A/N: This is one hell of a long post!!! 8 pages!!!!!
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, and look out for the appearance of an old friend in this part, who will play a fairly big part in Lita's life.
btw, I finally got a copy of Lita's book,and from what I've read so far, it's really good.
Samantha
*************
"Well JR, we certainly have an interesting match on tonight." King began once RAW's pyrotechnics finished.
"Certainly do, King." JR agreed. "It's a match worthy of a pay-per-view. A twenty man mixed roster tag match, slash rumble."
"And when we say mixed roster, we mean it." King exclaimed. "I've already seen John Cena, Kurt Angle, the Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, and Tajiri's henchmen in the back there."
"But perhaps we should get down to the reason for the tag match, King." JR interrupted his over-excited co-announcer. "As you all know Lita doesn't get on very well with the four members of Evolution, last night we showed footage of her spraying Triple H with mace before the show started, and it's progressed from there. This match is basically Lita's friends and supporters, versus Evolution and who ever else they could recruit to wrestle with them tonight. The only stipulation in this match up is that Lita remains in the building for the duration of the match."
"On a better note, Lita hasn't been with us for some months due to taking maternity leave. Last night just after the pay-per-view ended, Lita gave birth to her baby, a beautiful little boy, so congratulations Lita."
**************
"Are you sure he'll be safe here? Steve and Eric have to be at ringside for the match." Lita questioned the men.
"Lita, Zane will be just fine in here." Vince promised. "Linda and I are going to stay in here with him, and we'll have Chris Jericho, Test and Scott Steiner in here with us, there's security all over the place, and you're being escourted to the announcer's table by Booker T and Tommy Dreamer."
"You don't understand." Lita told him. "I don't care about me. I care about my son. Evolution can't touch me, they can't hurt me anymore, but they can hurt my son and I won't let them do that."
"Come here honey." Linda gestured for the distressed, slightly frustrated woman to take a seat beside her. Lita did as she was asked, beginning to relax as Linda stroked her hair. "Zane is going to be just fine, I promise you. Vince and I look at you like a daughter, and Zane as our grandson. Neither of us will just sit by and let anything happen to either of you. So tonight, you'll walk out there with Booker T and Tommy, and sit with JR and King. Zane will be safe and sound here with us. If there are any problems tonight, we'll get Zane straight out of here."
"Promise me that if anything goes wrong you won't wait for me. You'll keep Zane safe."
"We promise." Vince told her.
*************
'So fuck your rules man
You step up, you'll go down fast
I've got to release all the
Shit that has made up my past
So go paint your face and
Proclaim thy warrior soul
Cause life is so brutal
Fight until we show
A shade of timelessness
For we are all distinct
And awaiting our
Transcendental release.'
Holding her head high Lita walked out onto the ramp as her music played, Tommy and Booker T flanking her as she waved her hands to the fans for several moments, then turned and walked over to JR and King, a tense smile on her face.
"Welcome back to RAW." JR greeted her, standing up in a show of respect, and helping her to sit down, as King adjusted her microphone. "You look well, especially for someone who's just had a baby."
"Everyone out the back there is saying what a beautiful baby he is." King added. "He's supposed to look like his mommy."
"Thank you." Lita smiled at both of them.
"So Lita, you must be pretty flattered that two groups of men are fighting over you." King said to her.
"Not really." She answered. "To be honest I think it's ridiculous. I'd far rather be at home with my son."
"So how exactly did this match come about?" JR asked.
"Evolution have been threatening me for months, and I kept telling everyone to ignore them, that they'd just back down. Except that they haven't. This morning they turned up at the hospital where I had my baby and went stupid, demanding to see my son. He wasn't with me at the time, and in the space of five minutes about ten people from the WWE including Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin had arrived, telling them to rack off and they refused. To make them go away Brock Lesnar proposed the match. It worked for the time being, except that I'm now stuck here until the match is over.
"That's a strange stipulation." King observed.
"It was made by Evolution, so I won't pretend I'm not worried about it, but I know that my baby will be safe until I can pick him up."
As she finished speaking Evolution's music hit and they began to walk down to the ring, casting long stares at Lita, who refused to acknowledge them. Almost as though he was going to walk over to her, Hunter paused, and took a step in her direction, but stopped when Tommy raised his signature Singapore cane, then continued down the ramp with his stable mates.
Kane entered the ring next, followed by La Resistance and Rob Conway, and Tajiri's henchmen Sukarto and Akio. Using the SMACKDOWN theme song for their entrance music Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Chris Benoit walked out together, a formidable force that made Evolution's team dart out of the ring as the four legends approached ringside.
Next out was Rey Mysterio, who came out to his own music, making the Mexican fans jump to their feet, applauding him. John Cena walked out next, to his own music, the strains of 'Word Life', and John's familiar gestures oddly reassuring to Lita as he joined his fellow SMACKDOWN superstars in the ring.
