Author's Note: I'm finally back from my vacation, and we finally got our new computer, so it doesn't freeze up every second! Bad thing is, though, all of my files are on our old computer and I won't have them until Sunday. So I'm going to start a new chapter of a story and hope that I remember enough of what I typed. Please review!
Disclaimer: Own nothing but Willow, Liz, Dominique and Lee.
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Dangerous Business
Chapter XX
Smackdown!
9:28 P.M
Liz closed her eyes slightly as she stared at the monitor. White, gray, and black dots scrambled together on the screen as static rumbled slowly from the speakers. Her left leg was bent up in front of her, her chin resting on her knee, and her right leg tucked beneath her. A heavy sigh whispered through her as she opened her eyes again, staring at the snowing screen. Her jade eyes were unfocused on the screen as she thought of what Willow had told her.
It was a bit much to hear, too much to believe, and way too much to accept. The brunette sighed again, lazily wrapping her arms around her left leg. Willow had to be lying. She had to have seen something in Rob's eyes that wasn't there.
But Willow was never wrong about these things…ever.
Liz lolled her head to the side, taking a small breath, exhaling slowly. Why did things like this always happen to her and not someone else in the world?
She stubbornly pushed away any knowledge that Willow was almost always right. Rob didn't love her. If he did, then why would he break up with her? Liz nodded slightly, a little more confident in that.
But what if Willow was right?
Liz growled to herself, jerking from her position on the couch. Truth to be told, she had thought of that many, many times, each time shoving the answer away. It would be too painful to accept something like that. She didn't know whether or not it was true anyway. Vaguely, she wondered what Willow's point in telling her that. It's not like she could go up to Rob (her EX-boyfriend) and ask if he still loved her. Besides, she thought, the answer is no. And even though she knew that, the truth she believed in stabbed at her heart, the echoes of questions that she'd asked in the past week clawing at her mind, begging for answers.
If she didn't get out of this room, she'd probably drive herself nuts. Liz pressed her fingers to her temple, savagely blocking out all thoughts of Rob. Her thoughts curled to Brock, satisfied that that problem he'd posed had been eliminated. She'd done what Willow had suggested – gone to him, telling him that she didn't need a relationship. At that point, it had sounded too bland and like a soap opera, she was ready to crawl in a hole and die. Heck, she would dig the hole herself. But then Brock had spoken his part, stumbling over an apology, and promising that'd he always be there for her as a friend.
Well, it was one for many, Liz thought dryly. Lately, it seemed as if her friends were slowly drifting away from her. It didn't help that given recent events she tried to push them away, but normally they would poke and prod until she gave way. This time, they left her well enough alone. If that was what I wanted, Liz had wondered, why did it seem to make her feel all the more depressed?
And even Dominique, her own sister, was basically avoiding her. Every time they talked, Dominique seemed to have to go and meet Shane. Liz knew well enough that Dominique wouldn't have made a certain, precise time for Shane to meet her, and was suspicious when she scurried from the room, heading away from the men's locker rooms. Liz, however, left her alone, deciding to bug her about it later.
Now, she was alone in the Diva's locker room, keeping company for the broken monitor, refusing to go into Jeff and Matt's room, knowing full well that Jeff was having a match, and Lita and Matt were alone and didn't want to be interrupted. She also knew that she should be cheering on Jeff and Edge in their match against each other. But she didn't want to move from the hard, cold bench in the empty locker room. Reality bit at her heels, but she ignored it now. It was better to pretend and be happy then realize reality. Her life had been scattered in so many pieces, she wasn't sure which pieces to put back first, if any.
"Elizabeth?" questioned a voice from outside, a firm knock on the door. Liz blinked, still staring at the monitor as she answered.
"Yea?"
"Your match is up in five… Lita is going to be there in three, if you want to talk to her or avoid her," said a nervous voice from the other side of the door. Liz stood up and walked through the door, pausing only to take a quick glance at her wrestling outfit, which was the same thing as she'd worn for the Triple Threat Match, only this time it was purple. The stage hand smiled at her as she walked out, and she ran a quick glance over him. He was just about as tall as her – maybe an inch or two taller, somewhat muscled, with short blond hair. She smiled, trying to ease him.
"Did you hear about what happened during Jeff and Edge's match?"
He glanced at her shyly, shifting his weight from foot to foot, "Well… Edge basically had the match won when Evolution came down. What's left of them…" he trailed off, seeing the scowl tipping at her lips.
"What happened?" she repeated flatly. She knew Edge and Jeff would probably be all right – it was only Randy and Rick, and they had been through worse before. And then she remembered that her little sister had been out as Jeff's valet. The need for information became more urgent.
"They attacked Edge and Jeff with steel chairs," the stagehand said, stopping abruptly. Liz closed her eyes quietly, and opened them again, a renewed worry in her heart. She'd taken it upon herself to keep an eye out for Dominique, and she'd been too obsessed in her sorrows to help her sister out of trouble.
"What happened to Dominique?" she asked. When he faltered, not saying anything, she sighed, "Just spit it out."
"Randy… He scared her into a corner…" he took a breath. Liz clenched her jaw. "And started… Well, he flirted with her for a little bit and then kissed her…" he said hurriedly. Her fists balled up.
"And then what?" she struggled to keep her voice down.
