Disclaimer: Hey.....waddya know! I STILL don't own anything from the WWE! Damnit!!!! .

Author Notes: I meant to put this in the first chapter. If you need a timeline to place this story in, I'd say it starts a week or two before the Bad Blood PPV. I'm not going to stay exactly true to what happened, but hey, artistic freedom here.

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Bleed for Me
Ch.2
by: HappyManiaKitty

Halfway down the hall Victoria stopped, bending down to adjust her brace on her knee as she felt it start to slip. In her haste to get to the ring before anyone else noticed she was late, she hadn't fastened it properly and she didn't need it coming loose during her match.

"Victoria, I need a word with you. Now." The order came out cold and distant, meaning it could only be one person.

She froze, glancing up through the untidy curtain of magenta streaked ebony locks before giving a final tug on the brace, standing up and turning to face the man who held her career in his hands. She met Vince's stare, her hand going automatically to the belt at her waist, her fingers stroking the engravings to give her the self control she needed when her boss took that tone with her.

"This isn't about WrestleMania again, is it? How was I supposed to know that Molly was so attached to her hair?" Victoria got out quickly, not wanting to go through that old argument again. She had won that match fair and square, and Molly would just have to deal with it. Besides, it's just hair. It grows back.

Coming to a stop in front of Victoria, Vince waved his hand to cut her off before she started again. He'd known she was going to say that. "No, no that's over and done with for the time being. This is differant."

He was fed up with the whole situation to tell the truth. Molly was on his back every time he saw her, trying to get him to agree to a re-match against Victoria. Vince sighed, running a tired hand through his hair, who could blame Victoria for being annoyed at Molly's persistance? The damn woman had lost. Why in the hell couldn't she just accept it? Shaking his head he brought his attention back to the woman in front of him. What he was about to tell her was going to cause her to go through the roof. Victoria was not well known for her . . .calm demeanor.

He knew the news he was about to give the her wouldn't go over well, and in truth he didn't like it any better than she did. Victoria was the toughest Diva out there and deserved every match she got, not that he'd ever admit that to anyone. It would cause a riot with the other women and make him appear soft.

"Victoria, I have to pull your match for the night. It's been bumped to Heat this Sunday." He said softly, almost apologetically.

For a moment Victoria said nothing, her tanned fingers stilling on the belt she'd been stroking. The glare from those brown eyes almost made Vince want to back up a step, and he could have sworn for a brief second he'd spotted fangs, but dismissed it as a trick of the light. He shook his head to rid himself of the image.

"You're pulling my match? Just like that? Out of the blue? You've got to be kidding me!" She just barely managed to keep from yelling. She didn't want to do something stupid to piss off her boss and have the title yanked from her so soon, it had taken her too long, she'd worked too damn hard to lose it now. Her fingers tightened convulsively on the belt at her waist.

That little voice in the back of her mind had told her that the night wasn't going to go well, and she had a nagging suspicion she knew just what had caused this upset. Victoria took a deep breath, keeping her gaze level and unwavering, just knowing she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear.

"So, what exactly was important enough to replace my match?" She managed to get out through clenched teeth, sarcasm dripping from every forced word. "Everything was already set up this morning."

"Sometimes plans have to be changed whether we like them or not. You should know that by now Victoria," Vince's tone held a slight reprimand, not used to explaining himself to anyone, let alone his Divas. "Lately ratings for the show haven't been going so well, and we need to make sure that the ratings get back up soon." The look he saw in her eyes made him nervous. Deciding to just get this over with, he spit out, "Matt Hardy and Lita requested a handicap match tonight. I think it would be better for ratings to put that match on instead of you defending your title against Gail Kim."

Hesitating for a minute, Vince reached out and tapped the belt at her waist, saying, "We're all a team, Victoria. We'll survive together and or we'll die together. We count on the team members who carry the gold to be leaders. Do you understand? Part of being a leader is knowing when to step aside for the underdog, like I'm asking you to do tonight."

Victoria didn't respond for a minute, lost as she was in the fantasy of her fingers wrapped tightly around Lita's neck and squeezing, squeezing....

"Victoria!" Vince's voice was impatient.

She jerked her head up, her vengeful fantasy crumbling around her just like her title match on Raw.

"Did you understand what I said?" Vince questioned again as Victoria's eyes met his, the brown depths holding secrets he didn't know, ones that would probably send him running if he did.

Not trusting herself to open her mouth to respond, she gave a sharp nod to her boss, knowing it was useless to try and persuade him otherwise. Once his mind was made up, it was made up for good.

Turning back around to head to the monitor room, she absently reached up to touch her lower lip, looking angrily at the blood that smeared her fingers from where she'd bit her lips so hard her fangs had broken skin, before reaching down and wiping them off on her shorts. Her eyes narrowed on the sharp streak of red against the bright yellow material. Someone was definately going to pay for this, and if she had anything to say about it, a certain redheaded bitch would be at the top of the list.

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Author Notes: Another short chapter.... I know I know. I AM working on Chapter 3 at the moment, and hopefully it'll be up soon. And yes, Big Red will finally make his entrance into the fic in the next chapter. Just in case anyone's curious (You'd better be!!), the story was named after the song 'Bleed for Me' by Saliva. I just think the lyrics fit so well with Kane and Victoria.....