DISCLAIMER: I do not own Chris Jericho, Shelton Benjamin, or other wrestlers that appear in the following story. They are the property of the actors and actresses that portray them, as well as the WWE.

SPOILERS: Mention of events from 10-25-04 Raw.

Flowers Can't Keep Secrets

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Pat Benetar once sang about how love is a battlefield.

Tonight, in the ring, there was no love lost between two specific men.

"You stole my title, rookie," Jericho sneered.

"I did, didn't I?" Shelton countered.

Yes, it was only the Intercontinental Championship, but it was the principal of the thing. Hell, Jericho thought he was getting off easy last Tuesday when his best friend was announced as his opponent, and then the sneaky bastard steals his title!

The match played out like their battle of wits; they would each take turns doing the same move, seeing who was better at it. While Chris sneered about Shelton's inexperience, Shelton stuck with one main barb: Chris's hair.

"You know, this would be easier if you didn't butcher your hair," Shelton gasped as he tried to reverse a headlock.

"You're… just jealous…" Chris grunted as he was flipped around.

"Whatever Goldilocks."

Then it was on to high-flying moves, with Chris gaining the edg- no, advantage- with a well-timed dropkick. He immediately went out to throw the rookie back in the ring.

After all, this kid agreed to a rematch, and a rematch Chris would give him.

They continued to trade moves, neither one gaining a significant advantage. Shelton continued to barb Chris with random comments, but Chris was starting to realize the reason behind Shelton's behavior. An emotion that the man was quite familiar with.

"This is about Randy?" the blond gasped out.

Shelton's eyes flashed fire at the name, and he threw a punch at Chris's mouth.

"You're jealous of freakin' Randy!" Chris exclaimed as they sparred.

"I am not!" the other man roared, thus confirming his guilt.

"Who do I call almost every day?"

"… Me…"

"And who did I trust to help me with the flowers fiasco?"

Shelton grunted as he took a fist to the mouth. "Me."

"You're my best friend, Benj. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't act like my girlfriend," Chris ended cheekily.

"I'll show you who's a girl," Shelton retorted playfully, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He still had his best friend; now all he had to do was keep Chris's grubby hands off of HIS title.

"Looks like they made up," Nidia commented idly as she watched the action on the screen.

Stephanie rose from her seat on the bench and walked towards the door of Chris's locker room. "Hopefully that'll stop his whining." A week of Chris's moans about betrayal and 'anti-friends' had ridden her nerves to the breaking point.

"Where are you going?"

The 'backstage coordinator' (who had taken the night off the moment her ex-husband announced his control of the show) rolled her eyes. "He may have acted like an adult, but he's probably sulking about losing. You coming?"

"Nah. Randy said he was gonna drop by after the match..." she grinned.

The older woman raised an eyebrow, but chose not to comment. If the two youngins wanted to go at it in their friend's locker room, then so be it.

After all, there was more privacy in the janitor's closet down the hall.

With a wave and a goodbye, Stephanie exited the room and walked towards the curtain, planning out her actions. First she would tell him that he was sorry; he would pout but pretend like he benevolently allowed Shelton to win. She'd then make some comment about how she liked him all covered in sweat, which would send his mind into the gutter and, ultimately, make him forget all about his loss.

Before she reached the curtain, however, the presence of her ex-husband threw a wrench in her plans. Wanting to avoid a confrontation (as she had been doing since she started working at Raw again), she stopped and leaned against the men's locker room to patiently wait for her boy toy.

Little did she know that her positioning would prove most helpful; the moment she saw Chris and Hunter exchange words, she turned and opened said door. "Evolution beat-down in the hallway!" she cried inside, keeping her eyes shut. Lord knows she didn't want to see... locker room stuff... hanging out.

As she stepped back, Maven (MAVEN?) immediately flew out the door, followed closely by Chris Benoit (who had his own locker room, but for some reason preferred to be around the guys), Rhyno, and a number of other midcarders. Standing on her tippy toes, she could just see Hunter's scowl as Jericho and the crew stared down his faction.

Her ex-husband's scowl would deepen when he spotted her during Evolution's retreat. Giving him a wave and a smirk, she made sure to bump into his shoulder (a la her boyfriend) as she walked towards the crowd of wrestlers.

Hunter would not like that; and further, he would not forget it.

The Chrises were busy talking strategy as she approached; Jericho's eyes lit up, however, when he caught sight of his girlfriend. "Hey babe, did you see any of that?" he asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"I did. It's always nice to see Hunter with his tail between his legs," she responded before leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Sorry about your match."

Jericho shrugged. "Eh, I let the kid win." Christian pranced by behind Steph, causing Jericho to tighten his grip on Stephanie. "I've got bigger fish to fry, right Benoit?"

Benoit nodded stoically.

"Ya see Steph, Benoit and I just decided that we're the ones in charge of Raw tonight, not Evolution." Chris clapped his free hand on the other Chris's back playfully. "We've got some big plans, don't we?"