"He punched her, and then left. Jeff is all right, just a few cuts. Edge… The doctors say that he has a concussion at the least. Dominique is okay, too."
She breathed a small sigh of relief, "Thanks," she looked at his tag, "Mike. See you around," she added, making her way to the curtains, cursing herself all the way.
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Liz and Lita sized each other up in the ring. They had already agreed that anything that went on in the ring stayed in the ring, not behind screen. Lita had been the fan favorite, but not by much. Both Divas reached forward and grappled, each trying to overpower the other. Liz placed her ankles behind Lita's, pulled her arms away from Lita's neck, and shoved her in the chest hard. Lita, not being able to stumble backward, snapped to the mat. As she stood up, Liz performed a spinning heel kick. Even after her heel crashed into Lita's jaw, the spunky redhead didn't fall, just took a few steps backward, leaning on the ropes for leverage. Liz slipped in a few loud chops before trying to whip Lita to the other side, but Lita reversed. As Liz bounded back from the ropes, she slid beneath Lita's dropkick. She wasn't quick enough to move out from under the falling body, but did manage to get her knees up to bruise Lita's stomach. Liz stood up, her knees giving a little spark of pain in disapproval. She ignored them, however, as she swept Lita's feet from beneath her, and yanked her up by the hair, and shoved her to the ropes. As she returned, Liz did a low dropkick, her feet crashing against Lita's kneecaps, wincing at the yelp of pain Lita emitted. She pulled Lita to her feet, pushing her to the turnbuckle. Once there, on shaky knees, Lita fought back with hard right hooks, and a bulldog. Liz stood up a bit slower after the bulldog, dodging the chop headed for her and trying a right hook which was blocked and followed by a left hook, which Liz blocked. Liz wrapped their intertwined arms and pulled Lita toward her, bashing her forehead against Lita's. The two stumbled backward, getting their bearings. As Lita came forward, Liz dived down. She hooked her arm around Lita's legs, pulling them down. Lita's knees hit the mat first, and she fell from there. Liz stood up quickly, climbing the turnbuckle as Lita stood up. Liz leapt from the turnbuckle to splash Lita, but at the last second, Lita pulled off a sharp dropkick. Liz went skidding across the ring for a second, the canvas burning her skin as she did, her ribs, where the dropkick had landed, searing with pain.
Lita jerked her to her feet, delivering a side slam followed quickly by a Twist of Fate by Lita. This time, Lita climbed to the turnbuckle as Liz stood up, stumbling. Lita was able to deliver a Huracurrana.
"1…2…" the ref counted the pin. Liz kicked out before 3. Lita looked behind her to see if it was really a 3, or just close, but the referee was nowhere in sight. Distracted, Lita stood up, looking for the referee. He was at the other side of the ring, arguing with Rick Flair. Lita swore, glancing down at Liz, who was on her hands and knees, quickly recovering. Lita stalked over to Rick, gently pushing the ref away and delivering a hard slap followed by a punch to Rick Flair. The ref shouted at them, trying to get Lita away from Rick as Randy slipped into the ring. He barreled toward Lita, completely ignoring Liz. The ref turned sharply toward Randy, placing his body between he and Lita. As he screamed at Randy, Rick elbowed Lita in the face, and she stumbled back into a face-breaker. Liz pulled Lita up, extremely aware of Randy and Rick standing by the apron of the ring. As soon as Lita relented to her pulling, and stood on her feet, Liz leveled her with a half nelson. She pushed away the pain still present in her ribs, and the dizziness thudding through her skull enough to pull out a belly-to-belly suplex. As she went for the pin, the ref wasn't present. He was once again screaming at Rick, ordering him to retreat to the back, but Rick wasn't listening, just trying to get through the ropes which the ref was blocking. Liz groaned, standing up, knowing to remain pinning Lita would do no good. She stalked over to Rick, much as Lita had, and punched him. Randy entered the ring again, dragging Lita to her feet, slamming his fists against her face. He shoved her into the ropes, pulling off a back breaker. As Liz turned, looking at Lita sprawled out on the mat just where she'd left her, she shot a warning look to Rick as he finally retreated to the back. She dragged Lita to her feet, delivering a neck breaker. Quickly, she applied the move she'd used on Nidia the week before. The hold was effective. After a minute of the sleeper, Lita had been knocked out. Liz accepted the title, not knowing that Randy and Rick had a hand in her win. She checked on Lita as Randy slipped into the ring, demanding a microphone, and then demanding the people in the back to play the footage from the match. Liz's face fell, her jaw snapping together and her eyes boring a hole through Randy.
Randy, however, stepped forward. "You see, Rick and I have been watching you since you took Hunter out of action," he stepped closer, so that they were mere inches apart. "We came out here for two things. 1, to ensure your win for the title," her eyes flashed angrily, "And 2," he stepped closer now, so close that their chests were touching, "To offer you a spot in Evolution." Liz gaped at him, wondering why they would want her in their group. As she grabbed the microphone from his hand to snap the obvious answer, she paused, the fans' chant of "Just say no!" echoing through her head. Slowly, a smile spread across her face. Not a gentle smile, but a cruel one. She raised the mike to her lips, watching Randy's eyes for his reaction.
"Yes."
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Author's Note: I just noticed a mistake. The chapter with the match with Nidia should be on RAW, not Smackdown!, so this chapter is on Smackdown! Anyway, please review!