~
Stephanie stirred the straw in her thick banana milkshake that the waitress had made especially for her...it had taken some persuading, but the blonde had convinced 'Sally' that banana milkshakes tasted better when made fresh, with chopped banana pieces and ice-cream straight from the freezer.
She sat alone in the small isolated booth at the back of the cafe, so that no one on the street would see her, unless they were purposely looking for her...
She wondered how Lita was doing. The brunette must have been on the plane by then...it was late-ish, but there was only one flight available for that particular journey, and her stubborn best friend wouldn't back out so...
Stephanie shrugged, she was just glad it was Lita and not her...she'd never liked Chris Jericho, because, well, he'd simply never liked *her*.
"There you go hunny," Sally placed a small chocolate muffin down next to the milkshake and the blonde looked up confused.
"I didn't order this?" she said, but the round-faced waitress just smiled kindly.
"It's on me, and don't protest, because it'll only go in the trash otherwise," she winked at her only customer then walked back over to the counter, where she began to converse with the other waitress, Amanda.
Stephanie checked her watch. It was 9:45pm...luckily the cafe was open for 24 hours, so she could stay there for as long as it took...
"Hello princess,"
She looked up quickly, instantly recognising the voice and smiled brightly. It was them...
"Shawn!" she jumped up and hugged the older man, who hugged her back, then hugged the much larger man, "Hi Kevin,"
She sat back down, still smiling happily, as the two men sat opposite her. She couldn't believe it was them...she hadn't seen them for such a long time...and they were both supporting a short hair cut, only Kevin's was dark brown in colour.
"Hey Blondie," Kevin smirked, making the woman blush slightly...she'd forgotten that she too had a different hairstyle.
"So how have you been, sweetheart? Where have you been?" Shawn grinned, helping himself to her chocolate muffin.
"I've been good. I was staying in England actually, but I had to come back." She told them, watching as Nash raised his eyebrows interestedly.
"You went to England by yourself?" he asked her and she shook her head.
"No, actually I went with Lita,"
"The cute little redhead?" Shawn said, with a mouthful of chocolate.
Stephanie giggled...if only Lita could have heard him describe her as that, "yeah, the cute little redhead," she said.
"But you're both back now?" Kevin questioned. He clasped his hands together on the table in front of him.
"Yeah," the blonde nodded, "and we're going to find a way to stop Eric Bischoff from destroying my company, and my wrestlers."
Shawn stopped munching and glanced at Kevin, who spoke, "*Your* company?"
"That's right, I own everything, but I can't get rid of Bischoff so easily, he's powerful...what he's done to the wrestlers..." she broke off, sighing sadly.
"It's okay Steph, we know about the tracking devices," Shawn said, finishing the muffin and screwing up the wrapper. Stephanie stared at him in confusion, and then turned her eyes towards Kevin.
"How? I didn't think anyone knew except for the wrestlers who have them, and Bischoff,"
The large man shook his head, "They were Hunter's idea," he saw a small flicker in the blonde's eyes at the mention of her ex-husband, "He wanted us both to join his team, but we refused so he had Bischoff fire us...we were the lucky ones."
"And that was two years ago, right after Shane left," Shawn added, "Um...he told everyone you were dead."
Stephanie nodded and silently turned her straw between her fingers. She knew that Shane had done it to protect her, but she couldn't help but feel a little strange at the thought of people grieving for her...that is of course, if anyone had cared...
The two former wrestlers shared an uncomfortable glance and Shawn thought it best to change the subject...
"So who are the other guys helping us?"
"Um...Steve Austin..."
"Stone Cold?" Kevin smirked, "Geez, I haven't seen that guy in ages. Eric Bischoff fired him, about the same time he fired us...in fact it could have been the same day..."
"Yeah it was," Shawn nodded, "I remember the beer party he threw in the ring, he must have given Eric five stunners in a row, it was funny stuff,"
The blonde woman smiled as she tried to imagine the scene Shawn was describing...sounded too perfect to her. "I got The Rock, too," she said and both Nash and Michaels looked surprised.
"You did?" Kevin said, sounding amazed, and Steph nodded.
"Wow, I'm surprised. I didn't think he'd ever come back, considering he's had so much movie success," Shawn smirked.
"Yeah, he's quite the celebrity now, we're going to have to keep him hidden or something,"
Stephanie nodded at Kevin's words. She knew the Rock was very successful, and she had wondered why he would risk everything to help them out...but she needed every guy she could get, and she sure as hell wasn't going to turn down The Rock.
"I got Booker T," she said, counting of the third man with her fingers, and Shawn's smile grew. She remembered that he'd got on quite badly with Booker T at first, but they had soon grown to become good friends, luckily for her.
