Title: Nothing Stays the Same.
Author: Cathie McMath. (email: penrithpanther_03@yahoo.com.au)
Disclaimer: I don't own Jeff, Lita, Trish Stratus, Edge - or any other WWE wrestlers that I may mention in this fic. I dream about owning them every night.. but in reality I don't. Good ol' Vinny Mac does.
Summary: Lita reflects on Jeff's recent behaviour.
Rating: PG. I think it's nice and clean.
TimeLine: Now. Starting from January through to right now - April 2003.
Distribution: Just email me and let me know if you'd like to have it.
Author's Note: This chapter was quite obviously inspired by the Lita segment on RAW tonight (22/4). I am PISSED off with Eric Bischoff! *sigh* Is he trying to kill RAW? Anyway, lemme know what you think of this chapter. I luv those reviews!
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
No way.
Jeff paused as he took a sip from his water bottle. He felt his heart begin to race as he listened to what Jonathan Coachman was saying as he stood out in the middle of the ring. Something that he was saying - or maybe it was the way he was saying it - made Jeff's stomach roll around inside of him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honour.. my privilege.. to introduce to you one of the greatest women superstars ever in World Wrestling Entertainment --"
Sitting on the couch in the locker room, Jeff kept his gaze focused on the monitor in front of him. Could he be introducing.. no, it couldn't be. Surely, if it was her, he would've seen her backstage before the show. Surely, if it was her, she would've told him about it. Surely, if it was her, he would know.
Wouldn't he?
" -- Please welcome, Lita!"
Alone in the locker room, the youngest Hardy brother rose quickly out of his seat, standing in front of the television screen in shock. She was here! She was here! And she was going out to the ring! His level of excitement quickly sank. Why hadn't he known about this? He hadn't had a clue..
He watched as she entered from backstage, the entire audience cheering for her. She looked gorgeous as she ran down the ramp towards the ring, playing up to the fans and smiling. Jeff couldn't help but get a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach when he noticed her give the Hardys "gun" sign when she climbed to the turnbuckle in the ring. Still standing in front of the monitor, Jeff kept his own breathing quiet as she took the microphone from Coach's hand.
Jeff listened carefully as Lita talked about her time away from the ring. He watched closely as she smiled when the crowd chanted her name loud and strong. He smiled as well, knowing how good she must be feeling hearing that once again. He watched her talk in the ring, and it amazed him how incredible she looked.
He actually hadn't seen her in quite a few weeks. The last time he had even spoken to her over the phone was two weeks ago. Since then, things hadn't been so great between him and his best friend. For some reason, the last phone call they had was forced and unnatural. And of course, a lot of his free time - time that he would normally have spent visiting Lita - had been taken up by Trish. And it seemed that a lot of Lita's free time was being taken up by Edge.
It had been at least a month since Jeff had seen Lita in person. And she was looking absolutely amazing. Her hair was a brilliant shade of red, with a few blonde streaks throughout. Her eyes sparkled whenever she smiled, and her whole face lit up when the audience cheered. She really thrived being out there.
Suddenly, Jeff's studies on Lita were broken as Eric Bischoff's music played. Jeff shuddered inwardly. If Eric was coming out, something not-good was about to happen. That was just an obvious fact that everyone at the WWE had come to learn since Bischoff's arrival. When you heard that music, something was about to go down. And it was never good.
The blue and green haired man sat back onto the couch, watching as Eric Bischoff slithered around the ring, talking to Lita. Although he wouldn't even classify that as talking. It was more like a hissing. Jeff watched as Eric told Lita that she "impressed" him; watched as he ran his hand through her hair, brushing it away to expose her neck; watched as he ran his hand down her arm; watched as he made quite a number of very indecent proposals to the redheaded diva.
Jeff knew that Eric Bischoff - the man, not the character - was a really great guy. Eric respected the superstars, and treated them all with an equal amount of trust and understanding. He sure knew how to play a villain though, when the time called for it. His character was certainly the guy everyone loved to hate, and Eric played it off brilliantly. So much so, that Jeff had to stop himself from running down to the ring and beating the shit out of him for the things he was saying to Lita. But Jeff knew that there was a reason for it all. And Eric was a genius when it came to the business, so it was more than likely a damn good reason at that.
After Lita was finally allowed to speak, Jeff chuckled out loud at her reply to Bischoff's advances. "Go to hell." That's my girl.
Jeff watched as Eric spluttered about in the ring, threatening Lita. The strong willed woman never looked back, walking straight up the ramp. It was then that he said it. It was then that Jeff felt all his feeling's of pride, and happiness fade away.
"Fine. You've made your choice. Lita.. YOU'RE FIRED!"
No. No. That couldn't be right. It was her first time back on RAW in more than a year, and he had fired her already? No.. that couldn't be the right storyline. There must have been a mistake. And she didn't even look surprised. It was like she knew it was coming...
