"Hot damn Red! Look at you!" exclaimed Jericho as he sauntered up to her in the hall, effectively blocking her path. He looked her up and down. "Don't you look foxy tonight!"
Evie rolled her eyes. She had left Bischoff's office after yet another confrontation with the general manager about her status in the company, and was not in the best of moods. "Can the crap Jericho and get out of the way," she replied tersely.
"Hey, c'mon now. Don't be that way. I know you want a piece of the King of the World. But with that attitude, all you're gonna get is hurt," he replied with a smirk. "Of course it's the good kind of hurt; where you wake up in the morning, aching all over after a night of damn great sex."
"Unless you want to see puke all over your boots, I'd shut up if I were you," she shot back.
"Oh, so graphic." He still wore the smirk. "Of course, I was thinking of something else that's pretty graphic..." he trailed off.
Evie folded her arms over her chest. "Actually Jericho, so am I. It involves you, me, and my foot kicking you square in the face," she said as she glared at him.
"You know Red, looking at you in that short skirt and those boots already has me turned on. And threatening me only turns me on even more," he said as he looked her up and down again. His gaze turned to the person he saw coming up behind her. "Hey Scott. Have you met Triple H's assistant?"
Evie turned around to find Scott Steiner standing behind her. He looked at Jericho and then at her as Jericho spoke up. "Scott, this is Evie. Evie, this is Scott Steiner. Of course, you probably already know that, being Triple H's personal assistant and all." Jericho took a couple steps back. "By the way Red, I'm in room 512. Why don't you come on by later? Oh! And wear those boots for me," he said as he backed away down the hall.
"Wish in one hand and crap in the other Jericho, and see which fills up first, " Evie retorted and then looked up. Steiner was almost looming over her. She couldn't tell if he was looking directly at her or not as he was wearing his sunglasses.
Finally he spoke. "So you're Triple H's assistant?"
"Yes," she simply said.
"Why don't you take this to him for me?" he said as he pulled a scrap of fabric out of his pants pocket and held it up for her to take.
Evie recognized it as a piece of Hunter's shirt from their altercation on Monday. She carefully took it from Steiner's fingers.
"Tell him that I'll be ripping more than his shirt off next time," he said. "In fact, I'll be ripping that title off his waist at the Royal Rumble. And there's nothing he can do about it."
Evie held the fabric in one hand and started to move away from Steiner. His hand shot out and gently grasped her upper arm. "You know, they call me Freakzilla," he said with a smirk. "How 'bout I show you why they call me that?"
She looked down at Steiner's hand and then up at him. What was with the men in this company? And why did they always think that women definitely couldn't resist them? Her eyebrow shot up as she turned a cool gaze on him. "Why don't you go ask Jericho how he received two bloody noses from me?"
She hoped he would get the hint because she didn't want to get into it with Steiner. She could just see that making its way to Bischoff's ears too. And that was definitely something she didn't need.
Fortunately, Steiner did get the hint and let go of her arm. "All right. I understand what you're saying. But you don't know what you're missing," he said as he backed away with his arms spread out. "Just make sure you give Triple H my message."
Evie said nothing as she strode away towards Hunter's dressing room. Is it Sunday yet? she asked herself as she came around the corner and almost ran into someone. "Dammit!" she exclaimed.
"Sorry," said the person. "I was looking for Ric Flair."
Evie glanced up to see Randy standing in front of her. "Sorry Randy. I'm not exactly in the best of moods right now."
He smiled at her. "It's okay."
"Isn't Ric in Hunter's room?" she asked.
"Actually, I was hoping you might know where he is," he replied.
Evie shook her head. "I wouldn't know. I'm just coming back from Bischoff's office."
Randy smiled again. "So that's why you're in a bad mood."
Despite herself, Evie smiled back. "Yeah. That man could put anyone in a bad mood just by looking at them." She opened the door to the dressing room. "C'mon in and we'll see if we can find Ric."
They both walked in to find Hunter, Flair and
Batista talking quietly on the sofa.
Hunter looked up as Evie and Randy came closer. "Hey Evie, everything go okay?"
She shook her head. "Not really. I need to talk to you about that."
Hunter stood up. "All right." He turned his attention to Randy. "Have a seat, kid. Ric wants to talk to you."
