****Hey! This is the penultimate chapter......yep, it's nearly done! Hope you are still enjoying it!****

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Chapter forty-two

Lenny looked nervously around her as she sat drinking her coffee. The restaurant being empty made her feel jittery, and she had to push the feeling away. Amy would be back soon and she'd probably have Mark with her....then she'd have to tell him everything that had happened as well. She stared out of the window as she sipped the hot drink, looking down at what she could see of the latest city. Kevin had told her they would be in his hometown in another few days, and he was excited about her seeing his house, especially since he would be having some more time off then.

She was so caught up in thoughts of what they would be doing, that she didn't notice when Benoit walked into the big room. Not until a hard hand grabbed her arm and jerked her out of her seat, sending her coffee cup flying across the table.

"Alone at last," he said, laughing when her eyes widened. "You didn't tell that big asshole Nash about me, did you? But you did tell Calloway's bitch!"

"Let me go," she told him, moving her other hand to try and prise his fingers loose, fear clawing at her throat sharply.

Chris frowned and slapped her hand hard, making her snatch it back. "I'll let you go when I'm good and ready. I told you to keep quiet, but just like a little bitch you ran off and told someone. Couldn't help yourself could you? Typical fucking woman, always running her mouth. Well, now I'm gonna teach you a little lesson, you slut." He dragged her up against him and started to bend his head, and Lenny went wild.

No way was he kissing her, she thought hysterically. It was bad enough that he was scaring her to death...he was not going to touch her as well. She kicked at him and hit at his head as hard as she could, not caring where her blows landed, just as long as they made contact. Chris hissed in a breath when she connected with his stomach and then her foot hit his leg, and he drew back his arm, slapping her face hard.

Lenny was flung sideways by the force of the blow and she hit the table, promptly crumpling to the floor. Just as Chris was reaching for her again there was a shout of anger from the doorway, and he turned to find Scott Hall bearing down on him, his face a mask of fury.

He had seen exactly what Benoit had done, and he didn't even stop to think. His hand closed around Benoit's neck and his fist punched him squarely in the face, again and again, at a furious pace. Benoit tried to defend himself, surprised by the viciousness of the attack and by Scott's strength, but he didn't have a hope and soon his legs weakened and he fell down. Scott was in such a rage by now that he started kicking at the fallen man. A small hand touching his arm stopped him and he looked down at Lenny.

"You have to stop....you'll get in trouble," she said shakily, her face a chalky white.

His eyes took in her colour and went to the red mark on her face, one nostril dribbling blood where the big hand had hit her. The sight made him angry all over again and he aimed one more kick at Benoit, smiling grimly when he grunted in pain. "You fucking touch her again, you're dead, Benoit. You got me?"

Without waiting for a reply, Scott put his arm around Lenny's shoulders and guided her out of the room, intending to take her back to her hotel and then find Kevin. The first person they ran into was Paul Wight and his eyes widened when he saw Lenny's face. "What the fuck happened?"

Scott frowned. "Chris Benoit happened. Are you doing anything right now?"

Paul shook his head. "No, not until tonight. What do you want me to do?" he asked obligingly, unable to take his eyes off the way Lenny was shaking.

"Can you get her back to her hotel room? I need to find Kevin," Scott said, guiding Lenny over to Paul and giving a grim smile. "He needs to know what happened, and I doubt he'll be very happy about it."

"No problem man, I'll take her there now," Paul said, putting a big hand on her shoulder and patting gently.

Scott watched only long enough to see she would be taken care of and then he rushed off down the corridor to find his best friend. Halfway to the locker room he found Mark and Amy walking along, the big man looking incredibly grim. "You seen Kevin?" Scott asked them, having to put his arm out to stop their progress.

"In the locker room I think," Mark said, frowning as he caught sight of Scott's knuckles. They were scraped and bleeding. "What's happened?"

"I found Benoit with Lenny in the restaurant. He hit her," Scott explained, feeling his temper start to boil again.

"Oh my God!" Amy gasped out, looking up at her husband.

"Shit! You stopped him?" Mark asked Scott, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I stopped him, all right. I doubt he'll have moved far from where I left him. You want to have a go? Help yourself. I need to find Kevin and let him know," Scott said, hoping Mark would take him up on his offer.

"Good. I'll be with Chris, making sure he doesn't go anywhere," Mark said, his nostrils flaring with fury. "Where's Lenny now?"

"I got Show to take her back to her hotel room."

Amy looked up at Mark again. "I need to go and make sure she's okay," she said, reaching up to receive the kiss he bent down to give her. "Don't get yourself into trouble, okay?"

"Okay, darlin', I'll do my best," he said, giving a grim smile as he stalked off, leaving Amy to go back to the hotel.

Amy headed out of the arena and bumped into Stephanie. She looked at the girl she now considered to be her sister and debated whether to tell her what was going on. She didn't need to think about it for long, and she grabbed her arm, apprising her of the situation on the way. They got to the hotel as quickly as they could, and knocked on Lenny's door. Paul flung it open, his face fierce until he saw who it was, and then he relaxed and moved back so they could enter the room.