Jeff quickly rose from his seat once again, throwing the locker room door open and storming out into the arena hallway. Desperate to find Lita, Jeff made his way towards the backstage area. Nearing the area, Jeff caught sight of the man in question - his boss, Eric Bischoff.
"Eric! Hey, Eric!"
The dark haired man gave Jeff a slight wave, and walked up beside him. "What's up, Jeff? What can I do for you?"
"For starters, you can tell me what the hell just happened out there?" Jeff asked forcefully, frowning at the RAW General Manager. "I mean, God Eric! I didn't even know Lita was going to be here tonight!"
"No one did, besides me and her, of course. Coach only found out the minute he had to introduce her."
Jeff shook his head fiercely. "That's not the point."
Eric shrugged. "Look, Jeff. If you really want to know what's going on, I suggest you go talk to Lita herself."
"Okay. Where is she?" Jeff immediately turned away from Eric, scanning the area for the redhead.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" When he was met with a blank stare from the younger man, Eric sighed heavily. "You'll have to talk to her after the show. You have a match later. You're on in about 20 minutes."
Jeff scowled. "Damn it. Me and Trish getting attacked by the Dudleys. Not even really a match, is it?"
"I'm sorry. You'll have to wait until after your match to talk to Lita." Eric began to walk away, when Jeff grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"No, wait. How's this: why don't you put Spike in my place?"
His brow furrowing, Eric looked at Jeff with confusion sitting on his face. "Spike Dudley? But Jeff, you're Trish's partner."
Waving his hand, Jeff shook his head, dismissing the comment. "It doesn't matter. This will be much more dramatic. Makes for better t.v! Spike against his brothers. It adds a whole emotional level to it." Jeff watched as Eric thought about his suggestion. "Come on, it'll work."
"I don't even know if Spike is ready to wrestle tonight."
"What wrestling? All he needs to do is take a couple of bumps."
"But what if he doesn't have his gear with him?"
"Trust me, he'll have it. Spike Dudley always has his gear with him. Just in case."
Eric hesitated, studying Jeff closely. Then he let out a heavy sigh of defeat. "Fine, fine. Go on, find Lita. I'll go find Spike and let him know he's taking your place."
"Thanks Eric."
The two men began to walk in their separate directions, when Bischoff turned back to Jeff, calling out to him. "Do you want me to find Trish and let her know too?"
"Um, yeah. Better do that as well." He waved a thank you to his boss. "Thanks!"
As Jeff quickly made his way through the arena, it wasn't long before he came across Lita, who was talking with Victoria. Jeff approached the two divas, who ceased their conversation as the man neared them.
The green and blue haired Hardy registered the look that Lita sent his way as he stood next to the two women, and felt his heart plummet to his stomach. It was a cold look, one that he'd never received from her before. Victoria wisely noted that she was about to witness something that was none of her business, and said goodbye to both Jeff and Lita, leaving the two alone in the hallway.
"Can I talk to you?"
Lita eyed Jeff carefully, and nodded, gesturing for him to follow her as she continued to walk down the hallway. "What do you want to talk about, Jeff?"
Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, Jeff glanced down at the floor as he spoke. "There's quite a lot actually. But I guess I'll start with - what happened out there?"
Lita shrugged slightly, still keeping her pace. "It was just the set up for my return."
"But, getting fired? Aren't there better ways to return to RAW then that?"
Lita's eyebrows rose, as she turned her attention onto the man beside her. "That's just it. I'm not returning to RAW."
Jeff almost stumbled over his own feet, stopping in his tracks. It took him a second to digest the information Lita had just given him before he recovered enough to catch up to the redhead, and begin questioning her once more.
"Not - returning - to RAW?" He stuttered. "Then.. then.. where?"
Her eyes narrowed as she stopped walking, giving Jeff her full attention. They had stopped just outside of the parking lot, and a cool breeze was blowing into the arena from the cold outside. Lita scoffed at Jeff's question. "Jeff, where else would I be going, if I'm not coming back to RAW?"
"Smackdown!?" Jeff said, his voice quiet. Then, as if realising what it meant, his level rose considerably. "Smackdown!?! But you said you could NEVER work on Smackdown! Not with Matt being there and everything. You said you wouldn't be able to work with him! Why would you want to go to Smackdown, instead of RAW?"
Lita shook her head gently, her features softening. "I can handle working with Matt." She kept her gaze on the younger Hardy brother, her head titled ever-so-slightly.
Jeff frowned, unable to understand what his best friend was trying to say. "You can handle working with Matt? But why would you even want to TRY to handle it, when you can just stay here and --"
He stopped. Oh, my God. It finally hit him. He finally realised what she meant.
"You can handle working with Matt on Smackdown. But.. you can't handle working with me, here on RAW."