Randy took Hunter's place on the couch as Hunter steered Evie out into the hallway. Once the door shut behind them, he turned to her. "What happened?"
"Bischoff gave me shit about my employment situation again, but that's not what I want to talk to you about."
Hunter leaned against the wall. "So if it's not Bischoff, then what do you wanna talk to me about?"
She held up the scrap of cloth Steiner had given her. "I'm supposed to give you this and a message from Scott Steiner."
Hunter took the fabric from her. When he realized what it was, a tiny smile appeared on his lips. "What's the message?"
"He said that next time, he'll do more than rip your shirt off. At the Royal Rumble, he'll be ripping that title from your waist, and there's nothing you can do about it," she told him.
The small smile turned into a smirk as he turned the ragged scrap of fabric over in his hand. "Oh he did huh? We'll see about that." He looked at her again. "He didn't try anything with you did he?"
Now it was Evie's turn to smirk. "He tried. Or rather, he asked."
A glint of anger appeared in Hunter's eyes as he straightened up. "And what did you say?"
"I told him to ask Jericho how he was on the receiving end of a bloody nose twice," she said in amusement. "He got the hint."
"Lucky for him," Hunter growled. "Cause if he hadn't..."
"If he hadn't, he'd be clutching his nuts in one hand and holding his nose with the other," Evie replied with a grin.
Hunter chuckled. "That's my girl. And don't worry about Bischoff. I'll handle him."
"I figured you probably would," she responded. She nodded her head in the direction of the dressing room. "What are you guys cooking up in there?"
Hunter shrugged. "It's just an idea Ric and I had been tossing around for a while."
"Uh huh," Evie snorted. "Let me guess. It involves, you, Ric, Batista and Randy all forming your own little group."
He smiled. "Pretty much, but I'm not going to tell you anything else. The less you know, the better."
Evie nodded her head in agreement. "I don't want to know any more. But it'll be nice to have another young, healthy, male body walking around in a towel."
Hunter heard the amusement in her voice. "And you talk about me being a horrible person," he joked. She laughed as he opened the door to his dressing room and they went back in.
**********************
The rest of the week passed pretty quickly. Steiner and Hunter exchanged verbal barbs, but no physicality took place. Evie noticed that Steiner was hitting on everything with two legs and breasts. She had to smother a chuckle every time she saw him working on someone else. Jericho would wink at Evie every time he saw her, but after their conversation on Wednesday, he pretty much left her alone. Evie would occasionally see Shawn walking around, but he would only look at her and shake his head. She didn't bother to say anything to him at all.
The night of the Royal Rumble arrived and Evie found herself being sequestered in Hunter's locker room one again. Batista kept her company a majority of the time. She was thankful that it wasn't Ric. Hunter told her that he didn't want her walking around without either himself, Batista or Randy. She gave in to his demand gracefully.
Randy took her with him when he went to get his shoulder checked. Batista was changing into his gear, and Ric and Hunter had taken themselves off somewhere to go over Hunter's match with Steiner. The trainers gave Randy the once over, told him he was fine to wrestle Monday night if he had to, and Randy and Evie left the area.
As they walked out, Bischoff came up to talk to Randy. He pointedly ignored Evie, continuing his conversation with Randy. Evie smirked when she saw Stephanie McMahon approaching from the other side of Randy. Stephanie smiled at her and gave her a conspiring wink as she came up alongside Bischoff and Randy. Bischoff didn't notice her at first, but did a double take when he realized she was there.
Stephanie merely smiled at Bischoff and then talked to Randy about his injury. Randy said that he was at one hundred percent and thanked Stephanie for her concern. By this time, Bischoff had had enough and tried to usher Randy away to speak to him without Stephanie listening in.
Stephanie turned her attention to Bischoff. "I just wanted to say goodbye Eric. I mean, I'm not going anywhere, but you'll be gone in less than a month," she said in a falsely sweet tone.
Bischoff drew himself up to his full height. "You know that bombshell I talked about on HeAT? Well, that atomic bombshell will be announced tomorrow night on RAW. So you might want to tune in, Stephanie."
Stephanie grinned. "I have my own bombshell to drop on Thursday. And as far as my job security goes, blood is thicker than water." She paused, considering a thought for a second, and then spoke again. "Well, in your case Eric, blood is thicker than urine."
