Kinda happy chapter. There's about to be a girl fight here! again...I OWN NOBODY! plz R&R and ENJOY!

Chapter 15

Raw Rebound

Melanie and Brock avoided each other for several days after their encounter at the gym. That Monday night was Melanie's first Raw.

"Are you ready for tonight?" Eric Bischoff asked. Mel nodded.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Uh just out of curiosity, were there any calls for me while I was filling out some papers?" She asked. Eric looked at his answering machine. There was no flashing light to indicate a message or a new call.

"Nope…why, are you expecting a call?" He asked. Melanie shook her head.

"No. I'm hoping for one." She said solemnly. "If there's a call for me…" She began

"I will send someone to notify you immediately." Bischoff guaranteed. Melanie thanked him and left the office. She made her way toward the Women's locker room.

"Hi! I'm Stacy! What's your name?" A young woman asked enthusiastically. Melanie jumped backwards. She was a tall, beautiful woman with long blonde hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a short black skirt and a yellow tank top with a yellow flower in her hair. Stacy had the longest legs Melanie had ever seen in her life.

"I'm Melanie." She said trying to sound as excited as Stacy. Stacy nodded, took her by the hand and led her into the locker room.

"Oh yeah, Mr. Bischoff told us about you. You're from Smackdown huh?" She asked. Melanie nodded, looking around. Several women were getting dressed and undressed. Many were applying makeup, but most were just talking amongst themselves. One of them stepped in front of Melanie.

"And you must be…that girl?" The woman asked. Stacy nodded.

"This is Melanie. She's from Smackdown!" She said cheerfully. The woman in front of them didn't look impressed.

"I'm Jazz and we do things different here on Raw. I don't know what you do in that rinky-dink show of yours, but when you come into our town, you show some respect." She warned. Melanie took a step forward.

"Listen. I've paid my dues. I used to get ignorant people like you their water bottles because you just have to have them at that exact moment. I was picking up after your messes, setting up the ring you wrestle in and I was delivering your paperwork right to your locker room. Isn't that convenient?" Melanie asked. Jazz opened her mouth to answer, but Mel shushed her.

"I grew up with this business, I've said it before. My family would give their life for what we do." Melanie paused. "One of them has given their life for what we do. You talk about respect? How about I show you how much I respect this company." She challenged. Jazz crossed her arms.

"What makes you think you're in my league? What makes you think you can stand up to me? I'm the women's ch-" She started. Melanie held up her hand, silencing her.

"Yes…or no?" She asked. Every woman in the locker room had stopped what they were doing and stared at the two of them in anticipation. Jazz was on the spot. She quietly nodded and left the room. Stacy walked up to Melanie.

"Looks like you made a new friend." She said with a smile. Melanie sighed. This was not how she wanted to make her debut on Raw. But it'll have to do.

"Don't worry Mel, he's not that angry." Stephanie said. Melanie was sitting in her new Raw dressing room. Her big match was minutes away and Brock was nowhere in the vicinity of where she was standing. Mel told every backstage personal to look out for him if he came. She was talking to Steph on her cell phone.

"But don't you think if he was gonna be here, he would be by now?" She asked. Mel could hear Stephanie groaning on the other end. "Steph!" Melanie whined.

"Melanie! The man's in love with you. I really don't think that he would miss this for anything. He loves you." She said reassuringly. Melanie sighed.

"Yeah? How do you know? Did he tell you? And even if he did, what he says and what he means can be two completely different…" Melanie said. Stephanie interrupted.

"Mel, for Christ's sake. Shut up. You're rambling. You sound like a teenage drama queen when you do that. God I hate it when you do that!" Stephanie said.

"Fine. Yeah. You're right…you are right. If he wants to come, he will and if he doesn't? Then that's just peachy with me. I don't care if he comes or not. If he wants to stay home and watch it on TV…and even if he doesn't, I'm not gonna loose sleep over it. He was pushing it and he pushed too hard." Melanie said quickly. Stephanie agreed.

"That's right. You go girl." She said sarcastically. Mel nodded.

"Damn straight. I go girl." Melanie paused. "But what if he doesn't come?" Stephanie moaned.

"You can't see me right now, but I'm banging my head on the wall." Stephanie said. "Just relax and have a good match."

"But-" Mel started.

"Goodbye." Stephanie said. With that, she hung up. Although there was no one on the other end of the phone, Melanie spoke anyway.

"You're a piss poor friend you know that?" she said into the receiver. She hung up and left the room. She bumped into a tall man in his wrestling trunks. Her head began to spin. A swirl of images flashed in her head. Mel saw the man she bumped into in her head, his face was crystal clear. She instantly recognized him as one of the Raw superstars, Randy Orton. There was a sudden pain in her stomach. She moaned in pain as she rapidly snapped out of her trance.

"Uh, sorry. Hi." The Randy said. Melanie looked at him closely. She was getting a bad intuition about him.

"Bye." She said coldly.

Melanie quietly walked up to the gorilla position, a small area where wrestlers go through and wait until they are called to enter the ring. Mel stopped. She still remembered the feeling she had when she first walked through those curtains on Smackdown for the first time. The roar of the fans grew louder and louder. It was the same tonight, except they weren't chanting for Brock, they were chanting for Melanie. She remembered all too well the blinding lights, the adrenalin rush. She looked behind her one last time. No sign of Brock anywhere.

"I'm not gonna look back anymore." She whispered to herself. "It's my time." all of a sudden, a familiar song came up on the loud speakers. Melanie smiled to herself as she pulled the curtains aside.

