"So I talked to Daddy, and he said that I could definitely write the both of us together."

Chris smiled widely. Not only was he dating Stephanie McMahon, but he would get to have her out there with him. If his life got any better, he didn't know what he would do, but he figured running around in circles whooping with joy would play a big part of it. He glanced over at Stephanie, who was looking at him keenly, probably trying to read his reaction, but he had effectively zoned out.

"Chris, that IS ok with you isn't it? I mean, it was your idea," Stephanie said, her eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to read his face.

He smiled at her, "Of course I'm up for it. People are always saying that I'm too much of a loner, what better way to shake off that stigma than have you with me out there?"

Stephanie grinned and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up at him, "Who's been saying that you're a loner?"

"Just people, you know, the fans. They think that I'm always just me, not part of a team. Like Edge and Christian, you know, or Evolution."

"Well now you have me," she grinned flirtily.

"And aren't I the lucky one because of that?" Chris asked her, kissing her softly.

"You are lucky."

At least for now, Stephanie thought. She was still feeling a little bit bad for using Chris like she was, but...what could she do now? He liked being with her, and a part of her liked being with him. She couldn't break his heart...but she knew that eventually she was going to break his heart. Maybe she shouldn't have done this whole plan, maybe she should break it off with Chris before he got too hurt...

Her thoughts were interrupted by Chris brushing his rough finger against her jaw. She pulled herself out of her trance and looked into his azure blue eyes. They could be so clear that you'd think you were looking straight into his soul. The way his eyelashes seemed to dance against his skin. He leaned in and kissed her, completely stealing away her thoughts. It had been a long time since she had had anyone, by the time she had broken it off with Hunter, they were barely speaking. Chris had awoken a desire in her that had long been unsatiated. She didn't really want to give that up.

Her emotions were wrestling against each other. She didn't want to break Chris's heart, but she didn't want to give up her dream of Dave. Dave...that name sent shivers through her spine. The simplest gestures from Dave could send a thousand butterflies through her stomach. She wanted that feeling. With Chris, she felt more safe then anything else. She tried to stop thinking about it as she pressed her lips more firmly against Chris's lips.

"So what's the plan for the night?" Chris asked breathlessly as he broke the kiss.

"I'm going to go out with you during your match with Dave and I'm going to interfere on your behalf so you'll win."

"A win and I have you out there with me? Sounds like a great night."

She rested the palm of her hand against his cheek, the stubble on his face tickling her hand before a sly smile crept up to her lips, brightening up her eyes in the prettiest way. "But first we have a Highlight Reel to do."

"AND a Highlight Reel with you as my special guest?"

"Surprise guest, nobody is going to know it's me until the very," she paused to kiss him, "moment," she kissed him again, "I," another kiss, "come out."

"Nice," he said, "So where's the script so we can rehearse?"

"I thought we'd just go out there and improvise. You know that Daddy doesn't mind that as long as the person knows what they're doing, and if there's anyone who can work a mic, it's you."

"Well, I am the best there is," he said cockily.

"And we can extend that to many varying areas," Stephanie said with a smirk.

"Hey guys," a new voice said. Dave came up to the twosome and smiled, "I just read the script and it says that I have a match against Chris and I wanted to discuss the match. It said that I was supposed to knock Stephanie off the apron."

Chris turned his head towards Stephanie, looking at her quizzically. Granted they hadn't talked about it in depth yet, he was surprised to find out that Stephanie was going to put herself on the line in the match. Stephanie would've answered, or given him a reassuring look if she hadn't been staring intently at Dave. He had just run his hand through his hair and she loved the way it was so perfect and every hair was in place, just by running his hand through it. It was perfect, just like every other part of him. She gave a deep sigh before Chris tugged on her sleeve.

"Stephanie, I don't want you getting hurt," Chris told her.

Stephanie tore her gaze away from Dave albeit reluctantly. "Chris, I'll be fine. You worry too much, I've interfered in matches plenty of times, and nothing remotely harmful has ever happened to me."

Chris didn't look like he was particularly convinced, but he knew that Stephanie knew what she was doing and he had to trust her. It wasn't like she hadn't been out there for matches before. "Ok, so Dave, what did you want to do for the match?"

Stephanie looked over some paperwork as Chris and Dave talked to each other. She stole glances at Dave every so often. He was still dressed in his street clothes, though his street clothes were nicer than most of the other men in the company. He was wearing dark gray dress pants, a nice straight crease down the center and a black dress shirt, buttoned except for the top two buttons which gave a tantalizing view of his tanned, golden skin. She had to stop herself from drooling all over herself. He was just that good-looking a man.

She had to force herself to concentrate on the paperwork attached to the clipboard in front of her. Just focus on the numbers, she kept saying to herself. She didn't want to focus on the man who could pass for a Greek god in front of her. So well-built and muscular, and her tongue was about to hit the floor some time soon. God, could she stop thinking of that man for like two minutes? No was the answer, but she really did try valiantly. She leaned against the wall and let her gaze wander to Chris. He was good-looking too, at least she had taste in men. His hair was pulled back neatly into a ponytail, a few wisps had escaped but he had tucked them behind his ears. He had a strong profile and such nice teeth, she observed. He was muscular too, but it was more subdued that Dave. Dave was like 0% body fat, while Chris had those cute little love handles. They were both great in different ways. Ok, she admitted to herself, watching the both of them just standing there, it was making her kind of hot, but could you blame her? Any woman in their right mind would drool at the sight of Dave Batista and Chris Jericho talking to each other. She was just succumbing to instinct.