Rob Van Dam, Shane O'Mac and Christian walked out together, with Goldberg coming last. Lita felt that he was the most surprising addition to her team.
"Here we go, about to get started." King announced as the men sorted themselves out, exiting the ring until there were only two men left in the ring witht he referee, ready to start the match.
"There's the bell, we're under way here on RAW in this twenty man tag/ rumble match, with Rey Mysterio facing off with Randy Orton first up." JR began.
"Oooh, Orton's got to be hurting after that." King winced as Rey got a hurricanrana on him, sending Randy crashing to the mat, stunned.
"Looks like Rey's kicking Orton's ass." Lita smiled as Orton got up, almost in arms reach of his opposition's corner.
Randy heard her words, and put one finger up at her, giving the Undertaker a chance to punch him in the face, knocking the much smaller man flying.
***********
As Hunter drilled into Kurt, who was being completely isolated from his corner, meaning that he had no chance of making the tag to Goldberg, two figures slid into the ring.
Lita jumped out her seat clapping the two men.
"Look at that! Look at that JR! That's Jeff Hardy and Scotty 2 Hotty!" King crowed.
"Yeah, it looks like the crowd's as excited to see them as Lita is." JR observed with a smile as they watched Lita cheering the two men on. "Let's go Jeff! Come on Scotty!"
Finally the two men slid out of the ring, darting up the ramp towards them. Lita didn't hesitate, simply pulled her headphones off and moved down to meet them, Tommy and Booker T never more than a footstep behind her.
As Lita folded the two men up into a big hug, the five of them stopped in the middle of the ramp, watching intently as Kurt made the extra effort to tag Goldberg in.
As always Goldberg decimated Triple H, isolating him until it was clear the big bald man was bored with his opponent and 'allowed' Hunter to stagger over to his corner and make the tag to Rene Dupree.
************
Lita stood there, stunned as Triple H took the sledgehammer, and routinely decimated the members of her team who were still standing, including Jeff and Scotty, who slid into the ring to try and help the others.
As Hunter rounded on Rey, preparing to swing the sledgehammer into him, Lita slid into the ring, and shoved Hunter as hard as she could, knocking the bigger man off balance, then moved in front of Rey, in an attempt to protect him.
The crowd fell silent as Hunter swung around to face her, the sledgehammer still clutched in his fist.
Without taking her eyes off him, Lita gestured for one of the ring attendants to throw her a microphone. "I don't know what you want from me Hunter, but be a man and stop hiding behind weapons." Lita told him, her voice full of disdain. "You have a problem with me, not anyone else."
An attendant threw Hunter a microphone so that he could respond. "You think I'm hiding behind this?" He hefted the sledgehammer.
"Yeah I do." She spat back. "I think you're nothing but a coward, and I hate you."
"You hate me?" He echoed, a strange look on his face.
"What are you, stupid? Don't you speak English? Try this then, no me gusta ti." Lita told him. "The meaning's a little different, but it gets the point across."
"You call me stupid?" He shot back, "I'm the one holding the sledgehammer Lita, and you're out here all alone."
"Stupid, stupid, stupid." She taunted him, even though she was the one on the back foot. "I'm never alone. There's always someone watching me, some quiet face in the crowd."
"So where is this face in the crowd then, huh? It looks to me like you're out here, and you're all alone." Slowly he approached her, moving fluidly, though her movements exceeded his own, her every movement calculated and predatory, like those of a cat.
"I'm not afraid of you. There's nothing you can do to put fear in me." She told him.
"Then why are you running away?" Hunter asked, still swinging the sledgehammer.
"Who said I was running away? I would have left the building the second Flair gave you the sledgehammer if that was the case."
Silently he rounded on her, while all Lita could think was, 'I hope they've gotten Zane out. I hope he's safe.'
"Are you afraid yet Lita? Are you shaking yet?" Hunter taunted her, trying to hunt her down into a corner.
"Are you frightened yet?" Lita asked, turning his own question back on him. "Do you really think I'll be out here on my own for very long?"
"I think all your friends are lying down there." He gestured to the mess of barely conscious bodies lying outside the ring.
In a flash Lita threw herself into a baseball slide towards one of the turnbuckles, reaching down to pick up a pair of scys. She turned and moved fluidly to her feet, holding one of her scys in the same hand as the microphone. "Even if the boys are sleeping for a bit, I'm still not alone. You've got your bitchin' sledgehammer there, I've got my toys too."
"You planned this." He accused her.
"Three words." Lita told him. "Just-in-case. You're too predictable, you pride yourself on being unpredictable, but that's what makes you predictable. I knew you'd pull a stunt like this."
"Now who's hiding behind weapons?"