"He's a good man. He went out with an injury to his knee, and when Shane left, he never went back." The smaller man spoke, wishing he had another muffin to eat.
"Yeah, Booker is a good man," The big guy agreed.
So far, so good...the blonde didn't know whether she should mention the last guy...the one that Lita was going to find...no...she didn't even know if he was coming yet, so she'd just keep quiet about him for the moment...
"And that's all, right now," She smiled, ignoring the straw and taking a sip of her milkshake from the glass.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I want another muffin," Shawn grinned and Kevin shook his head.
"Do you ever think about anything other than food, Michaels?" Nash asked, and Stephanie giggled. She'd forgotten what those two were like when they got together, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't missed them both...because she had, and she was more than glad to see them again...and it was now that she *really* felt sorry for Lita...
~
It was very late by the time the taxi dropped her off at Chris' home in Winnipeg, and Lita was tired, hungry and freezing.
She looked up at the large house, remembering the only other time she'd ever been there before...it was a long time ago, when she was managing the Hardys and Chris was one of their good friends...he'd invited them over to his house for their week off...it was snowy, but the sun was shining and she remembered thinking how lovely his home was...he was a very tidy person, and always cared about his image...it was just a shame that his image was all he seemed to care about when he'd turned into an asshole.
Lita smirked. It was funny that both Chris and Matt had turned into jerks, and it seemed as though Jeff had too...whilst Edge, on the other hand, who had once been he biggest creep she'd known, was now a complete sweetheart.
An owl hoot sounded in the distance, hauling Lita back to reality and back to freezing her butt off on Jericho's doorstep.
She knocked, then felt a little foolish as she spotted a doorbell just to the right, and pressed it twice.
"I'm coming already!" An angry voice yelled from inside and Lita felt her nerves doubling as she recognised it...she just hoped he recognised her...
...Or then again...shaking slightly, she turned on the spot, changing her mind about the whole situation. She was really just kidding herself...deep down inside she had hoped that she might see the old Chris...the one she had hung out with when she'd first joined the company...the one who had helped her with the Dean Malenko situation...*that* was who she wanted to see...not the real Chris Jericho.
"Hey, do you know what time it is?" An irritated voice said from behind her. A hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder swinging her round, before she even had time to register his presence.
"Uh...H-Hi Jericho," She forced herself to say, meeting his shocked blue eyes, "can I come in?"
~
Stephanie stirred the straw in her thick banana milkshake that the waitress had made especially for her...it had taken some persuading, but the blonde had convinced 'Sally' that banana milkshakes tasted better when made fresh, with chopped banana pieces and ice-cream straight from the freezer.
She sat alone in the small isolated booth at the back of the cafe, so that no one on the street would see her, unless they were purposely looking for her...
She wondered how Lita was doing. The brunette must have been on the plane by then...it was late-ish, but there was only one flight available for that particular journey, and her stubborn best friend wouldn't back out so...
Stephanie shrugged, she was just glad it was Lita and not her...she'd never liked Chris Jericho, because, well, he'd simply never liked *her*.
"There you go hunny," Sally placed a small chocolate muffin down next to the milkshake and the blonde looked up confused.
"I didn't order this?" she said, but the round-faced waitress just smiled kindly.
"It's on me, and don't protest, because it'll only go in the trash otherwise," she winked at her only customer then walked back over to the counter, where she began to converse with the other waitress, Amanda.
Stephanie checked her watch. It was 9:45pm...luckily the cafe was open for 24 hours, so she could stay there for as long as it took...
"Hello princess,"
She looked up quickly, instantly recognising the voice and smiled brightly. It was them...
"Shawn!" she jumped up and hugged the older man, who hugged her back, then hugged the much larger man, "Hi Kevin,"
She sat back down, still smiling happily, as the two men sat opposite her. She couldn't believe it was them...she hadn't seen them for such a long time...and they were both supporting a short hair cut, only Kevin's was dark brown in colour.
"Hey Blondie," Kevin smirked, making the woman blush slightly...she'd forgotten that she too had a different hairstyle.
"So how have you been, sweetheart? Where have you been?" Shawn grinned, helping himself to her chocolate muffin.
"I've been good. I was staying in England actually, but I had to come back." She told them, watching as Nash raised his eyebrows interestedly.
"You went to England by yourself?" he asked her and she shook her head.
"No, actually I went with Lita,"
"The cute little redhead?" Shawn said, with a mouthful of chocolate.
Stephanie giggled...if only Lita could have heard him describe her as that, "yeah, the cute little redhead," she said.
"But you're both back now?" Kevin questioned. He clasped his hands together on the table in front of him.
"Yeah," the blonde nodded, "and we're going to find a way to stop Eric Bischoff from destroying my company, and my wrestlers."