"Lenny's in the bedroom," he said quietly, nodding his head towards the door.

"How is she?"

He shrugged. "I'm not real good with things like this, but I think she's shocked. It's good that you're here, you can take care of her," he said to Amy, glancing once at Stephanie and then looking quickly away.

Amy nodded and walked over to the bedroom door, knocking once before poking her head around to see inside. She frowned when she saw Lenny curled up on the bed with her back to the door, not moving. Walking further into the room and closing the door, Amy went around the bed and sat down, looking at the other girl's pale face. She was holding a tissue to her nose, and she had been crying, but she seemed calm.

"I heard what happened," Amy said softly, and Lenny looked at her for the first time. "Mark and I were on our way to the restaurant when we bumped into Scott. He told us he saw Chris hit you, but he didn't give us any details."

"He knew I'd told you," Lenny whispered.

"How? I've only just told Mark and we haven't said a word to anyone else," Amy said, frowning. "Unless he overheard, but I was sure..." she tailed off and sighed. "I'm sorry Lenny. He must have heard what I was saying."

"It's not your fault," Lenny said, moving to sit up, wincing and putting her hand to her side as she did so. "He would have done it anyway, if he'd found me sitting there alone, regardless of who knew."

Amy watched the way Lenny held her side. "What's wrong?" she asked, nodding to the other girl's body.

"I fell against the table when he hit me. It's just a bruise," Lenny murmured, rubbing at it gently.

"I think we'd better get a doctor to give you a once over, make sure everything's okay," Amy said, picking the telephone up from the bedside cabinet.

"No, it's nothing, honestly. It's just a bruise, nothing serious!"

"Lenny, you're pregnant, you can't take risks with your health, not now," Amy told her, her tone brooking no argument. Lenny groaned when Amy started talking into the receiver, and she realised she was speaking to Vince. She told him everything that had happened in detail and requested that a doctor be sent to the hotel room. When she put the phone back down she gave Lenny a reassuring smile. "Chris Benoit is about to find himself out of a job, and I wouldn't be surprised if dad got the law involved as well. You don't have anything to worry about anymore."

Lenny wasn't so sure. Whether Chris went or not, she still had to explain to Kevin why she hadn't told him what was happening.

*******

Out in the living area, Stephanie sat feeling uncomfortable. She hadn't realised Paul would be here otherwise she wouldn't have agreed to tag along. He treated her like she had the plague lately. She glanced across at him and found him staring stonily at her, and she dropped her eyes again. Whatever it was she'd done to piss him off, it must have been really bad. She just wished she knew, so she could put it right somehow. For now, the way he was staring at her was making her jumpy, and she couldn't stay in the same room as him.

"I think I'll go and talk to my father, see what he can do about this situation," she mumbled, standing up and smoothing her skirt down before walking to the door.

"See ya," Paul said, his tone so cold she couldn't help looking back at him again.

She frowned. "Paul? Why are you acting so weird?"

"I'm not acting weird," he said, raising his eyebrows and continuing to glare at her like she was responsible for all the ills of the world.

"Yes, I think you are," she went on, really wanting to know why he was being so cool towards her.

"Like I care what you think," he said, folding his arms and leaning back on the sofa.

She was taken aback. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing. Why, is something bothering you?"

"Yes it is! Your attitude bothers me a lot!" she said, raising her voice slightly and planting her hands on her hips as she closed the distance between them and glared down at him.

Paul narrowed his eyes and stood up, his mouth turning down in a sneer. "I don't give a damn what bothers you! You don't like my attitude, then get out of my face!"

Stephanie stared at him open mouthed, fighting the urge to back up. Not many of the men made her feel small, but he definitely did. "I happen to be your boss, so I'll thank you to be polite!"

"Vince is my boss, you're nothing but his upstart daughter thinking you know enough about this business to run it! Well, you don't know anything, sweetheart."

"Don't you call me sweetheart!" she snapped at him, not liking this turn of events one bit.

"Or what? You'll fire me? You don't have that sort of authority."

"Maybe not, but my father does. And when he hears about this, you'll be gone!" she snarled, her eyes sparkling with bad temper.

"I wouldn't count on it, sweetheart, I'm worth more to him than you are at the moment," he said, smiling at how angry she became at the endearment. He only just managed to catch the hand she flung at his face, and he twisted it behind her back, pulling her body up against him. "Aw, Steph. If you wanted to touch me, you only had to say!" he said, and bent his head to claim her mouth, kissing her thoroughly before releasing her.

Stephanie stared at him with her mouth hanging open, not having the faintest idea what to say. She stood frozen for a few seconds and then spun on her heel and raced out of the room.

Paul ran a hand through his hair and slumped back down on the sofa, sighing and hoping he hadn't just lost his job.