I love you, I hate you, I can't get around you. I breathe you, I taste you, I can't live without you…

Melanie walked down the ramp with her head held up high. Her opponent, Jazz was anxiously awaiting her in the ring. Mel absorbed the crowd's energy as she climbed onto the turnbuckle and raised her arms in the air. The song continued to play.

Always, Always, Always…I just can't live without you…

She reminisced on the night she sang this song in New York City last year. Last year, she was a small, timid girl who just wanted to survive. She was invisible, taken for granted. And now, 4 months later, thousands of people were cheering. This song had a lot of sentimental meaning. It was strange though. Melanie didn't feel different…

The bell rang to signal the start of the match. Jazz charged into Melanie, backing her into a corner, hitting her with solid kicks to the abdomen. She quickly powered out of it by pushing her. Jazz sat up and stared at Melanie. Mel got up on the top rope and leveled Jazz with a flying cross-body-block. Mel went for the pin

1...2... Jazz kicked out. Melanie tried to work her into a submission hold, but Jazz wouldn't stay down. She lifted Melanie off her feet and ruthlessly slammed her onto the mat. Jazz faced the crowd and began boasting, taunting Melanie. Mel exhaled. This chick was Women's champion for a reason.

Suddenly, Melanie wished Brock were here to cheer her on. His voice was echoing in her head, telling her to get up, telling her it wasn't good enough, informing her to work harder, become faster, stronger, smarter, better. She groaned as Jazz walked closer and closer to her with cockiness and confidence. A smirk ran across her face. Mel felt her face get warmer and warmer. She grabbed her ankle.

" Oh! My ankle. I think it's twisted. I need a time out." She said. Jazz laughed.

"A time out? This will be easier than I thought." Melanie grinned

"For me too." Melanie said. She kicked Jazz in the shins, bringing her to her knees. Mel elevated Jazz onto her shoulders and F-5'd her.

1…2…3! Melanie had won her first match on Raw. She looked up at the crowd. Everyone in attendance was on their feet, celebrating her victory. The referee helped her to her feet as her hand was raised.

"Not bad." Melanie said to herself, smiling.

It had taken Melanie several minutes to get to her locker room. Many fans and co-workers congratulated her on her win and even some welcomed her to Raw. Melanie reached her dressing room and went directly to her cell phone.

"No new calls." Melanie whispered to herself. This wasn't like Brock. Was their fight really that bad? He didn't visit, didn't leave a message. He didn't even bother to call. She shook her head in dismay and put her cell on the table. She sat in front of it in hopes that maybe he would sense her sadness and call. One minute, then two, after about five minutes, she gave up. Melanie began slipping into her clothes when she thought she heard a small tapping noise at the door. She stared at the door for a moment and listened again. Silence. She shrugged and went about putting on her sweater. Again, she heard a small knock at the door, this one a little louder than the first time. Melanie went to the door and opened it.

"Your trainer from hell is here." Brock said. Melanie sighed. He finally decided to show up.

"Can I come in?" Brock asked. Melanie leaned against the door.

"No. Um, I don't think so." She said quietly, not making eye contact. Brock nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so." He said. The two stood there for several minutes before Brock took his hands out from behind his back.

"Got you this." He said holding out a medium sized box. Melanie crossed her arms. She didn't want to be bitter, she really didn't. But Brock put her in a position where she couldn't exonerate him for what he did, or didn't do for that matter. Brock was still holding the gift out for her to take. She gently took the box and opened it. Inside, was a pair of black wrestling boots and tape. She took the boots out and inspected them. There was a red symbol on the side of both boots. Melanie instantly recognized it.

"Saw it all over your notebook. Um, I don't really know what it means, but if you draw it 100 times…I-I thought it was important to you." He said softly. Melanie felt her eyes water.

"It's a umm…it's a triquetra. It represents the protection of women. Mind, body and soul." She explained. Melanie remembered her mother explaining the symbol to her and her two sisters. It was supposed to protect the three of them as girls, in case their mother couldn't. Melanie's mother was very spiritual.

"Thank you." Melanie mumbled. Brock nodded and turned his back. She quickly stopped him.

"So, what's on the training schedule for tomorrow? Light sabers?" Melanie asked jokingly. Brock grinned a little.

"Actually, I thought we could have a little alone time tonight and spend some time in front of the fire tomorrow." Brock said, pulling Melanie towards him. Melanie cocked her head to the side.

"What about training? I have to be ready." She argued. Brock shook his head.

"Actually, I think you can handle yourself. I…saw your match. I underestimated you. You took out Jazz and you handled yourself very well." Melanie wrapped her arms around Brock's neck.

"That's just because of all that training. I mean, all that preparation…it really helped me. I won." Melanie said. Brock smiled sadly.

"Yeah…but I didn't care about whether you won or lost, I just wanted you to walk out of that ring safely. I never want you to risk your well being. But, I think you can take care of yourself. You do realize why I pushed you right?" Brock asked. Melanie nodded. He continued. "Last year, when you got knocked out by the Big Show, I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life. I felt responsible for what happened, I was right there. That's why I took you home. If that ever happened again…" His voice trailed off. Melanie kissed Brock's cheek and held him closer to her. He slowly maintained his composure. Melanie spoke first.

" We really need to talk." She said. Brock looked down at her and nodded.

"Yeah. I think so. But I trust you. You can take care of yourself." He said. Melanie shrugged.

"Well, I can't do everything myself. Like…I can't get this dress off." Melanie said seductively. Brock looked at the dress.

"What are you talking about? You can ge-…Oooh." Brock said, smiling.