Evie pressed her lips together in an effort to suppress a grin. Finding it difficult, she unobtrusively covered her mouth with her hand.
"Don't forget Steph, money is thicker than blood," Bischoff responded tartly.
Stephanie walked away with her head held high. Bischoff watched her and then turned his attention back to Randy. As he did, he noticed Evie trying to cover up a grin. "You think that was funny?" he demanded.
Evie removed her hand, revealing a huge smile. "Actually, I did. Just goes to show Bischoff, that I'm not the only one who thinks you were scraped off the bottom of a garbage can."
Randy's eyes grew wide and his mouth formed an 'o' in surprise. Hunter had told him Evie could be feisty, but he hadn't expected her to take on the GM of RAW. He noticed Bischoff's expression was apoplectic. He gently took Evie by the arm, mumbled something to Bischoff about seeing him later and quickly steered Evie in the direction of the dressing room.
"Are you nuts?" he asked once they were out of earshot of Bischoff.
"I was only telling him the truth," Evie replied.
"You don't go around talking to the GM like that," Randy said quickly. "He'll have you fired so fast that your head will spin."
Evie chuckled. "Bischoff has no authority over me, so I don't need to worry about that." She shrugged. "Besides, Hunter already put his foot down with Bischoff on that issue."
Randy shook his head in disbelief. "Still, he can make things difficult for you."
"Hey, I wasn't telling him anything he hadn't heard before," she responded as they arrived at the dressing room door.
Randy opened it for her and they found Hunter, Batista and Ric inside. Still shaking his head at Evie's audacity, Randy joined them as Evie closed the door. Hunter asked him why he was shaking his head and Randy promptly launched into an explanation. All three men chuckled at Stephanie's remark about blood being thicker than urine and then laughed at Evie's garbage can comment.
"You mean you're not pissed, Hunter?" Randy asked incredulously.
"Hell no. Bischoff shouldn't dish it out if he can't take it," Hunter replied with amusement in his voice. "And he knows that if he gives Evie any problems, he'll have to answer to me."
The three men continued to laugh as Evie sat down on the sofa. "So glad I can amuse all of you," she said with humor.
Hunter flung his title belt over his shoulder. "Time to go kick Steiner's ass," he commented.
Evie wished him luck as Ric accompanied Hunter out the door.
"Remember, no going down to triage without one of us," Batista said as he sat down on the sofa with Evie to watch the match. Randy pulled up a folding chair.
"Yeah, yeah. I know," she sighed as she settled into the sofa cushions.
*******************
Referee Earl Hebner was speaking to both men right before he signaled for the match to begin. Evie could barely make out what he was saying, but it sounded like he had said that he knew how both men were and didn't want any funny stuff. The bell sounded and both Hunter and Steiner went at it.
Steiner threw chops at Hunter's chest while Hunter retaliated with his right hand. Steiner then gave Hunter a blow that dropped him to his knee. While he was down, Hunter swung his foot in Steiner's direction and connected with his kneecap. Steiner hopped in pain, but quickly recovered and gave Hunter a press slam. Hunter rolled to the outside to break the momentum and took a Steinerliner on the floor. Steiner picked Hunter up and rammed his lower back into the barricade several times. He then suplexed Hunter from the apron back into the ring.
Steiner climbed back in and applied a Boston Crab. Hunter pushed up to keep his back straight and managed to reach the rope as Steiner dropped his elbows to the back of Hunter's head. Hunter managed to recover and delivered a face buster to Steiner, but it seemed to have no effect on the other man. Steiner locked him up in a bear hug, slowly squeezing the breath out of Hunter. When Hunter was sufficiently subdued, Steiner then tossed him over his head. Steiner quickly covered Hunter, but only received a two count. He put Hunter in the Steiner Recliner, which Ric managed to break up by pulling Hunter's legs under the bottom rope for a rope break.
The two men went back and forth some more and ended up on the outside of the ring again. Hunter managed to toss Steiner into the steel steps. Hunter kicked Steiner in the gut a couple of times before tossing him back into the ring. Steiner stumbled to his feet and received a neck breaker from Hunter for his trouble. Hunter quickly pinned him, but only got a two count for his trouble. Steiner recovered and in return, Hunter attempted a Pedigree, but Steiner blocked it and catapulted Hunter into the turnbuckle. He then hit the Northern Lights on Hunter.
