Halo Over the Devil's Head
Chapter 2
Stephanie McMahon rubbed the back of her neck quietly as she thought. The medic had long since left the room, leaving her to sit on the bed undisturbed. She sighed heavily, silently thanking medical science for painkillers. Her body felt undeniably sore, but the gut-wrenching pain was gone for the moment. The brunette's thoughts turned to what had happened barely a half hour ago.
'What the hell was I expecting from Eric Bischoff, anyway?' she asked herself, 'A real apology? That man can't stand me on his life!' Stephanie let out a long breath, closing her eyes slowly. 'Three Minute Warning. I knew it was some sort of set-up, but Three Minute Warning? From all I know, Rico was shipped to Smackdown—and became a good guy—and Rosey became the Hurricane's trainee. Jamal—well… I haven't heard a thing about him in ages… He seemed to just drop out of sight.'
Stephanie gradually lay down on the mattress, continuing to think about Three Minute Warning's sudden reformation. Sighing, she pressed a hand to her forehead. 'Who am I kidding? That doesn't surprise me that much—nothing can when you've been in this business for so long. I'm just trying to avoid thinking about Chris.'
Chris Jericho. Stephanie ran her fingers through her tangled hair. The last that she had seen of him in the flesh seemed like years ago. They had been business partners in order to get Triple H back. 'A whole great thing that turned out to be,' Stephanie thought sarcastically, and sighed heavily, remembering the match that had eventually been made—Triple H versus Chris Jericho versus Stephanie McMahon for the Undisputed World Championship, which, of course, had appeared to be a handicapped match against Triple H.
FLASHBACK
Stephanie let out a long breath, her eyes closing softly as she tried to prepare herself for the match against her ex-husband. When she opened her eyes, Chris Jericho was next to her, ridiculous goatee and all. He grinned at her, that winning grin that made her heart melt. He seemed so innocent, considering what had happened in the last few weeks. When she approached him with the offer to work together, he had known that she was using him to get revenge on Hunter—and he was using her to get the title. It turned into some sort of unspoken deal between them, each knowing what the other was out to get.
The brunette looked at the monitor as the match before theirs slowly came to a climaxing end. It had started so simple… She, out for revenge on the bastard who ruined her life, he, willing to do anything to get the Undisputed Championship. The forged partnership worked well for both of them, until something suddenly changed between them.
She felt dirty every time she thought of how to say it, but there was no other way—she had started sleeping with Chris Jericho, and nearly everyone suspected. If she thought hard about her reason, it was redundant—to piss off Hunter. Trying to figure out what his reason was, she came to an easy solution—he just wanted the sex. But lately, something had changed… He had started taking her out to dinners, asking in that casual tone of his that made it sound like nothing. She always accepted, and found herself becoming entranced by his personality.
Stephanie shook her head, determined. She was not falling in love with Chris Jericho.
FLASHBACK
"And I didn't," she said aloud, and then winced. The lie seemed obvious, but she didn't want to accept the fact that Chris Jericho had been plaguing her thoughts ever since she'd met him—including during her marriage. She felt dirty and ashamed to admit it, but when he had supposedly tormented her with kisses during his feud with Triple H – she hadn't minded at all, especially with a husband so ignoring of her as Hunter. 'Everything he's done with me has had something to do with getting Hunter his dues, or getting the title,' Stephanie thought, and then nibbled on the bottom of her lip. 'He's always had a solid reason for doing something like this…so why did he come out there tonight? He is—or was, until today—on Eric Bischoff's good side, any relation between Hunter and I is over… What's going on?' she wondered desperately.
Ever since any contact between the Smackdown and RAW roster had ended, she had fought tooth and nail to get Chris Jericho out of her mind. After she was forced to leave her spot on Smackdown, she had retreated to her home, living a quiet life. She tried to date around, but none of the dates ever led to anything, and she knew why—Chris Jericho.
'Why did I come back here when Eric invited me?' she wondered once more. 'I knew I would see everyone on the RAW roster, and I was so close to getting Chris off of my mind! So close!'
Stephanie slowly sat up, exhaling slowly. So many questions and memories plagued her mind. She needed answers—answers that Chris Jericho had. The brunette rubbed her forehead with one hand. There was a part of her that was stringently against seeing him again, but there was another part that was ready to leap with happiness at just the thought.
Ignoring her jumble of emotions, Stephanie stood, signed the consent form next to her on the table, and then walked out of the room. Her joints were sore, and she walked gingerly. Within ten minutes, she was standing outside of Chris's dressing room, feeling suddenly nervous. What if he didn't want to see her? What if—
Stephanie raised her arm and knocked, pushing away the varying degree of 'what if' in her mind. After a moment, the door opened, and Chris stepped out, still in his wrestling tights, his eyes unemotional. He looked down at her, his arm still on the door, waiting for her to say something. "We need to talk," she told him, her voice definite, but tentative at the same time. Chris didn't say a word, but silently nodded, stepping to the side. Stephanie took a deep breath, and walked in, careful to have no contact between them. The door clicked behind her.
Author's Note: Hope you liked! Please review!