"I don't think that was such a smart thing to do." Trish turned to the side, away from him. Many people had said that she wasn't the best actress in the world, but now was the time to prove them wrong. She had to play the desperate, innocent, concerned damsel that had just been saved. Though, she thought she had done a pretty impressive acting job in the ring. He had believed that she was in danger, after all.

"Ya know, Trish, you've got one hell of a way to thank a guy."

She sighed and turned back to him. "I'm not ungrateful or anything, I am. I mean, I've had my fair share of McMahon disasters, and I should have known better this time. But… it's gold, Dave, and everyone wants gold."

She wondered if she were jumping to the point too fast. She wasn't planning to break everything to him right then and there, just feel him out a little. She had to know just how badly he wanted Heavyweight gold. She had to know if he'd do anything for it. She had to know where on his totem pole Triple H's title sat and she might as well do that now. On top of that, it would open the door to make him understand why she made her deal with the Devil's spawn.

"We're in this business for two reasons. The attention and the gold. If you say otherwise, I'd have to call you a liar. My gold was ripped from me, Dave, and I wanted it back. Bischoff wasn't giving it to me, so I went to the people who would."

"Shane and Stephanie."

"Exactly." She sighed and her body slumped. "It didn't matter that they wouldn't respect me, because everybody else would. They'd have to because of who I was associated with. That's part of the attention. Respect is nothing but attention, the right kind of attention."

"So, for that, you let Shane treat you like shit. You let Stephanie look down on you even though you know you're better than her."

Trish turned away and fell down on the nearest chair. During the day, the room they were in was office space. At night, when the WWE invaded the territory, it was just an empty room for people to escape. She slid down in the chair and closed her eyes. Part of her speech was true. She did know that the McKids would get her title back to her, but she was respected by them, or at least she saw it that way. They respected her enough to include her in their grand scheme instead of letting her stand by and be used. She was the first one they picked up on their way to conquest. If that wasn't respect, she didn't know what was.

Her eyes opened and she looked up at Dave. He hadn't moved. He still stood in front of her, a few feet away from the door. His shirt was still unbuttoned. His chest was slick and shining with sweat. His pants hung low enough that there was no distraction when her eyes gravitated to his hard stomach and the tattoo that etched his belly button. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

This wasn't about sex, though she had an idea that Stephanie probably thought it would be. She probably figured that Trish would just use her natural sexual ability to wrap any man around her finger with a flash of her underwear, but Trish was hoping that it didn't go that way. If something were to happen with Dave along the way from the time that she was planning to be spending with him, that was one thing. She wouldn't fight it and she wouldn't turn away the chance to touch such a specimen. But, she didn't want sex to be the only resource she had to bring him to their side.

Slowly, her eyes opened again. Trish took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What would you do for gold, Dave?" She sat up a little straighter in the chair, then tugged at the back of her low-riding jeans. "Didn't you stand there with Hunter for months on end while he berated you, called you stupid, blamed you for his losses but never gave you recognition for your help in his wins?"

"That was different."

"How was it different? You and Ric stood there and listened to his crap for months, and Ric's still listening to it. You left because you won the Rumble and he couldn't deny you your shot, and even then, he tried to stop you."

"Hunter…" Dave growled and Trish almost wished she hadn't said anything about Hunter. "He was a means to an end, and in the end, he still screwed me out of my title. The same way he did Orton."

"Don't even talk to me about Orton." She rolled her eyes. "He got kicked out. You left. Randy Orton… he's got his thing going. He's in the race of his life for the IC title, but what about you, huh? He did what he had to do to get ahold of gold. Would you do it, Dave? Would you do anything at all to get your hands on gold? Wouldn't you align yourself with whomever you could to get your hands on that heavyweight title?"

Dave was quiet for a minute. His face went slack as he thought about the question. What would he do? Who would he team up with to make his dreams come true? How far would he go? Everyone had heel in them when it was necessary. Everyone had it in them to turn their backs on someone if the prize at the end was great enough, and in their business, there was no greater prize than the World Heavyweight Gold.

After what felt like an entire pay-per-view, Dave sighed and shook his head. "I gotta go," he said softly. "I've got a match coming up and I've gotta get ready."

"Against Randy Orton."

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"For the time being."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

Trish sat up then hunched forward. Her elbows dug into her thighs. Her head fell forward and her hair dropped around her face. She stared up at Dave through the thin sheet of blonde and sighed. "It means that McMahons don't forget anything, and they won't forget this."

He started to speak, then changed his mind and sighed. Dave turned and headed out the door. He stopped halfway out the door and turned back towards her. "Yeah," he said, "sometimes, I think I'll do absolutely anything to rip that title out of Triple H's hands." He turned back around and two steps later, the door fell shut behind him.