"Yours is an offensive weapon. Mine are both defensive and offensive. Perfect for personal protection." With skill she spun the scys around her hands several times, with her skill speaking of years of practice, somehow still holding on to the microphone as she did so.
"Nice trick." Hunter commented, still feeling that she was no threat to him.
"Believe me I get better." She warned, holding her ground as he approached, swinging the sledgehammer at her.
Using the scys to block it, Lita shoved back at him with all of her strength, then pulled back to bring her scys up, protecting her entire body.
Again he lunged at her, becoming infuriated when she sliced one of the scys over his cheek, intentionally cutting him open.
Hunter stopped, bringing one hand up to his cheek as he felt the blood pooling there. He stared at her.
"You'll never get anywhere near my son." She told him fiercely, both microphones abandoned, leaving the crowd unsure of what was being said.
"What makes you think that?" He shot back.
"You've called me a wild cat before. Now I have claws." Lita growled at him, spinning her lower scy carefully, balancing it in her hand.
He stared at her, shocked, and now wary of her hands, which had magically become as educated as RVD's feet, and as intense as Bill Goldberg.
With a roar he launched himself at her, swinging the sledgehammer down instead of across, trying to land it on her head.
Like a panther, Lita slid out from under the blow, pivoting to drive one of her scys into the sledgehammer's wooden handle, the razor sharp middle point driven through both of his hands, leaving the big man writhing in agony, the scy still stuck in his hands, pinning them to the handle of the sledgehammer.
With the other scy still in her hand, Lita bent down and picked up a microphone. "Don't ever come near me, or my son again. If you do, the next one will go through parts of your lower anatomy." Lita dropped the microphone again, then, with a yank, she pulled the scy out of his hands, wiping the blood on it over his back, cleaning the metal spike.
She turned to see Ric Flair, and Randy Orton standing behind her, speechless.
In one fluid movement she had her weapons back in an offensive position, waiting for them to make a move.
Neither moved to touch her, Ric moving past her to go to Hunter's side, while Randy simply stared at her warily, watching as she slid out of the ring, and walked over to the nearest of her team members, John Cena.
"John, John it's time to wake up." She said softly, crouching down beside him and passing a gentle hand over his face.
"Did we get them?" He asked groggily, a side effect of being driven head first into the barrier a half a dozen times by Kane.
"Yeah, we got them." She answered, "Just stay here a minute. I want to check on the others."
With patience and gentleness Lita roused all of her team members, helping them to their feet, wiping blood from their faces, out of their eye so that they could see, even going as far as taking her shirt off to press it to Rob Van Dam's forehead, in an attempt to stem the bleeding from where the impact of the sledgehammer had knocked him head first into the steel steps.
Jeff and Rey each hugged her as they stood, before she moved back to support John who was unsteady on his feet thanks to the beating he had recieved from Kane.
"What happened?" Steve asked as Kurt Angle helped him to his feet, slightly dazed.
"I just gave Hunter a reminder never to touch me, or Zane." Lita told him, her scys stuck through the belt loops on her jeans.
"What?"
"I just shoved one of these through his hands." She snapped, gesturing to the scys.
Jeff whistled. "Come on then, Danger Girl."
"Bite me Hardy." Lita told him. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that he set this whole thing up."
"Take it easy." Shane told her. "Mom and dad will have kept Zane safe."
As they reached the top of the ramp, Lita turned and raised both scys in the air, taunting the former World Heavyweight Champion, as he still lay there in the ring, being attended to by trainers.
*********
Without speaking to the men again Lita walked with purpose to the General Manager's office, opening the door and glaring at everyone. Once she'd placed her scys down on the desk, Lita reached over into Zane's baby carrier and picked her son up, cuddling him to her.
"What were you thinking..." Vince began.
"I don't want to hear it." Lita snapped at him. "You promised me that I would be safe, that Zane would be safe, and that this would stay in the ring tonight."
"Lita..." Linda began.
"You promised me that if anything went wrong you would take Zane out of here, get him somewhere safe." The brunette shook her head. "Watching Hunter belt into nine or ten guys with a sledgehammer, I would think that something had gone wrong, and where is my son? Still here." With one arm she picked up Zane's bag and baby carrier, setting carrier on the desk, so that she could strap Zane in. "I'm taking my son home. I'll let you know what I'm doing about work." Before she left the room, Lita slid the scys back into her belt loops, having left their case behind, at ringside.
"Lita," Steve began as she walked down the hall.
"Do not start right now." She snapped at him. "I'm getting my son out of here."
Steve followed her down the hallway, several steps behind her.
As she rounded a corner, Lita stopped to see Ric, Randy and Batista gathered around Hunter, who's hands were bound up in white bandages, blood beginning to seep through them in some places.
"You psychotic bitch." Hunter snarled at her.
"Karma." She snapped at him. "Isn't it just a bitch when it jumps up and shoves a metal fork through your hands?"
