Dangerous Business

Chapter XXIV

            Liz took a deep breath as she waited for the commercial break to end.  She stood near the end of the stairs, not bothering to wait inside the curtains.  Silently, she punched air, spinning against an opponent only she could see.    As she spun for a roundhouse kick, someone grasped her foot.  She blinked, freezing for a brief moment as she stared into Rick Flair's eyes.  Scowling, she lifting her foot off of his hand and spun the other way, her boot knocking against Randy's jaw.  As she stumbled to regain her balance, Rick Flair looped his arms around her throat, crushing her windpipe.  Quickly, she bent her back down and managed a somersault, cracking Flair's head in the concrete.  She turned directly into Triple H's knee.  As her neck snapped backward, Randy grabbed her head and pulled her to the ground. 

            Liz let out a gritted groan between her teeth, and forced herself to her hands and knees, one hand gripping her pounding head.  Hunter grabbed her hair and jerked her to her feet, screaming into her face.  Calmly, she stared into his eyes, fighting to keep the pain off her face as he pulled at her hair.  She kneed him in the groin.  He jerked back, and she kicked his knee hard.  Randy locked his arms around her waist for a suplex.

            Lying face-up on the floor, Liz lolled her head sideways, closing her eyes tightly when she realized that there was a steel chair lying next to her.  She took a deep breath, and stretched her hand toward it.  As her hand circled it, Hunter stepped on her hand, pushing his weight on her hand.  She bit down on her lip as she curled to the side, punching at the side of his knee, the part where it wasn't padded.  He jerked his foot up, and she jerked her hand back, and rolled to the other side, attempting to stand up. 

            Randy drove his fist into her ribs, and she staggered for a moment, and then tried a spinning heel kick.  He ducked, and dropkicked her standing leg, sending her head crashing against the concrete as her body hit the ground.  Grimacing at the dizzy, painful feeling pounding in her skull, she rolled to her stomach.  

            Rick and Randy pulled her to her knees, grabbing her arms.  She blew her hair out of her face and watched as Hunter picked up the steel chair.  "You do realize," she said, trying to dull the pain in her head, "That the last time you tried something like this, Flair got hit, not me?"

            Hunter ignored her and raised the chair.  She let out a sharp cry as he crashed the steel into her forehead.  She realized that Randy and Rick had dropped her arms momentarily.  Lying with her cheek pressed against the cold concrete, she looked up, to see Hunter smirking down at her.  Her vision started blurring.  Gritting her teeth she closed her eyes tightly, and opened them again.  Warm blood trickled from her forehead, gathering and falling off her eyelashes. 

            She crouched down, taking steady breaths, and turned to Hunter, who kept mocking her.  Liz leapt up from her position, her shoulder slamming into his stomach.  As she hit the ground, she gave a sharp inhale, feeling the pain spread to her shoulder. 

            Almost immediately Randy leapt on top of her, punching her face nonstop, brass knuckles tearing away the skin on her face.  She let out a small cry of pain, hating that she was defenseless as she felt her eyelids start to droop…  Another fist slammed against her chin, and she felt the brass burn along her skin, her head jerking sideways to be met by another one. 

            But suddenly Randy was lifted off of her.  Raising her head slightly, she looked, trying to stay awake as the pain in her head increased.  Liz lifted her head higher, realizing that it was Brock who was in the process of decimating Randy Orton and Rick Flair. 

            But where was HHH?

            Her head spilt with a sharp pain as she moved it side to side, looking for the WWE champion.  When she spotted him falling from a kick from RVD, she froze.

            "R-Rob?" she rasped, the word only coming out as a whisper.  From across the room, Rob Van Dam turned to look as if he heard his name, but he couldn't possibly have heart it.    

            Confused, she struggled to sit up, but failed.  She gingerly set her head back down on the concrete as she began to pass out.

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            "Liz?" she flicked open her eyes, and winced at the bright lights around her. 

            "Go away," she said, throwing an arm over her eyes, noticing that the bed, for lack of a better word, was hard.  She groaned, realizing it as the 'beds' they used at the on-campus doctors. 

            "How are you feeling?" interrupted a second voice and she opened her eye halfway.

            "Like shit," she said sourly at the doctor.  For a moment, she closed her eyes again, and then they flashed open.  She sat up, ignoring the crippling pain in her skull.  "The match!" 

            Brock Lesner gently tried to push her back down.  "The match is off for the week."  She reflexively grabbed his hand and twisted it before it touched her.  He didn't move, besides to pull his arm back.  "Are you okay?"

            "I'm not dead yet," she responded through gritted teeth, and swung her legs over the 'bed'. 

            "You can't possibly be thinking that you're going back to that match!" Brock cried, standing in front of her.  She glared at him, her pride flaring. 

            "It's just a chair shot, Brock.  I've done it before," she tried to push past him but he gripped her shoulders tightly and shook her gently. 

            "You're not going out there!  Are you nuts?"

            "Apparently!" she yelled, and jerked backward, stumbling.  As Brock reached out to stop her, she slapped his hand away and found her balance on her own.  "I'm going."

            "She's going to go, whether you like it or not," commented a voice from behind Brock.  It was Jeff.  Brock dropped his arms to his side and sighed. 

            Liz looked away for a brief second.  "Look, I appreciate you saving me from Evolution, I really do.  But I'm the Women's Champion.  I'm not going to back down because of a measly chair shot."

            "A measly chair shot?" Brock echoed.  "He's knocked guys off the roster for weeks with just one chair shot!"

            Licking her lips, she looked back at him, "I'll be fine, Brock.  Lita won't drag this out.  If she's going to win, she'll win fast.  I owe this to her."

            Brock debated for a second, "Be careful out there, okay?" he told her, cupping her face with one hand.  She smiled at him weakly, nodding her head slowly.   

            "Hate to break things up," Jeff called, "But if you're going to do the match, you have to go now."  Brock gave her a small kiss on the cheek before letting her pass. 

            Liz sighed, touching the bandages wrapped around her forehead delicately.  The memory of Brock's soft lips against her cheek strong in her mind, she blocked out all thoughts of Rob, and took a deep breath as she reached the curtains for the second time that night.  Worthlessly, she hoped that Lita wouldn't pull a Hurracarana during the match.

            But it wasn't Lita that she should've been worried about.

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A/N:  Okay, I rate this chapter as one of the worst.  Sorry, today's just been a horrible day and I'm not really into this right now.  I'm off for homework now.  Yippee.  Please review! 

P.S.-I know my chapters have been getting shorter.  I started this so I could update more often.  Which would you guys rather have?  Longer chapters & longer wait or shorter chapters & shorter wait?