Steiner pulled Hunter up to deliver another blow, but Hunter reversed the move and smashed him in the face. Hunter then gave Steiner another neck breaker and almost got the three count again. Hunter delivered a vertical suplex, but when he attempted it from the second rope, Steiner caught him and suplexed him again from overhead. Steiner then backed Hunter into the corner with a couple vicious forearms, and then knocked him down twice with Steinerliners. Hunter received a back body drop and another overhead suplex, and then two more overhead suplexes in succession.
Steiner managed to drop him for the count, but Hunter jerked his shoulder up off the mat in time. Steiner went for a double under hook slam but barely managed to pull it off. Hunter gave Steiner a suplex from the top rope. As he rolled off Steiner, Ric grabbed the title belt and Hunter and they attempted to leave the ring. Steiner knocked them both down and the ref had to restrain Ric. As Steiner was distracted by Ric's raving, Hunter waited behind him, poised to hit him with the title when he turned around. As he took his shot, Steiner blocked it and reversed the belt into Hunter's face instead, breaking Hunter's forehead open. They both got back into the ring, battled for a few minutes and then Hunter slipped out and went behind the announce table to escape into the audience. His intention was to get counted out, but Steiner followed him, sent him back over the barricade, bounced his head off the announce table and they ended up back in the ring.
Flair tried to get the ref to stop the match because of Hunter's blood loss, but the ref blatantly refused. He also refused to count when Hunter kept trying to get counted out. Somehow Hunter lured the ref around and then threw him through the middle rope. The ref raised his hand to disqualify Hunter, but Steiner told him not to. The ref screamed at Hunter to wrestle and that the match would not end that way.
Steiner and Hunter kept at each other and Hunter trapped Steiner in the corner and kicked him low, then rolled him up for another count, but Steiner kicked out. Hunter rolled out of the ring, reached underneath the skirt and brought out a sledgehammer. He shoved the ref out of the way and thrust the sledgehammer into Steiner's ribs. The ref signaled for the bell and disqualified Hunter for using the sledgehammer. Hunter pushed the ref down and turned to nail Steiner again, but Steiner blocked it. He took the instrument from Hunter and used it on Hunter's midsection, then Ric's, and then a headshot to Hunter.
Steiner locked on the Steiner Recliner as the blood dripped down Hunter's face. More referees came in to break it up but were unsuccessful. Trainers and agents came out, but that didn't work either. Finally Bischoff came out and urged Steiner to stop. He told Steiner it was all over and that he didn't want a dead champion. Finally, Steiner let go and left the ring, only to come back with the championship belt and stood over Hunter with it. He draped it over Hunter's prone body and posed, despite the boos from the crowd.
*******************
Hunter was stretched out on the sofa in his dressing room. He had come back from triage with his forehead bandaged, his midsection wrapped, and quite a few bruises. The trainers found nothing seriously wrong with him and cleared him to leave. After he slowly changed his clothes, he had collapsed on the sofa and asked for a bottle of water. Ric sat in a folding chair next to Hunter, going over how pissed he was that the ref wouldn't stop the match.
"Doesn't matter now," Hunter said in a raspy voice. "I'm still the World Heavyweight Champion and Steiner is nothing."
"You know he's gonna demand a rematch tomorrow night," Ric stated. "And in your condition, I don't think you should give it to him. Make him wait. Get a doctor's note that says you're not cleared to wrestle. Or fake one."
"I'll work it out Ric, don't worry," Hunter responded.
Evie sat on the arm of the sofa by Hunter's feet. "Are you going to be able to make it back to the hotel?" she asked.
"Yeah. I just need to rest a bit," Hunter said as he gently prodded her leg with his toe.
She swatted at his foot, a small smile on her face. "I see you're not tired enough to bother me."
He just chuckled and Ric wondered again, what the hell was going on between these two. He had toned down his attempts to get to know Evie, or to figure out how to go about getting closer to her after she told him to piss off around Christmas. Maybe he should put more effort into finding out exactly what was with Evie and Hunter. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. He resolved to think about it later and instead, reminded Hunter about their 'team meeting' after the show.