Hunter began to move towards her, but stopped as she pulled one of the scys free from her belt loops, and in front of a hallway full of people, threw it at him.
The middle point of the scy pierced the plaster on the wall, pinning Hunter's shirt sleeve to the wall.
He winced as he pulled it out. "Looks like you missed."
"It was intentional, though God only knows why." She answered. "If I was trying to hit you, you'd be dead right about now, because I would have nailed you right between the eyes."
"Really?" He taunted her.
"I've got another one here." Lita pulled the other scy free with her free hand, throwing it in the air to get a throwing grip on the handle. "Do you want me to try it?"
For a split second a look of worry crossed his face, before Hunter spoke again. "You brought the baby with you tonight." He gestured to the baby carrier.
"Where did you think I'd leave him?" She asked. "And before you ask, no, you can't see him."
"This is getting really old Lita." Hunter told her. "All we want to do is see who he looks like, so that we know who's he is."
Lita stared at the three men for a moment. "I don't want to know who his father is. I don't care, because I have my son, and I love him for simply being mine. I don't need to know who his biological father is, because for him, none of you will ever exist."
"You can't promise that." Ric told her.
"If I have to leave the country, leave all of my friends, my parents, my job, I will make sure he has a normal childhood, without the stigma of his conception. There is no extreme I will not go to in order to protect him."
"There are no guarantees." Ric repeated, "I should know..."
"If you are about to tell me that you know because you have your own children I will take this scy, and ram it down your miserable throat." Lita told him. "You have no idea how angry I am to have even been put in the position I'm stuck in now." She shook her head in fury.
"What position is that?" Hunter shot back.
"Just... Fuck off." She told him. "I feel like about to have a fucking nervous break down."
"Luchadora..." Rey began gently, moving to her side and taking Zane's carrier from her.
"I know Rey." She answered. "I just need a good night's sleep." She echoed his favorite words.
"Come on luchadora. I'll drive you and el sobrino di casa." Lita was strangely reassured as he slipped from English to Spanish. Gently Rey put one arm around her shoulders and walked out with her, almost as though he was guiding her.
"What did he just say?" Hunter asked loudly.
He's going to take her and his nephew home." Batista told him.
"Leave them alone." Trish told the four men. "You've done enough to her, just let her be."
"What about-." Randy began.
"The baby?" Trish asked. "You should have thought of that a long time ago. Now you just have to live with the consequences of your actions."
"The consequences of our actions?" Hunter asked her. "Maybe someone should be giving her consequences for her actions. In case no one remembers she shoved one of these through my hands." He held up the scy she'd thrown at him.
"If I remember hearing her correctly, Lita told you she'd skewer you between the eyes with one of those." Shane McMahon smirked.
Hunter made a deep growling noise in his throat and began to move towards him.
"Back off."
Hunter, and everyone else looked up to see Lita standing there, almost silhouetted in the hallway, alone. In anger Hunter hurled the scy she'd thrown at him back at her.
With lightning fast reflexes Lita put her hand out, the scy sliding through her hand until the hilt rested against her fingers. To everyone's shock, she smiled, almost patronizing him. "Nice throw." She pulled the scy out from between her fingers, where she'd caught it, the scy not lodged in her hand as everyone had thought, Hunter took several steps backwards, moving against the wall.
Without hesitation she hurled it back at him, the sharpened metal lodging in the plaster of the wall behind him, hard up against the top of Hunter's head.
"You want to try something like that again you'd better learn to thrown and catch." She warned him, one scy still hooked through her belt loop.
Showing no fear, she walked several paces closer to the four members of Evolution, bobbing down to pick up her car keys. Then, someone reached down a hand to help her to her feet. As Lita looked up, she found herself staring into a pair of familiar brown eyes. "Matt?"
"It seems like you've had a busy couple of days." He told her gently. "Why don't I drive you home?"
Almost as though she forgot the two dozen or so people standing in the hall watching them, especially the four members of Evolution, Lita smiled up at her ex-boyfriend.
"Sounds good to me." She told him. "Let's get out of here before I put this through someone's head." She gestured to the scy, which rested, against her hip.
With a smile that told of their familiarity with each other, Matt put his arm around her, taking the car keys from her hand.
"Hey Lita," Randy began, making her spin around, Matt turning in surprise at her movement.
Lita's eyes widened as she watched, almost as if he was moving in slow motion, as Randy hurled the scy he'd retrieved from the wall at Matt.
Again, with cat like agility, Lita reached out and snatched the scy from the air, catching it around the hilt while everyone stared in shock.
Lita took a few steps towards him, the younger, taller man shying away a little, seeing that she had scys in both hands. Without speaking she stopped and stared at him for a long moment before crossing the scys over in front of her and turning to walk away, taking Matt by the hand and leading him down the hall, not once looking back.
Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, and look out for the appearance of an old friend in this part, who will play a fairly big part in Lita's life.
btw, I finally got a copy of Lita's book,and from what I've read so far, it's really good.
Samantha
*************
"Well JR, we certainly have an interesting match on tonight." King began once RAW's pyrotechnics finished.
"Certainly do, King." JR agreed. "It's a match worthy of a pay-per-view. A twenty man mixed roster tag match, slash rumble."
"And when we say mixed roster, we mean it." King exclaimed. "I've already seen John Cena, Kurt Angle, the Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, and Tajiri's henchmen in the back there."
"But perhaps we should get down to the reason for the tag match, King." JR interrupted his over-excited co-announcer. "As you all know Lita doesn't get on very well with the four members of Evolution, last night we showed footage of her spraying Triple H with mace before the show started, and it's progressed from there. This match is basically Lita's friends and supporters, versus Evolution and who ever else they could recruit to wrestle with them tonight. The only stipulation in this match up is that Lita remains in the building for the duration of the match."
"On a better note, Lita hasn't been with us for some months due to taking maternity leave. Last night just after the pay-per-view ended, Lita gave birth to her baby, a beautiful little boy, so congratulations Lita."
**************
"Are you sure he'll be safe here? Steve and Eric have to be at ringside for the match." Lita questioned the men.
"Lita, Zane will be just fine in here." Vince promised. "Linda and I are going to stay in here with him, and we'll have Chris Jericho, Test and Scott Steiner in here with us, there's security all over the place, and you're being escourted to the announcer's table by Booker T and Tommy Dreamer."
"You don't understand." Lita told him. "I don't care about me. I care about my son. Evolution can't touch me, they can't hurt me anymore, but they can hurt my son and I won't let them do that."
"Come here honey." Linda gestured for the distressed, slightly frustrated woman to take a seat beside her. Lita did as she was asked, beginning to relax as Linda stroked her hair. "Zane is going to be just fine, I promise you. Vince and I look at you like a daughter, and Zane as our grandson. Neither of us will just sit by and let anything happen to either of you. So tonight, you'll walk out there with Booker T and Tommy, and sit with JR and King. Zane will be safe and sound here with us. If there are any problems tonight, we'll get Zane straight out of here."
"Promise me that if anything goes wrong you won't wait for me. You'll keep Zane safe."
"We promise." Vince told her.
*************
'So fuck your rules man
You step up, you'll go down fast
I've got to release all the
Shit that has made up my past
So go paint your face and
Proclaim thy warrior soul
Cause life is so brutal
Fight until we show
A shade of timelessness
For we are all distinct
And awaiting our
Transcendental release.'
Holding her head high Lita walked out onto the ramp as her music played, Tommy and Booker T flanking her as she waved her hands to the fans for several moments, then turned and walked over to JR and King, a tense smile on her face.
"Welcome back to RAW." JR greeted her, standing up in a show of respect, and helping her to sit down, as King adjusted her microphone. "You look well, especially for someone who's just had a baby."
"Everyone out the back there is saying what a beautiful baby he is." King added. "He's supposed to look like his mommy."
"Thank you." Lita smiled at both of them.
"So Lita, you must be pretty flattered that two groups of men are fighting over you." King said to her.
"Not really." She answered. "To be honest I think it's ridiculous. I'd far rather be at home with my son."
"So how exactly did this match come about?" JR asked.
"Evolution have been threatening me for months, and I kept telling everyone to ignore them, that they'd just back down. Except that they haven't. This morning they turned up at the hospital where I had my baby and went stupid, demanding to see my son. He wasn't with me at the time, and in the space of five minutes about ten people from the WWE including Vince McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin had arrived, telling them to rack off and they refused. To make them go away Brock Lesnar proposed the match. It worked for the time being, except that I'm now stuck here until the match is over.
"That's a strange stipulation." King observed.
"It was made by Evolution, so I won't pretend I'm not worried about it, but I know that my baby will be safe until I can pick him up."
As she finished speaking Evolution's music hit and they began to walk down to the ring, casting long stares at Lita, who refused to acknowledge them. Almost as though he was going to walk over to her, Hunter paused, and took a step in her direction, but stopped when Tommy raised his signature Singapore cane, then continued down the ramp with his stable mates.
Kane entered the ring next, followed by La Resistance and Rob Conway, and Tajiri's henchmen Sukarto and Akio. Using the SMACKDOWN theme song for their entrance music Kurt Angle, The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Chris Benoit walked out together, a formidable force that made Evolution's team dart out of the ring as the four legends approached ringside.
Next out was Rey Mysterio, who came out to his own music, making the Mexican fans jump to their feet, applauding him. John Cena walked out next, to his own music, the strains of 'Word Life', and John's familiar gestures oddly reassuring to Lita as he joined his fellow SMACKDOWN superstars in the ring.