Another stoic nod from Benoit.

"What kind of plans?"

Chris grinned evilly. "Let's just say that Hunter will literally have a kick-ass time tonight."

Benoit nodded (stoically) in agreement.

Pressing a kiss to her temple, Jericho gently extracted his arm from Stephanie. "Go and relax in my locker room, babe; Benoit and I are going to rally the troops."

Stephanie pouted at the dismissal. "I can't go back; Randy and Nidia are going at it in there!" she whined.

This comment elicited a chuckle from Benoit. Both Jericho and Steph gave him a suspicious look, and he immediately quieted down. "What's so funny?" Steph asked.

"Nothing," Benoit said before going to talk to Rhyno. It wasn't his business to talk about other people; he left that to the resident busybodies.

The said busybodies looked at one another. "What was that about?"

Shelton was really starting to loathe anything that was (or contained the name) Chris.

As he hobbled through the curtain, he tried to reign in his anger. After all, Chris had already left the ring before Christian bombarded him. After all, he and Chris were finally on level ground.

After all, Chris must have ignored Christian running past him backstage.

Maybe Lilian was right after all. She had hunted him down before the show began, and they had got to talking. She said she couldn't believe that Shelton would be friends with a self-absorbed man like Chris Jericho. She thought he was greedy, and that he would do anything to win the IC title back. Like play innocent about Christian's sneak attack.

Full of conflicting emotions, Shelton stumbled into the rabble of wrestlers, and noticed none other than Chris Jericho at the helm. Keeping to the back, he rubbed his forehead and tried to pay attention.

"...Beyond time to take a stand. I say we take down Evolution tonight, and make them neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeever eeeeeeeeeeeeeever forget who we are!" Benoit nodded beside him as the crowd cheered in agreement.

"So," Jericho continued, "Who's man enough to take on Batista?" He really didn't expect an answer, but to his (and everyone else's) surprise, there was an excited shout.

"ME!" Maven (MAVEN?) yelled, eager for an opportunity to prove himself.

Chris (either one) blinked. "You sure?" Benoit asked gruffly, surprised into speaking.

Maven (once again, MAVEN?!) nodded his head furiously. "Hell yeah I am, Chris Benoit. Evolution is nothing but a big ol' bunch of meanies..."

"Meanies?" Jericho repeated with a snort.

"And I'm not gonna take it anymore! They think I suck, well I'll show them who sucks!" Maven finished, pumping his fist in the air. "I'm gonna make AL SNOW PROUD!"

Far away, in the cafeteria, Rob Conway perked up at the sound of sucking.

Jericho buried his face in Stephanie's hair as he shook with laughter. "Oh man!" he gasped out against her scalp. "Al Snow!"

"Grow up," Stephanie reprimanded (as she was able to push the urge to laugh away). She gave the young man with the perfectly plucked, womanly eyebrows a supportive grin. "If you're sure about this, then you've got it."

"Don't worry Stephanie; I'm going to make you all proud!" Turning towards Benoit and Jericho, his excited face suddenly turned worried. "You guys have to help me with my strategy!" he whispered urgently.

If there was one thing Chris Jericho didn't need, it was to befriend another rookie.

Immediately composed, Jericho grabbed Stephanie's hand and began walking away. "He's all
yours, Benoit," he called behind his shoulder. Yes, it was cruel, and Benoit would probably beat his ass for it on a later date, but he couldn't handle any more rookie drama.

"That wasn't very nice," Stephanie said as she trailed a hand up Chris's chest. Honestly, she could care less; his meanness was a bit of a turn-on.

Chris grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "You should know by now that I never play nice."

"Oooh, is that a promise?" Without waiting for an answer, she guided him towards the janitor's closet.

Neither of them had seen Shelton's hurt face, or the way he tried to catch up to them.

The last straw had broken his back; as far as Shelton was concerned, he was done. He was done with being Chris's stupid rookie lackey and putting up with the Canadian's shit. Most importantly, he was done with being Evolution's whipping boy. He nearly chuckled at the thought; with him out of the picture, Chris and Stephanie would have no idea what hit them.

Or rather, who.

END CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Author's notes: Done and done; not as funny as last week, but hell, look where that got me! Nine nasty e-mails and three IMs threatening to delete my story…. Well lookee who's still here :D

Did everyone see the way Lilian Garcia smiled at Shelton when he got into the ring on Monday night? I was quite pleased; for once, Raw is actually cooperating with my story.

I knew Susie would piss people off (especially since I made her as over-the-top Mary Sue as I could, and then paired her with Edge), but I had no idea I'd get so much hatred! It was eerily satisfying to be able to rile people up like that; then again, I got a lot of positive feedback on her as well, so I'm sure she'll reappear in later chapters :) Anyhow, leave a review and tell me what you think! Until next week, take care! :)