"Yeah I know. In Batista's room right?" Hunter asked.
Ric affirmed it and then they turned their attention to the monitor to watch the 30 man Royal Rumble match. Shawn Michaels came out first and as he finished his entrance, his music faded and Jericho's started playing. A figure came out at the top of the ramp, but it turned out to be Christian in Jericho's shirt. Jericho came out through the audience and took Shawn by surprise with a low blow. The two men went at it and during the course of the match, a new contestant came out every ninety seconds.
Finally it was down to the Undertaker, Kane, Batista and Brock Lesnar. Taker eliminated Batista and then he shook hands with his brother Kane, and then double-crossed him and tossed him over the rope as well, eliminating him from the Rumble. Batista ran back in with a steel chair, but Taker hit him with it and knocked Batista back out of the ring. While he was momentarily distracted by Batista, Brock Lesnar took the opportunity to push Taker over the top rope and win the Royal Rumble. Taker stood up with a grin on his face, climbed back into the ring, and congratulated Brock on his win.
Ric turned the monitor off and stood up as Batista came in the door, a scowl on his face. He looked at Ric, who shrugged his shoulders. "Next time. Next time you'll get it," was all Ric said.
After Batista changed his clothes, they all headed back to the hotel. Evie took Hunter's bag to his room for him, as he was going to Batista's room to talk over some strategy with Ric, Randy and Batista for tomorrow night.
Evie took a quick shower, pulled on some track pants and a t-shirt and sat down with her laptop. She had emailed her sister about coming to the Chicago RAW show one week from tomorrow night. She smiled as she read the response from her sister. Of course they would come. All four of them. And this time she was expecting a backstage tour too. Evie responded, letting her know that she had been able to get four tickets close to the ring, thanks to Hunter. And also told her that they could come backstage as well. She chuckled as she imagined her sister's reaction. She also had called her parents to let them know that they would be in Chicago that Sunday night and had made plans to go to lunch with them on Monday.
Evie closed down her computer and reached for the television remote. She flicked through the channels and found that 'Better Off Dead' was on. She settled down to watch it.
Before the credits started rolling up the screen, there was a knock at her door. She untangled herself from the blanket and went to answer it. Hunter was on the other side.
"Why are you at my door?" she asked.
"I forgot my key. I think I left it in my room," he replied with a grin.
"Sure you did," she said as she let him in. "I think it's just a trick to get into my room." She closed the door behind him.
He stopped in front of the adjoining doors. "You know me so well," he joked as she came closer. He glanced over to confirm that the door on his side was open. It was halfway open and the light was on. "Damn," he muttered.
"What?" Evie asked.
"I was hoping my door wouldn't be open and I'd have to stay here," he said with a suggestive grin as he reached out and grabbed her around her waist.
"Yeah, well it is, and I turned your light on too, just in case you got lost," she said with a smile.
"Oh, I'm not lost," he replied quietly.
"You know, you can always go down to the front desk and ask for a replacement key card," she said as she tilted her head up towards him. Her hands slid over his shoulders.
"I could," he murmured. "But where's the fun in that?" He leaned down and kissed her.
Evie laughed softly against his mouth and then gave the kiss her full attention. He slid his hands up under her t-shirt, finding only the bare, warm skin of her back. His mouth broke away from hers and left a trail of soft kisses along her jaw line and down her neck. She shuddered as she felt his tongue slide up to her ear, where he nibbled on the soft flesh.
"You're not too sore or tired for this are you?" she whispered.
"I'm not that sore. And I'm definitely not that tired. Not now anyway," he responded.
Evie's hands moved from his broad shoulders to the buttons of his shirt. Slowly she undid the buttons one by one. She stopped halfway down and lowered her mouth to his tanned skin, gently kissing him. Hunter sucked in a breath at the feel of her mouth on his chest.
His finger lifted her chin up so he could kiss her again. As his tongue swept through her mouth, she tugged his shirt out of his pants. They were so into what they were doing that neither of them heard the knock at Hunter's hotel room door.
Batista knocked at Hunter's door again. Hunter had left his keycard in Batista's room and he was returning it. There was no answer. He couldn't figure out where Hunter would be. He had left Batista's room not more than ten minutes ago. He swiped the keycard through the lock and the door clicked open. He stuck his head in and took a quick look around. The light was on, but the bed was still made and the bathroom was dark. Batista wondered where Hunter was.