Rob Van Dam, Shane O'Mac and Christian walked out together, with Goldberg coming last. Lita felt that he was the most surprising addition to her team.
"Here we go, about to get started." King announced as the men sorted themselves out, exiting the ring until there were only two men left in the ring witht he referee, ready to start the match.
"There's the bell, we're under way here on RAW in this twenty man tag/ rumble match, with Rey Mysterio facing off with Randy Orton first up." JR began.
"Oooh, Orton's got to be hurting after that." King winced as Rey got a hurricanrana on him, sending Randy crashing to the mat, stunned.
"Looks like Rey's kicking Orton's ass." Lita smiled as Orton got up, almost in arms reach of his opposition's corner.
Randy heard her words, and put one finger up at her, giving the Undertaker a chance to punch him in the face, knocking the much smaller man flying.
***********
As Hunter drilled into Kurt, who was being completely isolated from his corner, meaning that he had no chance of making the tag to Goldberg, two figures slid into the ring.
Lita jumped out her seat clapping the two men.
"Look at that! Look at that JR! That's Jeff Hardy and Scotty 2 Hotty!" King crowed.
"Yeah, it looks like the crowd's as excited to see them as Lita is." JR observed with a smile as they watched Lita cheering the two men on. "Let's go Jeff! Come on Scotty!"
Finally the two men slid out of the ring, darting up the ramp towards them. Lita didn't hesitate, simply pulled her headphones off and moved down to meet them, Tommy and Booker T never more than a footstep behind her.
As Lita folded the two men up into a big hug, the five of them stopped in the middle of the ramp, watching intently as Kurt made the extra effort to tag Goldberg in.
As always Goldberg decimated Triple H, isolating him until it was clear the big bald man was bored with his opponent and 'allowed' Hunter to stagger over to his corner and make the tag to Rene Dupree.
************
Lita stood there, stunned as Triple H took the sledgehammer, and routinely decimated the members of her team who were still standing, including Jeff and Scotty, who slid into the ring to try and help the others.
As Hunter rounded on Rey, preparing to swing the sledgehammer into him, Lita slid into the ring, and shoved Hunter as hard as she could, knocking the bigger man off balance, then moved in front of Rey, in an attempt to protect him.
The crowd fell silent as Hunter swung around to face her, the sledgehammer still clutched in his fist.
Without taking her eyes off him, Lita gestured for one of the ring attendants to throw her a microphone. "I don't know what you want from me Hunter, but be a man and stop hiding behind weapons." Lita told him, her voice full of disdain. "You have a problem with me, not anyone else."
An attendant threw Hunter a microphone so that he could respond. "You think I'm hiding behind this?" He hefted the sledgehammer.
"Yeah I do." She spat back. "I think you're nothing but a coward, and I hate you."
"You hate me?" He echoed, a strange look on his face.
"What are you, stupid? Don't you speak English? Try this then, no me gusta ti." Lita told him. "The meaning's a little different, but it gets the point across."
"You call me stupid?" He shot back, "I'm the one holding the sledgehammer Lita, and you're out here all alone."
"Stupid, stupid, stupid." She taunted him, even though she was the one on the back foot. "I'm never alone. There's always someone watching me, some quiet face in the crowd."
"So where is this face in the crowd then, huh? It looks to me like you're out here, and you're all alone." Slowly he approached her, moving fluidly, though her movements exceeded his own, her every movement calculated and predatory, like those of a cat.
"I'm not afraid of you. There's nothing you can do to put fear in me." She told him.
"Then why are you running away?" Hunter asked, still swinging the sledgehammer.
"Who said I was running away? I would have left the building the second Flair gave you the sledgehammer if that was the case."
Silently he rounded on her, while all Lita could think was, 'I hope they've gotten Zane out. I hope he's safe.'
"Are you afraid yet Lita? Are you shaking yet?" Hunter taunted her, trying to hunt her down into a corner.
"Are you frightened yet?" Lita asked, turning his own question back on him. "Do you really think I'll be out here on my own for very long?"
"I think all your friends are lying down there." He gestured to the mess of barely conscious bodies lying outside the ring.
In a flash Lita threw herself into a baseball slide towards one of the turnbuckles, reaching down to pick up a pair of scys. She turned and moved fluidly to her feet, holding one of her scys in the same hand as the microphone. "Even if the boys are sleeping for a bit, I'm still not alone. You've got your bitchin' sledgehammer there, I've got my toys too."
"You planned this." He accused her.
"Three words." Lita told him. "Just-in-case. You're too predictable, you pride yourself on being unpredictable, but that's what makes you predictable. I knew you'd pull a stunt like this."
"Now who's hiding behind weapons?"
"Yours is an offensive weapon. Mine are both defensive and offensive. Perfect for personal protection." With skill she spun the scys around her hands several times, with her skill speaking of years of practice, somehow still holding on to the microphone as she did so.