Author: Cathie McMath. (email: penrithpanther_03@yahoo.com.au)
Disclaimer: I don't own Jeff, Lita, Trish Stratus, Edge - or any other WWE wrestlers that I may mention in this fic. I dream about owning them every night.. but in reality I don't. Good ol' Vinny Mac does.
Summary: Lita reflects on Jeff's recent behaviour.
Rating: PG. I think it's nice and clean.
TimeLine: Now. Starting from January through to right now - April 2003.
Distribution: Just email me and let me know if you'd like to have it.
Author's Note: This chapter was quite obviously inspired by the Lita segment on RAW tonight (22/4). I am PISSED off with Eric Bischoff! *sigh* Is he trying to kill RAW? Anyway, lemme know what you think of this chapter. I luv those reviews!
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
No way.
Jeff paused as he took a sip from his water bottle. He felt his heart begin to race as he listened to what Jonathan Coachman was saying as he stood out in the middle of the ring. Something that he was saying - or maybe it was the way he was saying it - made Jeff's stomach roll around inside of him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honour.. my privilege.. to introduce to you one of the greatest women superstars ever in World Wrestling Entertainment --"
Sitting on the couch in the locker room, Jeff kept his gaze focused on the monitor in front of him. Could he be introducing.. no, it couldn't be. Surely, if it was her, he would've seen her backstage before the show. Surely, if it was her, she would've told him about it. Surely, if it was her, he would know.
Wouldn't he?
" -- Please welcome, Lita!"
Alone in the locker room, the youngest Hardy brother rose quickly out of his seat, standing in front of the television screen in shock. She was here! She was here! And she was going out to the ring! His level of excitement quickly sank. Why hadn't he known about this? He hadn't had a clue..
He watched as she entered from backstage, the entire audience cheering for her. She looked gorgeous as she ran down the ramp towards the ring, playing up to the fans and smiling. Jeff couldn't help but get a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach when he noticed her give the Hardys "gun" sign when she climbed to the turnbuckle in the ring. Still standing in front of the monitor, Jeff kept his own breathing quiet as she took the microphone from Coach's hand.
Jeff listened carefully as Lita talked about her time away from the ring. He watched closely as she smiled when the crowd chanted her name loud and strong. He smiled as well, knowing how good she must be feeling hearing that once again. He watched her talk in the ring, and it amazed him how incredible she looked.
He actually hadn't seen her in quite a few weeks. The last time he had even spoken to her over the phone was two weeks ago. Since then, things hadn't been so great between him and his best friend. For some reason, the last phone call they had was forced and unnatural. And of course, a lot of his free time - time that he would normally have spent visiting Lita - had been taken up by Trish. And it seemed that a lot of Lita's free time was being taken up by Edge.
It had been at least a month since Jeff had seen Lita in person. And she was looking absolutely amazing. Her hair was a brilliant shade of red, with a few blonde streaks throughout. Her eyes sparkled whenever she smiled, and her whole face lit up when the audience cheered. She really thrived being out there.
Suddenly, Jeff's studies on Lita were broken as Eric Bischoff's music played. Jeff shuddered inwardly. If Eric was coming out, something not-good was about to happen. That was just an obvious fact that everyone at the WWE had come to learn since Bischoff's arrival. When you heard that music, something was about to go down. And it was never good.
The blue and green haired man sat back onto the couch, watching as Eric Bischoff slithered around the ring, talking to Lita. Although he wouldn't even classify that as talking. It was more like a hissing. Jeff watched as Eric told Lita that she "impressed" him; watched as he ran his hand through her hair, brushing it away to expose her neck; watched as he ran his hand down her arm; watched as he made quite a number of very indecent proposals to the redheaded diva.
Jeff knew that Eric Bischoff - the man, not the character - was a really great guy. Eric respected the superstars, and treated them all with an equal amount of trust and understanding. He sure knew how to play a villain though, when the time called for it. His character was certainly the guy everyone loved to hate, and Eric played it off brilliantly. So much so, that Jeff had to stop himself from running down to the ring and beating the shit out of him for the things he was saying to Lita. But Jeff knew that there was a reason for it all. And Eric was a genius when it came to the business, so it was more than likely a damn good reason at that.
After Lita was finally allowed to speak, Jeff chuckled out loud at her reply to Bischoff's advances. "Go to hell." That's my girl.
Jeff watched as Eric spluttered about in the ring, threatening Lita. The strong willed woman never looked back, walking straight up the ramp. It was then that he said it. It was then that Jeff felt all his feeling's of pride, and happiness fade away.
"Fine. You've made your choice. Lita.. YOU'RE FIRED!"
No. No. That couldn't be right. It was her first time back on RAW in more than a year, and he had fired her already? No.. that couldn't be the right storyline. There must have been a mistake. And she didn't even look surprised. It was like she knew it was coming...