Probably downstairs getting another keycard, he thought. It was logical. Either that or Hunter had made a detour on his way back to his room. Batista shrugged and stepped into the room. He may as well leave the card where Hunter would be able to find it. He walked across the room quietly to leave the card on top of the television. When he passed the adjoining door, he heard the drone of the television in the other room. He glanced over and realized the door was partway open to the other side. He stopped in his tracks when he saw what was going on.
Hunter's shirt was off, his hands were tugging at Evie's t-shirt, trying to pull it up while he kissed her. Evie's own hands were fumbling with Hunter's belt buckle as she kissed him back.
Batista stared for a few seconds before he realized what he was witnessing. He jerked his eyes away, set the card down on top of the television and made a silently hasty exit, being careful not to let the door slam behind him.
Once he was out in the hallway, he leaned against the wall. Well, apparently their relationship extends far beyond work, he thought in amusement.
Things started to click into place. He realized exactly why Hunter was so protective of her. Batista had thought it was just because Jericho was a sick puppy, but now it made sense. It also made sense why Evie and Hunter always had adjoining rooms too. He never would have guessed it to look at them. Occasionally, they would tease each other or joke around, but Batista had always put that down as part of their friendship. Most of the time though, they acted like employer/employee. In private, it was obviously a completely different story.
"No wonder he hasn't been going out with us all that much," he murmured. "Hell, I wouldn't either if I had a personal assistant like her," he said to himself. He pushed away from the wall and headed back to his own room.
********************
Hunter heard a knock on the door to his room. He came out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts, holding a towel in one hand. He opened the door to find Batista on the other side.
"Hey Hunter, can I talk to you a minute?" Batista asked quietly.
Hunter nodded as he let Batista in. "Sure. What's up?"
Batista waited until Hunter had closed the door. He wondered if he should bring this up at all. But then again, if he hadn't known about it, it was highly possible that no one else did either. He quickly glanced at the adjoining door to make sure it was closed.
Hunter noticed that he looked a bit nervous about something. "What's wrong?"
Batista cleared his throat. "You left your keycard in my room last night."
"No I didn't. I left it here. It was on top of the TV," Hunter replied as he gestured towards the television.
"No. You left it in my room," Batista said again.
Hunter's brow furrowed. "If I left it in your room, why is it on top of the television?"
"Because... ah... because I brought it back to your room last night." He looked straight at Hunter and continued. "I knocked but there was no answer. I figured you might have been detoured, so I thought I'd leave it in your room."
Realization hit Hunter. "What did you see?" he asked in a low, menacing tone.
"You and Evie kissing," he replied tentatively. When he saw the look of frustration on Hunter's face, he held up his hands. "Look man, I didn't stick around for a show. I just left the card on the TV and left right away."
Hunter's grip on the towel tightened. "You didn't tell anyone else about what you saw, did you?"
"No," Batista answered simply.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything to anyone about it at all. It's not exactly common knowledge, and neither Evie nor I want it to be," Hunter told him.
"Look, if you two got something going, that's your business. I won't say a word," Batista responded and then smiled. "At least I know why you're so protective of her. I thought it was just because Jericho is a twisted perv."
Hunter chuckled. "He is a twisted perv. And I wanna keep Evie as far from him as possible." His hold on the towel relaxed. "I know she can take care of herself, but I feel better when there's someone else around too. I don't think he'd be stupid enough to try anything again; she almost broke his nose the last time he did."
Batista grinned. "She did, huh? Not surprising."
Hunter looked at Batista. "I appreciate you talking to me about this. Like I said, it's not something we want broadcast around. I'd like it if you don't say anything at all to anyone."
"No problem," Batista said. "It's your business, and it'll stay that way as far as I'm concerned." Batista opened the door. "I'll let you get back to getting dressed."
Hunter nodded and let the door close behind Batista. He knew the younger man would keep his word and his mouth shut. He went back into the bathroom and dropped the towel on the counter. Guess I'll have to let Evie know about this. And make sure I definitely have my key with me next time, he thought wryly.
