Woohoo! After a long weekend away from my beloved story, am I feeling fired up! First things first, thanks to all reviewers. To the-one-called-Drew, don't worry babe, I'm way ahead of you. Those thoughts had already crossed my mind. To Amber, see what I just wrote to Drew. To Dana, I know, this is a big challenge for me, because I want to bring honor to the memory of ECW. And I've actually read what you've written of Taking Everything Away, and I think it's awesome. Also, if you love Sabu, there's a funny little anecdote about him in the Hardy Boyz book. But yeah, he's the homicidal, suicidal, genocidal, freakin' man! To T-BOY DUDLEY, I freakin' love your sh*t. A good review from you is a true honor, and I'm sure you'll see at least one of your requests come to pass. To Samantha, she does, doesn't she? Probably because Lita is the freakin' coolest chick to ever live. Anyway, more story time!

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Lita was practically skipping as she walked backstage. Everything last week had gone so perfectly to plan, and she'd just gotten off the phone with Justin Credible, who would soon be making his jump back from NWA. She was sure Lance would be thrilled to have his old Impact Players teammate back. As long as he wasn't expecting her to bring in Dawn Marie.

Her whistling carried eerily in the empty hallways, but she was far too happy to feel apprehensive. She often got to the shows a little bit earlier than everyone, (had to plan for the night ahead and make sure everything would go smoothly for her boys), and she saw nothing ominous in the dark corridors. Her comfort in these lonely arenas was about to be permanently disrupted.

She didn't even sense her attacker's presence until she was slammed from behind into the concrete wall. She let out an irritated, but not yet frightened moan as her forehead bounced into the hard surface. "What the hel-?"

She was whipped around to find herself face-to-face with Randy Orton. This situation was going from bad to worse. She knew the stuck-up little rookie never strayed far from his mentors, and he did absolutely nothing without "the Game"'s approval. Which meant that the other two members of Evolution were close, and had something up their sleeves. Sh*t. ECW was tight, but they hadn't quite mastered the pack mentality yet. Too many loners and heroes in one group. She'd have to discuss the issue at tonight's meeting.

"What do you want kid?" She tried to sound tough, but was finding it hard with her arms pinned beside her head by, all cockiness aside, a very strong young man. He'd even had the foresight (or perhaps Triple H had warned him) to pin her legs with his own, which meant she wouldn't be able to knee him in the crotch. Quite a disappointment.

He smirked at her, all smugness and arrogance. "Does this little punk actually think he's HOT?" Lita wondered, and found herself trying to simultaneously stifle both a laugh and a gag.

"The Champ wanted me to send you a message." Orton's smirk widened. "Any beast can be killed if you cut off its head or cut out its heart. That's what's going to happen to your little playgroup if you don't back off. Think about it. Oh, and one more thing..." He leaned forward and ran his tongue up her neck, a la Evolution's entrance video. She couldn't suppress her shudder of fear. Smirking more broadly than ever, Orton released her and walked off.

Lita rushed into the ECW lockerroom and slammed the door shut behind her. She collapsed shaking onto a bench. She was upset from the incident that had just occurred, but being upset about it only made her angrier, and the anger made her more aware of her fear, and before she knew it, she was huddled in on herself with tears running down her face. Why had she taken this on? Why had she thought that she, just a woman, could lead a team of used-up, past-their-prime, men to the top of the wrestling industry? Why had she dare crossed, and so blithely at that, one of the most dangerous players in the business? Why-?

She immediately cringed back when a hand touched hers. "Hey Lita, are you okay?"

Lita quickly wiped her eyes and turned to face the intruder. "Yeah, Rob, I'm fine. What's up?"

He looked at her disbelievingly. "Lita, you're shaking."

"Yeah, well, it's cold in here." The excuse sounded lame to even her as soon as it left her mouth.

RVD shook his head sadly. "No, it's not." Lita only shrugged, her face turned away from him and hidden with her long flaming hair. "What's wrong? Talk to me...Amy..."

"That's not my name anymore; no one calls me that." She lifted her head and looked at him, and he noticed how bloodshot her eyes were. "Anyway, how'd you get here? What did you want?"

"Well, um," Rob felt put on the spot, and suddenly nervous. It was like being in school again when the teacher called on you for an answer and you hadn't read the chapter or even attempted the homework. Funny, how the pretty little diva in front of him could have that effect on grown men. "Makes sense that she's the leader now," he thought, which reminded him of his purpose in seeking her out in the first place.

"Actually, I've been looking to talk to you since last week," he confessed.

"Really?" Lita's left eyebrow shot up, and Rob continued on, stuttering.

"Yeah, well, you see, I was wondering..." He tried to meet her intense, questioning gaze, backed down, and settled for staring at his hands. "Since you're getting the old ECW group back together, why didn't you come to me? I mean, I understand, you know, if you don't want me to be in it, that's cool, but I was just wondering if it'd be okay with you if I was?"

Lita threw back her head and laughed, and Rob's heart sank. "Nevermind..." he muttered, and moved to get up.

"No, no, no," Lita stopped him with a hand on his leg and tears of laughter now squeezed out of her eyes. "I didn't ask you because I thought you'd never go for it. Out of all us, you've definitely made the most of yourself. Most of the rest of the guys had turned into jobbers, but you'd been fairly successful. I didn't think you needed us."

"Are you crazy?" Rob asked her, laughing a little himself. "If something doesn't change, I'm going to be stuck at midcard or in tag matches my entire life. Besides, how often do they have hardcore matches anymore? There isn't even a belt for it! No, I'm with you, every step of the way. That is...if you want me."

Lita nodded. "Under one condition."

"Anything."

"Don't tell the boys what happened here tonight?" Her eyes were soft and pleading, and Rob figured he would have agreed to just about anything she asked at that moment.

"You've got it. But...what exactly did happen?"

She sighed, a gentle motion that made her look entirely too fragile for Rob's liking. "All right, but you promised not to tell. Orton cornered me..."

"Did he hurt you?" Rob interrupted, anger hardening his voice.

"No, he just threatened me. I'm fine, but he did scare me a little."

"What did he say?"

"Triple H just wants us to back off from the title. Of course, there's no way that's happening, so I guess what he said really doesn't matter, now does it?"

Her spirit made Rob smile. "You're the boss...you tell me if it matters or not."

"It doesn't."

"All right then," he grinned. "I guess we'll get down to business when the rest of the crew gets here, then?"

"Absolutely. If anything, I'm more ready for tonight than I even was before."

"That's right," Rob agreed. "I know someone who has herself a women's title to win."

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So, more stuff's happening, stories develop around conflict, so now we have a bit of one going. Anyway, I'm having fun with this, I hope you are too, but I'll never know unless you review!