friend"

Oh Tori. Now I get it. Yeah I guess in a strap shiny black belly top and matching trousers, I do resemble the former DX member's dress sense. Hey she had a phenomenal body and was an amazing wrestler, I am not complaining about the comparison. It's a heck of a compliment. I grin at Dia and put a hand on my hip

"So do I look elegantly evil?" I say, using the description that JR always used when talking about Tori

"Oh hell yeah, you look hot too though" Nidia tells me

Before I can reply, the crew member jabs me in the shoulder and points to the curtain. Well that was professional. I scowl at his back and then roll my eyes at the others. The crew are such drama queens sometimes. Dia laughs and unwraps herself from Jamie and we walk side up side with Jamie behind us like a bodyguard. They've decided to use Jamie and Dia's music for us which is fine by me. I don't mind being associated with them at all. With a nod at each other, we walk through the curtain and down the ramp. We get cheered of course for our hot bodies which we're both expecting. As we get in the ring, down comes Torrie, all in pale green, nice and shiny and totally hideous on her body. She gets in the ring cautiously, eyeing us both with distinct hatred. We smile back, like a snake smiles. Then Sable's music hits and she saunters down the ramp all in black. Torrie turns to watch her approach, looking extremely distrustful of her tag team partner.

Dia and I look at each other, as usual thinking the same thought. As one, we attack Torrie from behind, throwing her to the mat. Sable quickly gets in the ring to come to Torrie's aid and kicks me off. I'm not surprised; Torrie has to trust her after all. I leave Dia in the ring to take care of business while Sable retreats to her corner. Dia hits a smart little suplex that Jamie applauds but Torrie's up and hits that swinging neckbreaker of her's. That's one of her finishers. She's quite near me so I stick my leg out and kick her hard in the calf. She cries out and crumples down. Dia scrambles to her feet and immediately zones in on the leg, working on it as hard as she can. I clap her, approvingly. She knows how to play this game. Find a weakness and exploit it.

Dia drags Torrie gasping to my corner and tags me in. With a flash of inspiration (maybe it's the spirit of Lita, who knows?) I climb the corner and come crashing down onto her with a springboard splash. It's extremely satisfying to see her yell beneath me so I go to the opposite corner and try for a reverse splash but the bitch Barbie moves and I end up on the mat. Jamie's barking instructions from the outside. I see Torrie try and get to her corner so I grab her leg and keep her out of arm's reach. Well what I guess would be arm's reach if Sable had her arm out but she just smiles and watches, leaning on the ropes lazily. I can feel pain in my back but like that matters. Its great being back in the ring, just being able to feel the pain is a blessing as I know I'm back in the ring. I get to my feet and wrench away at Torrie's leg. Its kind of fun, like pulling your Barbie to pieces. Out of the corner of my eye I see Sable drop from the ring apron and walk away. I look up and smile at her. She smiles back. Oh that's sweet; she's left me and Nidia a gift. I'll have to thank her later. I turn back to Torrie and then suddenly slingshot her into the canvas face first. This is a trick I learnt from Lance and suddenly, I want to use it on TV. Maybe as a gesture to Lance to show him I'm thinking of him. I roll into a Half Crab on Torrie. She screams as I lean back, applying more pressure and then finally, the sweet sound of tapping reaches my ears. She's given up which means I win. Something I love more than anything else.

I let go of her legs and can't stop grinning. I hope with all my heart that Lance is watching. I hope he's proud of me. I miss him.

Before I can think any more, Jamie grabs my hand and holds it up with Nidia on his other side and her hand up. It's a great moment. Being side by side with Dia and her man, arms raised in victory. We wave to the crowd before leaving the ring in a great mood

"That's what I'm talking about" Jamie says excitedly as he walks "you girls doin' the business and gettin' the victories"

"Damn right baby" Dia says

As I reach backstage, people are staring at me. They're looking at my body which is very hot. Some of them are smiling like they can't believe I've won a match. Ha, I'd spit in their general direction if I had no class. But luckily I do have some.

When I reach the locker room, I realise that my cell phone is ringing urgently. I quickly dig it out of my bag and look at the number. Lance.

"Hi Lance" I hope I don't sound nervous "did you see the match?"

"Yes I did Dawn" he replies in his solemn tone "you did well"

"Really?"

"Really, your Half Crab was a....surprise, it was pleasant to see you use a move I've taught you"

He sounds cold still. Distant as though he doesn't want to say too much

"Thank you Lance, it means a lot to me that you've rang"

There's a short pause. I know he's still there because I can hear the breathing. It's fragile this silence. Special almost, we're still connected even though we're not talking and there's a gap between us. Then he sighs, I almost don't hear it since it's so quiet. Then

"How is your new man?"

He doesn't sound bitter. Just brittle I guess, a little judgemental and sad. I take a breath

"He's fine Lance, his name is Sean O'Haire"

"I know perfectly well who he is, I worked with him during the Invasion" Lance replies "he works hard and he knows the business well, I suppose you find him attractive and..satisfying?"

"Yes I do Lance"

"Then be happy"

With that, there's a click and the phone goes dead. I feel chilled. That was one of the weirdest conversations I've ever had with Lance. He didn't seem himself, almost like he was drunk. But I know Lance doesn't approve of that. He was low, unremorseful and very dryly angry. If I didn't know him better I'd say he was jealous. He doesn't approve. A flare of hot anger sparks through me. He doesn't approve? It's my life and not his. I'm enjoying this; it takes the edge off my loneliness and my longing to be with him. If Lance doesn't want to deal with it then fine. But he cannot take away this new happiness that I've found. Its goes hand in hand with my victory streak I've acquired since going back on TV. Lance isn't going to ruin that for me. And he's not going to ruin what I have with Sean. Not if I can help it.