PART ELEVEN

SEPTEMBER 21, 2003 - UNFORGIVEN

Chris Jericho sat in his locker room, his eyes intently locked on the television screen as he watched the match occurring in the ring. Actually, it wasn't so much the match in the ring that he had his eye on, but the woman standing *outside* the ring. Stacy Keibler, standing outside the ring as Test battled with the 'Genetic Freak' Scott Steiner. 'Freak' is right, Chris thought to himself as Test nailed Steiner with a hard right. Steiner claimed to have asked for a match against Test so that he could free Stacy from his clutches, but Chris knew better. That man was just as much a freak - if not more - as Test. Chris didn't want Stacy getting shoved from one controlling bastard to another...

Which was why the two of them carefully plotted her a way out.

The two of them had discussed the plan over and over again. It was a simple, yet extremely clear, way for Stacy to show to both Test and Scott Steiner that she wanted nothing to do with either of them. Chris could see that she was incredibly nervous... Stacy had always had a distant look on her face when she was out by the ring these days, but there was more to it this time. The apprehension in her eyes was so severe, he only hoped that Test didn't take notice to it.

A few minutes later, he watched Test hop out of the ring, making a go for one of the steel chairs. Chris leaned forward in his seat, a small smirk forming on his lips... this was exactly what he had anticipated happening. He knew Test was a coward... the man didn't have enough confidence in his own abilities to beat a man with as little wrestling skills as Scott Steiner without the aid of a steel chair. He watched carefully as the referee ripped the chair out of Test's grasp, scolding him harshly as he dropped the chair, letting it fall to the mat...

Directly in front of Stacy.

Chris's eyes widened slightly in anticipation as he watched Stacy eye the metal object, the silver gleam shining through her dark eyes. She tentatively took a step forward, lightly fingering the chair with such awe that one would think she had never seen such a thing before. She carefully picked it up, pulling herself up on the apron. She gripped the chair tightly, a look of sheer determination on her face as she waited to strike.

"Come on Stace," Chris said to himself. "Just like we talked about. Hit him and get the hell out..."

As soon as he finished his statement, Stacy closed her eyes and swung, a wave of relief washing over her as she heard a loud whack, followed by the sound of a body slumping to the floor. A smirk of satisfaction spread across her lips... that would teach Andrew that she was done, that she would no longer let him drag her along through all of his little schemes. She opened her eyes, preparing to laugh right in his smug face as she ran, but her grin faded as she looked up to see Andrew standing across the ring...

She hit the wrong man.

Her eyes widened in shock as she glanced down to watch Scott Steiner struggling to stand, Test crouched down in the opposite corner, eyeing his prey viciously. As soon as Steiner made the mistake of turning around, Test charged, nailing him with a Big Boot. He dropped to his knees, pinning him 1, 2, 3 in the center of the ring. Stacy froze, suddenly losing all ability to move as she met eyes with Andrew, who was giving her a murderous glare. Back in the locker room, Chris had jumped out of his seat, screaming at the television.

"Get out of there!" he yelled, his face twisting with worry. He saw Test making a move towards Stacy, the blonde woman still apparently frozen in fear. Stacy was in trouble, and if he didn't get to her soon, something terrible could happen... and it would be all his fault.

A LITTLE WHILE LATER

Rob Van Dam checked the signs on each of the doors he passed as he quickly made his way down the hallway, kicking up his pace a notch every time he stepped. He stopped abruptly as he saw a hallway he had not yet turned down, immediately following the path... and bumping directly into Bubba Ray Dudley.

"Hey man, watch where you're going," Bubba said jokingly, patting Rob on the back. "Why are you in such a hurry anyway? I thought for sure you'd be in the trainer's room right now."

"Actually, that's exactly where I'm headed... only I have no clue where I'm going. Think you could help me out?" he asked, hoping he'd have more luck with Bubba's help.

"Right down there, third door on the left," Bubba replied, turning around and gesturing in the direction of the door.

"Alright... thanks dude," Rob said graciously, pushing past one half of the newly crowned Tag Team Champions and headed down the hall. He reached the door Bubba had pointed out, knocking twice before pushing the door open and walking inside.

Inside the room, sitting up on the table, was Lita, the trainer closely examining her mouth, which was still bleeding from her match only a few minutes earlier. In her first match since her neck surgery well over a year ago, Rob's girlfriend took a stiff boot to the mouth, causing her to nearly bite all the way through her tongue. He knew he had a match with both Jericho *and* Christian coming up shortly, but at the moment his only concern was the well being of his girlfriend. He glanced over, noticing Trish - Lita's tag team partner in their match against Molly and Gail Kim - sitting next to the redhead, her hand resting on her friend's knee, her brown eyes gleaming in concern.

"Hey," Rob said quietly, stepping up to her. "Are you alright?" Still grimacing slightly, Lita nodded, swatting the trainer's hand away.

"I'm fine... just a little blood," she offered with a small smile.

Rob wasn't so quick to believe her, so he slowly stepped forward, tentatively placing his hand under her chin and tilting her head up to him. He examined her wound carefully, wincing as he thought of how painful that had to have felt.

"Can you do anything for that?" he asked, turning to face the trainer. The young man shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head.

"Not really... its her tongue, so there's not much we can do. Just watch for swelling... it'll probably hurt tomorrow, but then it should go away. Most mouth injuries heal very quickly," he explained.

Nodding, Rob cupped his hand around Lita's neck, pulling her to him. He opened his mouth to speak, refraining from doing so when he heard a beep. He glanced down at his cell phone, which was clipped to the band of his sweatpants. He pulled it out of the rest, flipping it open and seeing that he had a new text message. He quickly scanned over the message, his eyes traveling up again, this time resting not on his girlfriend, but the blonde woman next to her.

"Trish..." he began, regarding the younger woman with a seriousness she had never before seen in his eyes. "There's someone here to see you..."

"Me?" Trish inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Who is it?"

"Just go... they should be right out in the hall," Rob instructed, gesturing to the door.

Lita frowned, her hazel eyes fixing on the tiny blonde woman with concern. She knew exactly what was going on, and part of her wanted to stop Trish before she went out there. She had only been back on the road for a short while, but she knew enough about the situation to be leery of one of her best friend's getting her heart broken yet again. Still, she trusted Rob's judgement, and she wasn't going to stop either of them.

"Well..." Trish said, a certain tentativeness in her tone as she stood from her seat. "Okay..."

She headed out the door, but not before turning back to glance at Lita, looking for some kind of sign. She could tell by the look on her face that the redhead knew what was going on... Trish hated being left out. Sighing, she walked out the door, turning and halting abruptly as she smacked into someone. She glanced up, a soft gasp escaping her lips as a pair of blue eyes met hers...

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