*****

"He did what?!" Kevin bellowed, jumping up from his seated position and staring at Scott with anger and horror combined.

"He hit her," Scott said again, stepping sideways unobtrusively so that Kevin wouldn't knock him over when he rushed for the door. Seconds later he watched as the bigger man did just that, almost tearing the door off its hinges in his fury. He ran out behind him, intending to make sure he didn't kill Benoit. As much as it would please him to see the slimeball dead, he didn't want his friend going to jail.

"How did he hit her? Fist? Slap? Backhand?" Kevin asked, his voice rough. "I want to know every tiny detail, so I can give it back to him."

Scott widened his eyes slightly and raised his eyebrows. He almost felt sorry for Benoit, because he didn't think he'd ever seen Kevin this angry before. "He slapped her, open handed as far as I could tell, and she fell into the table and then onto the floor."

"She fell against a table?" Kevin asked, closing his eyes briefly as he thought about Benoit hitting Lenny. She was so small compared to all the wrestlers that it made his stomach churn to think of anyone hurting her. "That must have been painful."

"Her nose was bleeding too," Scott informed him helpfully, knowing he'd better tell him everything or he'd be getting a punch or two before Kevin was done.

"He made her bleed?" Kevin said, taking a deep breath. "He made her bleed," he repeated, clenching his fists. "I'm going to rip him to pieces!"

It took hardly any time at all for them to reach the restaurant, and when they walked inside it was to find Mark sitting in a chair, his big boot pressed against Benoit's neck to keep him on the floor. Several other guys were gathered around, looking stunned but making no move to stop what was about to happen. Mark looked over at Kevin and Scott when they appeared, and gave an evil smile as he looked down at Chris. "Looks like I don't need to hold you here any more," he said, removing his foot and standing up.

Chris immediately scrambled up off the floor, his eyes going to where Kevin was standing staring at him. Too late he tried to get out of the restaurant. Kevin was having none of it, and with a growl that sounded like the wolf he had often been called, he rushed at the other man and threw them both back down to the floor, his big fists moving almost in a blur of motion as he punched his hapless victim again and again.

Taking a breath and trying to control the anger riding him, Kevin paused in his beating and looked down at the other man's bloodied face. It wasn't enough; it would never be enough for what he had done. He pulled himself up and dragged Chris up with him, having to hold virtually all the other man's weight as his legs had all but given up. But Kevin didn't feel the extra load, not with the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

"You fucking hit my girl? Someone as big as you are tried to hurt someone as small as her?" Kevin gritted furiously, shaking Chris. "You fucking coward! You want a fight, big man, huh? You want to know what it feels like when someone bigger than you are does that to you?" Kevin drew back and slapped Chris on the side of the face as hard as he possibly could, letting him go as he did so. Chris flew sideways and hit the table, much the same as Lenny had done, but with much more force. Not satisfied, Kevin dragged him up and did it again, and then again....smiling when the smaller man made a sound that was very much like a scream after one of the blows.

Mark watched dispassionately as Kevin tried his best to beat Benoit to death and then he looked at Scott and gave a small nod. Scott knew exactly what that meant, and he nodded back, moving forward carefully to lay a hand on Kevin's arm. He jerked backwards slightly when Kevin spun in his direction, his whole expression animalistic. "Kevin, you have to stop, buddy," Scott said, his voice low as he tried to bring his friend out of the altered state he had entered. "Come on, you have to stop now."

Kevin let out a deep breath and dropped Benoit on the floor like a sack of potatoes, his fingers clenching and unclenching as he slowly calmed down. He looked down at the man he had hurt so badly and curled his lip, spitting on him for good measure. "Feel lucky you're still breathing, you son of a bitch," he told him, stepping back and only then noticing the other people standing around, some of the younger ones looking awed.

Mark moved over and patted Kevin on the back, guiding him towards the door. Before they got there Vince walked in with some other officials behind him, and he rolled his eyes when he saw Benoit laying on the floor. "I guess I don't need to ask what happened?" he said, sighing as he looked around the room. "Did anyone see what happened here?"

There were murmured denials and lots of shaking heads, and Vince pursed his lips as he looked up at the trio in front of him. "I didn't think so. You know I don't condone this sort of justice, Kevin. But I do understand it."

"I didn't do a thing," Kevin said lightly, and Vince looked pointedly at the blood on the big man's hands.

"I can see that. Are you okay for your match tonight?"

"I'm good to go," Kevin told him, knowing he needed his hands looking at, but not worried about them.

Vince nodded. "Go and get cleaned up, find Lenny and make sure she's okay. I'll deal with this little....problem."

"Thanks Vince," Kevin said, leaving the room with Mark and Scott.

His mood didn't improve as they walked along, because Mark told him everything that had happened over the last few days. He was glad now he had beaten Benoit so badly, but he couldn't help wishing he could have finished him once and for all.

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*****Gasp! Like I said before, sorry to any Benoit fans....hahahaha! Sorry, couldn't help myself! One more chapter to go!*****