"Nice trick." Hunter commented, still feeling that she was no threat to him.
"Believe me I get better." She warned, holding her ground as he approached, swinging the sledgehammer at her.
Using the scys to block it, Lita shoved back at him with all of her strength, then pulled back to bring her scys up, protecting her entire body.
Again he lunged at her, becoming infuriated when she sliced one of the scys over his cheek, intentionally cutting him open.
Hunter stopped, bringing one hand up to his cheek as he felt the blood pooling there. He stared at her.
"You'll never get anywhere near my son." She told him fiercely, both microphones abandoned, leaving the crowd unsure of what was being said.
"What makes you think that?" He shot back.
"You've called me a wild cat before. Now I have claws." Lita growled at him, spinning her lower scy carefully, balancing it in her hand.
He stared at her, shocked, and now wary of her hands, which had magically become as educated as RVD's feet, and as intense as Bill Goldberg.
With a roar he launched himself at her, swinging the sledgehammer down instead of across, trying to land it on her head.
Like a panther, Lita slid out from under the blow, pivoting to drive one of her scys into the sledgehammer's wooden handle, the razor sharp middle point driven through both of his hands, leaving the big man writhing in agony, the scy still stuck in his hands, pinning them to the handle of the sledgehammer.
With the other scy still in her hand, Lita bent down and picked up a microphone. "Don't ever come near me, or my son again. If you do, the next one will go through parts of your lower anatomy." Lita dropped the microphone again, then, with a yank, she pulled the scy out of his hands, wiping the blood on it over his back, cleaning the metal spike.
She turned to see Ric Flair, and Randy Orton standing behind her, speechless.
In one fluid movement she had her weapons back in an offensive position, waiting for them to make a move.
Neither moved to touch her, Ric moving past her to go to Hunter's side, while Randy simply stared at her warily, watching as she slid out of the ring, and walked over to the nearest of her team members, John Cena.
"John, John it's time to wake up." She said softly, crouching down beside him and passing a gentle hand over his face.
"Did we get them?" He asked groggily, a side effect of being driven head first into the barrier a half a dozen times by Kane.
"Yeah, we got them." She answered, "Just stay here a minute. I want to check on the others."
With patience and gentleness Lita roused all of her team members, helping them to their feet, wiping blood from their faces, out of their eye so that they could see, even going as far as taking her shirt off to press it to Rob Van Dam's forehead, in an attempt to stem the bleeding from where the impact of the sledgehammer had knocked him head first into the steel steps.
Jeff and Rey each hugged her as they stood, before she moved back to support John who was unsteady on his feet thanks to the beating he had recieved from Kane.
"What happened?" Steve asked as Kurt Angle helped him to his feet, slightly dazed.
"I just gave Hunter a reminder never to touch me, or Zane." Lita told him, her scys stuck through the belt loops on her jeans.
"What?"
"I just shoved one of these through his hands." She snapped, gesturing to the scys.
Jeff whistled. "Come on then, Danger Girl."
"Bite me Hardy." Lita told him. "If I didn't know better, I'd say that he set this whole thing up."
"Take it easy." Shane told her. "Mom and dad will have kept Zane safe."
As they reached the top of the ramp, Lita turned and raised both scys in the air, taunting the former World Heavyweight Champion, as he still lay there in the ring, being attended to by trainers.
*********
Without speaking to the men again Lita walked with purpose to the General Manager's office, opening the door and glaring at everyone. Once she'd placed her scys down on the desk, Lita reached over into Zane's baby carrier and picked her son up, cuddling him to her.
"What were you thinking..." Vince began.
"I don't want to hear it." Lita snapped at him. "You promised me that I would be safe, that Zane would be safe, and that this would stay in the ring tonight."
"Lita..." Linda began.
"You promised me that if anything went wrong you would take Zane out of here, get him somewhere safe." The brunette shook her head. "Watching Hunter belt into nine or ten guys with a sledgehammer, I would think that something had gone wrong, and where is my son? Still here." With one arm she picked up Zane's bag and baby carrier, setting carrier on the desk, so that she could strap Zane in. "I'm taking my son home. I'll let you know what I'm doing about work." Before she left the room, Lita slid the scys back into her belt loops, having left their case behind, at ringside.
"Lita," Steve began as she walked down the hall.
"Do not start right now." She snapped at him. "I'm getting my son out of here."
Steve followed her down the hallway, several steps behind her.
As she rounded a corner, Lita stopped to see Ric, Randy and Batista gathered around Hunter, who's hands were bound up in white bandages, blood beginning to seep through them in some places.
"You psychotic bitch." Hunter snarled at her.
"Karma." She snapped at him. "Isn't it just a bitch when it jumps up and shoves a metal fork through your hands?"