Shawn stopped munching and glanced at Kevin, who spoke, "*Your* company?"
"That's right, I own everything, but I can't get rid of Bischoff so easily, he's powerful...what he's done to the wrestlers..." she broke off, sighing sadly.
"It's okay Steph, we know about the tracking devices," Shawn said, finishing the muffin and screwing up the wrapper. Stephanie stared at him in confusion, and then turned her eyes towards Kevin.
"How? I didn't think anyone knew except for the wrestlers who have them, and Bischoff,"
The large man shook his head, "They were Hunter's idea," he saw a small flicker in the blonde's eyes at the mention of her ex-husband, "He wanted us both to join his team, but we refused so he had Bischoff fire us...we were the lucky ones."
"And that was two years ago, right after Shane left," Shawn added, "Um...he told everyone you were dead."
Stephanie nodded and silently turned her straw between her fingers. She knew that Shane had done it to protect her, but she couldn't help but feel a little strange at the thought of people grieving for her...that is of course, if anyone had cared...
The two former wrestlers shared an uncomfortable glance and Shawn thought it best to change the subject...
"So who are the other guys helping us?"
"Um...Steve Austin..."
"Stone Cold?" Kevin smirked, "Geez, I haven't seen that guy in ages. Eric Bischoff fired him, about the same time he fired us...in fact it could have been the same day..."
"Yeah it was," Shawn nodded, "I remember the beer party he threw in the ring, he must have given Eric five stunners in a row, it was funny stuff,"
The blonde woman smiled as she tried to imagine the scene Shawn was describing...sounded too perfect to her. "I got The Rock, too," she said and both Nash and Michaels looked surprised.
"You did?" Kevin said, sounding amazed, and Steph nodded.
"Wow, I'm surprised. I didn't think he'd ever come back, considering he's had so much movie success," Shawn smirked.
"Yeah, he's quite the celebrity now, we're going to have to keep him hidden or something,"
Stephanie nodded at Kevin's words. She knew the Rock was very successful, and she had wondered why he would risk everything to help them out...but she needed every guy she could get, and she sure as hell wasn't going to turn down The Rock.
"I got Booker T," she said, counting of the third man with her fingers, and Shawn's smile grew. She remembered that he'd got on quite badly with Booker T at first, but they had soon grown to become good friends, luckily for her.
"He's a good man. He went out with an injury to his knee, and when Shane left, he never went back." The smaller man spoke, wishing he had another muffin to eat.
"Yeah, Booker is a good man," The big guy agreed.
So far, so good...the blonde didn't know whether she should mention the last guy...the one that Lita was going to find...no...she didn't even know if he was coming yet, so she'd just keep quiet about him for the moment...
"And that's all, right now," She smiled, ignoring the straw and taking a sip of her milkshake from the glass.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I want another muffin," Shawn grinned and Kevin shook his head.
"Do you ever think about anything other than food, Michaels?" Nash asked, and Stephanie giggled. She'd forgotten what those two were like when they got together, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't missed them both...because she had, and she was more than glad to see them again...and it was now that she *really* felt sorry for Lita...
~
It was very late by the time the taxi dropped her off at Chris' home in Winnipeg, and Lita was tired, hungry and freezing.
She looked up at the large house, remembering the only other time she'd ever been there before...it was a long time ago, when she was managing the Hardys and Chris was one of their good friends...he'd invited them over to his house for their week off...it was snowy, but the sun was shining and she remembered thinking how lovely his home was...he was a very tidy person, and always cared about his image...it was just a shame that his image was all he seemed to care about when he'd turned into an asshole.
Lita smirked. It was funny that both Chris and Matt had turned into jerks, and it seemed as though Jeff had too...whilst Edge, on the other hand, who had once been he biggest creep she'd known, was now a complete sweetheart.
An owl hoot sounded in the distance, hauling Lita back to reality and back to freezing her butt off on Jericho's doorstep.
She knocked, then felt a little foolish as she spotted a doorbell just to the right, and pressed it twice.
"I'm coming already!" An angry voice yelled from inside and Lita felt her nerves doubling as she recognised it...she just hoped he recognised her...
...Or then again...shaking slightly, she turned on the spot, changing her mind about the whole situation. She was really just kidding herself...deep down inside she had hoped that she might see the old Chris...the one she had hung out with when she'd first joined the company...the one who had helped her with the Dean Malenko situation...*that* was who she wanted to see...not the real Chris Jericho.
"Hey, do you know what time it is?" An irritated voice said from behind her. A hand suddenly grabbed her shoulder swinging her round, before she even had time to register his presence.
"Uh...H-Hi Jericho," She forced herself to say, meeting his shocked blue eyes, "can I come in?"
~