Halo Over The Devil's Head

Chapter 9

Chris Jericho set Stephanie down gently on a storage case a few feet away from the curtains that led to the ring. Stephanie looked up at him with doe eyes as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to sort through the words running through his head only to find that tactic useless. "Mind telling me what's going on, Stephanie?" he asked, tilting his head inquisitively.

Stephanie smiled. "Well, you see... I have this friend on RAW, we've been friends for a while now. Just a few seconds ago—would you believe that?—I was out in the middle of the ring telling the General Manager about some lawsuit I supposedly filed against him. And lo and behold, some words just might've slipped my mouth... I get a little zealous when I'm angry, you know."

He rolled his eyes. "Steph..." he said in something that she had used to mockingly refer to as his 'mom voice'.

"Okay, okay. So I knew I was saying it, and I kind of planned on it," she sighed and looked him in the eye. "The truth is, I was expecting an apology or something last week, and when he attacked me..." she sighed. "Chris, you know me, I can't take this lying down. Only as an employee of the show am I allowed to kick his ass, and it would take months for mother to get through all of the paperwork to legally get me here."

"Legally?"

"Bad choice of words. Authentically, I meant."

Chris rubbed his temples with his fingers, appearing to be deep in thought for the moment. "So what you're saying is... I could've kicked Bischoff's ass anytime I wanted to?"

Stephanie smiled. He was definitely still the Chris she remembered. "Yup... Only you would've gotten stuck in crappy matches for a year."

"So what was that stuff about 'employee abuse'?"

"Bitch-off's contract, and everyone's on the roster, doesn't allow for that. Basically says we can beat him up, he can beat us up."

"Damn. I could've cashed in on that," Chris muttered.

"No kidding."

"But... We can still beat him up?"

"And he can beat you up."

Chris snorted. "He couldn't kill a spider."

"I never suggested that he had the skill, Jericho," Stephanie reminded him.

"All right, so back to the previous discussion."

"What discussion?" Stephanie asked innocently, and he rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine."

"So what's going on?" he asked, and threw his arms up. "I have no idea what just happened out there."

Stephanie nibbled on the inside of her cheek. "Well, I was hoping that you would agree to let me manage you."

Chris looked at her, lost in thought for a moment. He knew that Trish wouldn't be happy if he agreed to this. He didn't know why, but he got the vibe that Trish didn't like Stephanie at all, which he considered really strange. Girl stuff, he filed it off as. On the other hand, Stephanie did look undeniably cute when she was uncertain and—

'I did not just think that.'

"Why do I put up with you?" Chris muttered aloud. Stephanie tilted her head once more.

"Is that a yes?" she asked, her voice ringing slightly with hope.

Chris found it hard to think negatively. 'She just needs a place to stay while she gets revenge on Bischoff, it's not like its permanent,' he reassured himself, 'and, I mean, it's just a favor for an old friend. Trish would have no reason to be mad at me because I'm lending a friend a hand.'

"It's a yes," he said finally. Stephanie squealed and went to leap up, only to be deterred by a sharp pain to the skull. She winced, and got up slowly, silently enjoying the concern visible on Chris's face.

"You okay?" he asked immediately.

"I'll be fine." Stephanie reached forward, and hugged him tightly, setting her chin on his shoulder, hyper-aware of his warm hands on her lower back. The familiar smell of his cologne wafted through her nostrils, and she closed her eyes in the comfort of the moment. For just that moment, they were back in a time where Trish Stratus was out of both their lives, where their biggest worry was how to get Chris a title shot, and where their biggest pleasure was each other.

"Chris?" Trish's voice cut through the air, and Stephanie rolled her eyes before pulling away from Chris as the blonde woman approached. "I was looking all over for you!" she announced. 'Gee, I'm so sorry. You must've looked everywhere because you made it here within three minutes of our arrival,' Stephanie thought, rolling her eyes again.

"Oh my gosh, Stephanie, are you all right?" Trish asked, as if seeing the other woman for the first time.

"I'm fine, thanks for your concern," Stephanie replied sarcastically. Chris's eyes darted to hers, and Stephanie knew he sensed the sarcasm in her speech. The brunette followed Trish's gaze discreetly and realized that she and Chris were still holding hands. With a smile, Stephanie squeezed his hand gently. "I can't thank you enough, Chris, you have no idea how much this means to me. I'll call you later tonight, okay?" she prompted, and Chris nodded numbly. Stephanie walked between Chris and Trish, unable to keep the triumphant grin off of her face. So what if Chris was just going to tell Trish what was going on in a minute? For the immediate time, Stephanie felt victorious.

She was Chris Jericho's new manager...

...and Trish Stratus's newest nightmare.

Author's Note: I hope you guys liked it, sorry it was a little on the lacking side.  Thanks to Ani, darkprincesspoet, DCFanatic4life, huntersgirl, Y2J Chris Jericho, Judy Greenleaf, StephanieIrvine04, Professional scatterbrain and lucyzigg for the reviews!  Please keep them coming!