Jeff quickly rose from his seat once again, throwing the locker room door open and storming out into the arena hallway. Desperate to find Lita, Jeff made his way towards the backstage area. Nearing the area, Jeff caught sight of the man in question - his boss, Eric Bischoff.
"Eric! Hey, Eric!"
The dark haired man gave Jeff a slight wave, and walked up beside him. "What's up, Jeff? What can I do for you?"
"For starters, you can tell me what the hell just happened out there?" Jeff asked forcefully, frowning at the RAW General Manager. "I mean, God Eric! I didn't even know Lita was going to be here tonight!"
"No one did, besides me and her, of course. Coach only found out the minute he had to introduce her."
Jeff shook his head fiercely. "That's not the point."
Eric shrugged. "Look, Jeff. If you really want to know what's going on, I suggest you go talk to Lita herself."
"Okay. Where is she?" Jeff immediately turned away from Eric, scanning the area for the redhead.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" When he was met with a blank stare from the younger man, Eric sighed heavily. "You'll have to talk to her after the show. You have a match later. You're on in about 20 minutes."
Jeff scowled. "Damn it. Me and Trish getting attacked by the Dudleys. Not even really a match, is it?"
"I'm sorry. You'll have to wait until after your match to talk to Lita." Eric began to walk away, when Jeff grabbed his arm and stopped him.
"No, wait. How's this: why don't you put Spike in my place?"
His brow furrowing, Eric looked at Jeff with confusion sitting on his face. "Spike Dudley? But Jeff, you're Trish's partner."
Waving his hand, Jeff shook his head, dismissing the comment. "It doesn't matter. This will be much more dramatic. Makes for better t.v! Spike against his brothers. It adds a whole emotional level to it." Jeff watched as Eric thought about his suggestion. "Come on, it'll work."
"I don't even know if Spike is ready to wrestle tonight."
"What wrestling? All he needs to do is take a couple of bumps."
"But what if he doesn't have his gear with him?"
"Trust me, he'll have it. Spike Dudley always has his gear with him. Just in case."
Eric hesitated, studying Jeff closely. Then he let out a heavy sigh of defeat. "Fine, fine. Go on, find Lita. I'll go find Spike and let him know he's taking your place."
"Thanks Eric."
The two men began to walk in their separate directions, when Bischoff turned back to Jeff, calling out to him. "Do you want me to find Trish and let her know too?"
"Um, yeah. Better do that as well." He waved a thank you to his boss. "Thanks!"
As Jeff quickly made his way through the arena, it wasn't long before he came across Lita, who was talking with Victoria. Jeff approached the two divas, who ceased their conversation as the man neared them.
The green and blue haired Hardy registered the look that Lita sent his way as he stood next to the two women, and felt his heart plummet to his stomach. It was a cold look, one that he'd never received from her before. Victoria wisely noted that she was about to witness something that was none of her business, and said goodbye to both Jeff and Lita, leaving the two alone in the hallway.
"Can I talk to you?"
Lita eyed Jeff carefully, and nodded, gesturing for him to follow her as she continued to walk down the hallway. "What do you want to talk about, Jeff?"
Rubbing the back of his neck nervously, Jeff glanced down at the floor as he spoke. "There's quite a lot actually. But I guess I'll start with - what happened out there?"
Lita shrugged slightly, still keeping her pace. "It was just the set up for my return."
"But, getting fired? Aren't there better ways to return to RAW then that?"
Lita's eyebrows rose, as she turned her attention onto the man beside her. "That's just it. I'm not returning to RAW."
Jeff almost stumbled over his own feet, stopping in his tracks. It took him a second to digest the information Lita had just given him before he recovered enough to catch up to the redhead, and begin questioning her once more.
"Not - returning - to RAW?" He stuttered. "Then.. then.. where?"
Her eyes narrowed as she stopped walking, giving Jeff her full attention. They had stopped just outside of the parking lot, and a cool breeze was blowing into the arena from the cold outside. Lita scoffed at Jeff's question. "Jeff, where else would I be going, if I'm not coming back to RAW?"
"Smackdown!?" Jeff said, his voice quiet. Then, as if realising what it meant, his level rose considerably. "Smackdown!?! But you said you could NEVER work on Smackdown! Not with Matt being there and everything. You said you wouldn't be able to work with him! Why would you want to go to Smackdown, instead of RAW?"
Lita shook her head gently, her features softening. "I can handle working with Matt." She kept her gaze on the younger Hardy brother, her head titled ever-so-slightly.
Jeff frowned, unable to understand what his best friend was trying to say. "You can handle working with Matt? But why would you even want to TRY to handle it, when you can just stay here and --"
He stopped. Oh, my God. It finally hit him. He finally realised what she meant.
"You can handle working with Matt on Smackdown. But.. you can't handle working with me, here on RAW."