Hunter began to move towards her, but stopped as she pulled one of the scys free from her belt loops, and in front of a hallway full of people, threw it at him.
The middle point of the scy pierced the plaster on the wall, pinning Hunter's shirt sleeve to the wall.
He winced as he pulled it out. "Looks like you missed."
"It was intentional, though God only knows why." She answered. "If I was trying to hit you, you'd be dead right about now, because I would have nailed you right between the eyes."
"Really?" He taunted her.
"I've got another one here." Lita pulled the other scy free with her free hand, throwing it in the air to get a throwing grip on the handle. "Do you want me to try it?"
For a split second a look of worry crossed his face, before Hunter spoke again. "You brought the baby with you tonight." He gestured to the baby carrier.
"Where did you think I'd leave him?" She asked. "And before you ask, no, you can't see him."
"This is getting really old Lita." Hunter told her. "All we want to do is see who he looks like, so that we know who's he is."
Lita stared at the three men for a moment. "I don't want to know who his father is. I don't care, because I have my son, and I love him for simply being mine. I don't need to know who his biological father is, because for him, none of you will ever exist."
"You can't promise that." Ric told her.
"If I have to leave the country, leave all of my friends, my parents, my job, I will make sure he has a normal childhood, without the stigma of his conception. There is no extreme I will not go to in order to protect him."
"There are no guarantees." Ric repeated, "I should know..."
"If you are about to tell me that you know because you have your own children I will take this scy, and ram it down your miserable throat." Lita told him. "You have no idea how angry I am to have even been put in the position I'm stuck in now." She shook her head in fury.
"What position is that?" Hunter shot back.
"Just... Fuck off." She told him. "I feel like about to have a fucking nervous break down."
"Luchadora..." Rey began gently, moving to her side and taking Zane's carrier from her.
"I know Rey." She answered. "I just need a good night's sleep." She echoed his favorite words.
"Come on luchadora. I'll drive you and el sobrino di casa." Lita was strangely reassured as he slipped from English to Spanish. Gently Rey put one arm around her shoulders and walked out with her, almost as though he was guiding her.
"What did he just say?" Hunter asked loudly.
He's going to take her and his nephew home." Batista told him.
"Leave them alone." Trish told the four men. "You've done enough to her, just let her be."
"What about-." Randy began.
"The baby?" Trish asked. "You should have thought of that a long time ago. Now you just have to live with the consequences of your actions."
"The consequences of our actions?" Hunter asked her. "Maybe someone should be giving her consequences for her actions. In case no one remembers she shoved one of these through my hands." He held up the scy she'd thrown at him.
"If I remember hearing her correctly, Lita told you she'd skewer you between the eyes with one of those." Shane McMahon smirked.
Hunter made a deep growling noise in his throat and began to move towards him.
"Back off."
Hunter, and everyone else looked up to see Lita standing there, almost silhouetted in the hallway, alone. In anger Hunter hurled the scy she'd thrown at him back at her.
With lightning fast reflexes Lita put her hand out, the scy sliding through her hand until the hilt rested against her fingers. To everyone's shock, she smiled, almost patronizing him. "Nice throw." She pulled the scy out from between her fingers, where she'd caught it, the scy not lodged in her hand as everyone had thought, Hunter took several steps backwards, moving against the wall.
Without hesitation she hurled it back at him, the sharpened metal lodging in the plaster of the wall behind him, hard up against the top of Hunter's head.
"You want to try something like that again you'd better learn to thrown and catch." She warned him, one scy still hooked through her belt loop.
Showing no fear, she walked several paces closer to the four members of Evolution, bobbing down to pick up her car keys. Then, someone reached down a hand to help her to her feet. As Lita looked up, she found herself staring into a pair of familiar brown eyes. "Matt?"
"It seems like you've had a busy couple of days." He told her gently. "Why don't I drive you home?"
Almost as though she forgot the two dozen or so people standing in the hall watching them, especially the four members of Evolution, Lita smiled up at her ex-boyfriend.
"Sounds good to me." She told him. "Let's get out of here before I put this through someone's head." She gestured to the scy, which rested, against her hip.
With a smile that told of their familiarity with each other, Matt put his arm around her, taking the car keys from her hand.
"Hey Lita," Randy began, making her spin around, Matt turning in surprise at her movement.
Lita's eyes widened as she watched, almost as if he was moving in slow motion, as Randy hurled the scy he'd retrieved from the wall at Matt.
Again, with cat like agility, Lita reached out and snatched the scy from the air, catching it around the hilt while everyone stared in shock.
Lita took a few steps towards him, the younger, taller man shying away a little, seeing that she had scys in both hands. Without speaking she stopped and stared at him for a long moment before crossing the scys over in front of her and turning to walk away, taking Matt by the hand and leading him down the hall, not once looking back.