*********************
Hunter's music hit and he came out with Ric Flair. They made their way down to the ring and Hunter was handed a microphone.
"Last night at the Royal Rumble, Scott Steiner couldn't beat me. He had to use a sledgehammer to take me out. Now, as they say in the movies, there ain't gonna be no rematch. I-"
Hunter was interrupted as Steiner's music came up and Steiner walked down to the ring. He climbed in, mic in hand.
"You DQ'ed that match by using that sledgehammer first, Triple H. I want a rematch. Tonight!"
Hunter smirked as he pulled out a piece of paper. "I happen to have a note from my doctor here and it states that I am not cleared to wrestle. So, I don't think you'll be getting a rematch tonight Steiner."
Ric took the mic from Hunter and started talking. "If you wanna match tonight, you can go head to head with Batista!"
On cue, Batista walked down the ramp and stood ringside. As Steiner's attention was on Batista, Hunter knocked him to the ground. Steiner quickly got to his feet and clotheslined Hunter. Ric rolled out of the ring, pulling Hunter with them. Hunter simply smirked at Steiner as Ric refrained Batista from going in. The three men backed up the ramp as Steiner stood in the ring.
Once they were backstage, Ric and Batista went to Bischoff's office to make sure Batista's match with Steiner was slated and Hunter headed to his dressing room. He found Evie and Randy on the sofa talking.
"What's up?" Hunter asked as he closed the door.
Evie looked up. "Nothing. Just talking." She gestured to the monitor. "Wearing Steiner down?" she asked.
Hunter smiled as he nodded. "Pretty much. We'll let Batista work him over first."
Randy stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get checked over."
As soon as he had left, Hunter sat down next to Evie. "I need to tell you something," he said seriously.
"Tell me what?" she asked as she shifted to look at him.
"Apparently I left my keycard in Batista's room last night. He brought it back, but when I didn't answer the door, he came in and left it on top of the T. for me."
Evie sucked in a breath. "He saw us, didn't he?"
"Yeah. He came by my room this morning to let me know. I told him that I'd appreciate it if he didn't tell anyone else."
"And?" Evie prompted.
"He said that he wouldn't say a word," Hunter replied.
Evie tilted her head to one side, concern on her face. "And you trust him not to?"
"Yeah I trust him. He's pretty close-mouthed as it is. He won't say anything." Hunter leaned back into the cushions. "I figured I'd make you aware of it, just in case he acts a bit strange around you."
Evie nodded. "Thanks." She wasn't too comfortable with Batista knowing. She knew that Batista did talk to Ric quite a bit, but somehow, he didn't seem like the type to let on that he knew about Hunter and herself. Especially since he knew what she thought of Ric.
"Look, this doesn't change anything with us. I just have to be a little more careful not to leave my key in other peoples' rooms," Hunter said.
Evie's eyebrow shot up. "Who else's room have you left it in?"
Hunter smiled. "I'm just saying, for future reference."
"Uh huh," she murmured. "Trying to cover your rear end, aren't you, Helmsley?" she asked playfully.
His expression was one of mock hurt. "Hey, I thought you trusted me?"
She laughed in response. "Have you given me a reason not to lately?"
The door to the room banged open and Ric and Batista came in. "Got Batista set up for the main event tonight!" Ric bragged.
"Great," Hunter spoke up. "And I've got a couple of ideas for that too."
Evie moved off the sofa to make room for the other two men. She sat down in a folding chair with her laptop as they quietly discussed a few things.
Evie glanced at the monitor and noticed that Randy was talking to Scott Steiner. "Hey guys, you might want to watch this.
The three men turned their attention to the monitor.
Randy confronted Steiner. "Hey Steiner! Too bad about your loss to Triple H last night. You know, it's too bad you're up against Batista tonight. And it's too bad my shoulder isn't at one hundred percent, 'cause I'd take you on tonight if I could."
Steiner didn't say a word. Instead, he grabbed Randy and slammed him up against the wall.
Randy became affronted. "Hey! My shoulder is only at ninety-five percent and I can't afford a setback."
"Asshole," Steiner said and then abruptly left.
Ric looked around at Hunter and Batista. "I think we better put our plan in motion tonight, gentlemen."
Hunter nodded in agreement. "I think so."
