Title: Until I Collapse.
Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own a thing.
Rating: R
Spoilers: Survivor Series, 11/14/2004 and onwards from there.
Summary: Lita gets some alleviation to her frustrations in more ways than one. Includes: Lita, Stacy, Victoria, John Cena & others.
Notes: The Lita/Matt/Kane angle never happened.

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Lita swiped her hair over her shoulder, an angry frown marring her face as she stormed through the hallways of the arena. She needed to get away, somewhere out of there and fast. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides as she tried to restrain herself from running back to the ring and finishing the job she'd started just minutes ago, before the referees had expelled her from the ring area.

She made an annoyed sound as she thought about the referees. Stupid fools they were. She'd had Trish right where she wanted her. She'd waited so long for that moment, that very moment when she would get her hands on the creature that had made her life a living hell.

And what do the stupid referees do? Stuck their big noses into her business. Stop her from doing something she'd dreamed of doing for months. She should have smacked them with the damn chair for their effort.

She would have Trish right now, if she had.

She sighed and shook her head. The referees were just doing their job. They didn't deserve a chair shot for trying to maintain order. For doing what they were paid for. Still, it frustrated the hell out of her. And however angry, frustrated and agitated she was, she wouldn't try to hurt an innocent person. She didn't try to hurt people who didn't deserve to be hurt.

Trish on the other hand was someone who did deserve everything she got and more. And she would get what she deserved. Lita would make sure of it. She halted, her lips curving into a small smile as her eyes flicked to the nearby monitor. Trish Stratus was walking up the ramp, shooing the referees away when they tried to help her. Her face was busted open, her nose bleeding.

And did she look pissed or what? Or maybe she was just trying to hide the tears that threatened by scowling for what she was worth.

Lita chuckled, her fury subsiding a bit as they showed Trish's face a little closer on the monitor. The blonde woman was touching her nose incessantly, every time grimacing from the pain the contact caused. At least she'd made her bleed. And it looked like she might have broken the petite blonde's nose.

Now that was something to be happy about.

She smirked to herself as she started off again, suddenly feeling herself a little less irate than just moments ago. Maybe it wasn't so bad that she'd been thrown out of the ring area. It wasn't like she couldn't kick Trish's ass any other time. She'd waited this long, she could wait a bit longer. Especially when she'd gotten some satisfaction to her frustrations tonight.

She wiped some loose hair off of her face as she decided she'd head to the lockers to pack her stuff before leaving to the hotel. She really was tired and a good night's sleep would be just what she needed right now.

She turned a corner, deep in thought and before she knew it, she found herself flat on the cold concrete floor. She swore as her butt made contact with the floor. The slight surprise on her face turned into a scowl as a hand reached down to help her up. She adjusted her shirt as she stood, her eyes flying to the man she'd collided with. A frown formed on her face.

It was John Cena.

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" he asked, his voice laced with slight concern. "I didn't mean to run into you. You were just so up in a hurry that I didn't see you coming."

She looked at him, the frown fading from her face at the genuine concern on his face. She sighed. "It's okay, I'm fine. Besides, I'm the one who wasn't looking where I was going, so I should be sorry."

He nodded, before tilting his head to the side a bit. "You're Lita, right?"

The woman in question nodded in turn, wiping her hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, I am. And you're John Cena. Right?"

He shrugged. "Yeah."

They stood in silence for a minute, before Lita realised that he was still holding her arm. She pulled her arm away quickly. "I should go now. It was nice meeting you, John… Mind if I call you John?"

"Not at all. It's my name after all. You sure you're okay?"

She smiled faintly. "I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all." She chuckled a little as she continued. "Sure I was knocked down on my ass, but I have taken worse bumps than that before."

"So I've seen", he said, before adding a bit tentatively. "You sure didn't take much of a bump tonight though. I saw your match against the blonde."

"You mean Trish?" At his nod, she snorted. "That was no match. I wasn't there for the Women's title."

"Kind of figured that. You beat her bad."

Her eyes flared suddenly. "Not nearly as bad as I planned. One broken nose doesn't make up for all the things she's done. And if you – "

"Hey, hey", he interrupted, raising his hands. "I didn't mean anything. And I ain't judging you for what you did. I've seen what she's put you through and trust me, I understand completely."

She raked a hand through her hair, then after a pause, she continued quietly. "Sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's cool, don't worry about it."

She smiled tightly. "You know, you would have kicked that Carlito's ass beyond recognition too, had you gotten your hands on him." She shrugged. "I guess we're kind of in the same boat here."

"Yeah. Guess so." He didn't comment anything on the Carlito matter, just shrugged it off. He was almost surprised that she even knew about their bitter feud. Well, bitter on his side. Then again, if she had ever even glanced at Smackdown! she'd know. He just knew people on the Raw roster that had no clue whatsoever about what happened on the other roster.

She glanced at her watch. "Look, I really need to go now. It's been a quite eventful day and I just want to get back to the hotel, so if you'll excuse me– "

"Of course" he said, before adding. "I guess I'll see ya then."

"Yeah, I'll see you." The redhead waved at him casually as she walked past him, continuing up the hall. She soon disappeared behind another corner, this time making sure she wouldn't crash into anybody.

She reached the locker room in no time and after stuffing everything she counted as needed into the bag, she threw it over her shoulder and marched her way out to the parking lot. The rental car was started and in a swift motion the redhead drove the car out into the night.

Once at the hotel, Lita hurried into the elevator that took her to the fourth floor where her room was. She opened the hotel room door, throwing the bag on the floor while the door shut with a slight thud behind her. She had declined the offer of a roommate, figuring she'd just piss the person unlucky enough to have to room with her off. Of course, that was just the specious reason for it, the main reason was simply that she wanted to be alone. She didn't need anyone to buzz around her at the moment and that was exactly what would happen if she'd had a roommate. At least that was the case with a certain well meaning blonde named Stacy Keibler. Victoria wasn't so bad and neither was Dawn Marie, but she'd had her fair share of their nagging and bugging too.

This particular night, she wouldn't be surprised if all three of them decided to pay her a visit. She had no doubt about the fact that all the other divas had seen what she'd done to Trish. And although neither one of them liked Trish, they didn't want to see anybody being brutalized like the blonde had been tonight. Victoria might understand, but she was sure that she'd hear some sort of lecture about people's rights and reasonable punishments for enemies from Stacy. Dawn on the other hand was a wildcard. The brunette was the embodiment of unpredictability. She could congratulate her for cleverness as well as slap her across the face for stupidity.

Lita shook her head. Even though she'd known Dawn for a long time now, she still couldn't always guess what the brunette had on her mind. Her mood could change in an instant, the woman turning from the loveliest creature on earth to the most devilish being in the Universe. Well, maybe there was a slight tone of exaggeration in the latter sentence, but in all honesty it really wasn't too far from the truth.

Without hesitance she took off her shirt, tossing it on the floor next to the bag before eagerly stepping into the bathroom. She undressed herself before vanishing behind the shower curtain.

As the water streamed down her tired body, she thought back to everything that had happened that day. From the casual things she'd done in the morning after getting up to the more important matters that had occurred just an hour or so ago. Mainly her kicking the hell out of one Trish Stratus.

A smile graced her lips as she relived the moment in her mind. Now, she really wasn't a person who enjoyed hurting other people, but she had to admit that hearing Trish's face bump into the floor was like a song to her ears. The screams of pain that erupted from the blonde when she slammed her head to the steel steps, the blood flowing freely down her face, the bang from the steel chair connecting with her head. Every detail from the grimace on the blonde's face to the small gasps for air. The way she writhed in pain when the referees tried to help her.

And most importantly, the fear in her eyes.

Everything was like a sweet symphony drowning the redhead's mind. She didn't care about losing the match. She didn't care that she didn't win the Women's Title. New opportunities would arise and when they did, she'd be there to kick the crap out of the Women's Champion. Again.

And even if she didn't get to beat Trish as much as she'd wanted, it had been rather satisfying evening indeed. Content with the notion, she reached for the towel as she stepped out of the shower and made her way to the lounge.

It didn't take long until she was in her nightdress, which consisted of shorts and a top. After she'd done all the nightly routines, she slipped under the covers and reached out to turn off the lamp on the nightstand.

She knew that tomorrow she might have to face the consequences of what she'd done tonight in one way or another. She didn't think the incident with Trish was big enough to threaten her career, but she had no doubt that it was something that people would talk about. Something she'd hear about for a long time. Still, she couldn't stop the small smile from forming on her face as she sighed contently, shifting a bit.

She was just about to drift off to sleep when another incidence flew its way into her mind. The encounter with John Cena replayed itself in her mind over and over again, along with the embarrassing manner it had happened. She wondered why it suddenly stood up in her mind, but then with a small shake of her head decided it was nothing. After a minute she was already far away as sleep took over her weary body.