*******************
Evie watched as Chris Jericho stood at the top of the ramp, blathering on about how Shawn Michaels crushed his dreams at the Rumble last night. He talked about getting revenge on Shawn. With that, he dropped the mic and rushed to the ring to take on Test.
After a couple of minutes, the two men ended up on the outside of the ring. Jericho swung a steel chair at Test, but Test ducked and the chair connected with the ring post and Stacy Keibler, who had accompanied Test ringside. Jericho dropped the chair as the ref stopped the match. Jericho kept repeating that he didn't mean to hit Stacy. He wore a look of shock on his face, which surprised Evie. She didn't think Jericho would care so much that he hit someone, even accidentally.
Test was visibly upset and became even more upset as the EMT's came down and put Stacy in a neck brace. The managed to get her onto a stretcher while two refs escorted Jericho backstage. Stacy was wheeled up the ramp, Test trailing behind, as Lawler and J.R. commented that accidents did happen sometimes; especially in this business.
Evie shook her head. Jericho wasn't capable of any type of compassion. For anyone. Knowing him, he would probably turn it around and blame Test for it.
She watched as Hunter, Randy, Ric and Batista huddled together, talking quietly. Batista was up next, and doubtless, they were going over what they were going to do to Steiner. Finally, Ric and Batista left, followed by Randy.
Hunter turned to her as the door closed on the three men. "We won't be long. Make sure everything is ready to go."
Evie nodded in response. As soon as Hunter had left, she packed up her laptop and a couple of things Hunter had forgotten to put in his bag and piled everything next to the door, so that it all could be grabbed on the way out. When that was done, she stood in front of the monitor to watch Batista's match against Steiner.
The match had hardly started when Randy ran in and attacked Steiner. Steiner quickly beat Randy out of the ring and then Flair came in, delivering a couple chops to Steiner's chest. The chops didn't faze Steiner and Ric continued. Then Hunter ran out and, along with Batista and Randy, beat Steiner down. Hunter laid into Steiner with a few well-placed shots, causing Steiner to bleed profusely. They all took turns, kicking and hitting Steiner. Finally, Hunter hit Steiner with a Pedigree and left him laying on the canvas. The four men walked to the top of the ramp, where they all turned around. Ric Flair raised the hands of Hunter, Randy and Batista in triumph.
*******************
A/N: Hey! Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. Glad everyone enjoyed it. I know this is a little heavy on the wrestling part and light on the romance/action. I'll make it up in the next chapter. Heh heh. Sorry this took a little longer than expected. My muses have been acting up again. Next time I club them into submission, I'll use something a little more heavy duty. (Where'd I put that sledgehammer?) They seem to be getting tired of ATR and have had me working on another wrestling fic (unrelated to ATR), which may or may not be posted. We'll see. This one has to get finished first.
Karisma: Awww. thanks! I'll keep 'em comin'.
Jessi: Thanks girl! Glad you're enjoying it!
Lady Neptune 3: You're close. It does have to do with Shawn, but not what you're thinking. I'm happy that you've been keeping up with the chapters and enjoying them too.
Erica: Thanks! Glad you liked it. Well, Bischoff is a slime anyway and I couldn't resist writing him in. Batista's cool. I always wonder what goes on in that mind of his, 'cause he's so damn quiet. Flair. yeah I tend to agree with you on that one.
Vronica: Thanks! Pleased that you like the story. Yeah, those past events. I actually still have some of those on tape. The one I always get a kick out of was the video Hurricane showed of "Triple H" having things pulled out of his ass. Always good for a chuckle.
Iccess: Hey! Thanks! Happy you're liking the story!
Xtreme-Jewell: Thanks! I like Batista too. And as I said to Erica, I always wonder what goes on in that head of his because he's so damn quiet. To me, he seems like a laid back kinda guy. Just don't piss him off! Heh heh.
Disco Inferno1: Aww shucks! You're makin' me blush! Bischoff's like Jericho, a jerk. And I love letting both of those men have it. The whole thing with Steiner and Hunter was pretty much Hunter covering his ass, making it look like he had planned it to go that way; which he didn't. (Of course, we all know that those things are pretty much scripted in real life.) And thanks for pointing out the punctuation. I had noticed that after I posted it, and will probably go back and fix it at a later time. I'll keep an eye on it.