Chris shook hands with Dave and then turned to Stephanie. She was looking a teeny bit dazed and he waved his hand in front of her face. She smiled lazily at him, the smile easy and unstrained. He smiled back and brushed one of her long bangs out of her face. She had decided to grow them out a little and they were prone to fall into her face a lot. She reached up and intercepted his hand with hers and brought them down until they were at her side.

"Did you iron everything out for the match?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah, we did, sounds like a pretty good strategy. For a fairly new guy, Dave has some good ring direction," Chris nodded.

Stephanie pursed her lips, "I don't like talking in-ring work. It's boring for me. What is the plan for me?"

"You'll go up on the apron and Dave will be running to me to hit his clothesline, but I'll duck at the last moment and he'll knock out the referee who will in turn hit you."

"Sounds good," she nodded, "If not a little bit of too much chain reaction, but I guess you didn't want me to get hit by Dave."

Chris snapped his fingers, "Darn, you caught me...In all seriousness, your well-being is the one I'm more worried about, and I just want you to be safe."

Stephanie had to smile at the sentiment. Chris did care about her, she knew this as plain as she knew the color of his eyes, which she had memorized in their time together, which was just about three weeks. She liked that she had someone caring about her, and she DID care about Chris, no matter what some of the thoughts inside her head suggested. Chris deserved to have somebody care about him. She hoped he found that person in the long-run, once she left him for Dave.

"Worry about yourself out there," Stephanie said, "Only think of me as an afterthought."

"Can't do it," he said, "As much as I'm the King of the World, you are my girl and it's my job to make sure that everything goes according to plan with you and only you. Me, I can take care of that in the ring."

"You're too much Chris Jericho, much too much."

"So what did your dad think about us being in a storyline together?" Chris asked as they walked to her office, which still doubled as his locker room. He knew that Vince knew about him and Stephanie, and he didn't really seem to mind all that much. Or if he did, he managed to keep it completely restrained, which Chris found fortunate as he didn't want anyone interfering with the relationship he had with Stephanie.

"I think he thought it was a good idea. He wasn't outright against it or anything, if that's what you're thinking. I think he likes the idea that I'll be on television again. He likes it when a McMahon presence is on the show."

"I think that you are the right McMahon for the job," Chris smiled.

"You're just saying that because you would rather have me escorting you out there rather than Shane," Stephanie laughed.

"Well, I admit, Shane would be less of a distraction, but if I wanted to go with the most beautiful person, it would have to be you."

Stephanie tugged on his hand for him to stop and he did, looking over at her for an answer as to why she made them stop in the middle of the hallway. She stood on her toes and kissed him lightly, with a little teasing from her tongue. She pulled away and licked her lips playfully before slipping into her office, leaving Chris speechless, but following her in moments later.

Later that evening, Chris was in the ring for the Highlight Reel. He just had to wait for the cue and he would be on-screen and broadcasting his gorgeous mug to the world. He was clad in his familiar vinyl pants and the newest shirt that they wanted him to shill. He paced back and forth in front of the Jeritron 5000 before he got his cue. As soon as he knew he was on, he grinned that award-winning smile of his.

"Welcome to the Highlight Reel!" he said loudly, grandly gesturing at his set. "Now all throughout the show tonight, they've been advertising this special mystery guest for the Highlight Reel tonight, and I know that's it's probably gotten you intrigued. It had me intrigued too until I found out who it was."

The crowd seemed completely clueless as to who it could be. Maybe if they knew it was Stephanie they would scream out that familiar, "slut" chant that always seemed to break out when Stephanie was in the ring. Even when she was the General Manager over on SmackDown there had always been sporadic chants of "slut" directed in Stephanie's direction.

"Now this person belongs on this show, and they're needed on this show, and we all need this person. Not as much as all you Jerichoholics need me but," he had to stop because of the thunderous cheering that erupted when he mentioned Jerichoholics. He waited for it to quiet down a moment before continuing. "Now you may be wondering, who could be needed as much as Y2J himself? It's a difficult question to ask, I know this, but this person...is a little bit too much like me. Not that it's a bad thing, because I am the King of the World, the King of Bling Bling, and Raw IS Jericho...but now it's time for it to be Raw is Jericho and my special guest, Stephanie McMahon!"

Stephanie's music hit and then there she was, on the top of the ramp dressed in a pale lavender asymmetrical skirt and a simple white button up blouse with rolled up sleeves, and which showed off her cleavage just a little bit. She looked beautiful to Chris's eyes, from her curled hair to her white, strappy stilettos. She walked down to the ring amidst a mixture of boos and cheers, but mostly cheers. Some people stuck their hands out into the aisle and she shook some of the people's hands before climbing the ring steps slowly before climbing into the ring with Chris's assistance.

She took a microphone and let the feeling of being on stage sink in again. She brought the microphone up to her lips and looked over at Chris to pose a question. It may have looked like it was simply intended for him, but it was directed to everyone in the audience when she said, "Did you miss me?"

The crowd cheered and booed again, but still more cheers than boos. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that she had been gone for so long, hadn't been on Raw in about two years, and the glowing words that Chris had introduced her with, saying the crowd needed her, and they ate it up with a spoon.

"I'll take that as a yes," Stephanie said with a smirk, "Did you miss me Jericho?"

"It's hard to miss such a thorn in your side," Chris said snidely.

"Oh, I think you did miss me," Stephanie said sweetly. "I bet you missed calling me a filthy, dirty, disgusting, brutal, bottom-feeding trash bag ho."

Chris laughed heartily, "As a matter of fact, I did miss calling you that."

"It hurt that you used the line on Trish Stratus," Stephanie said, feigning a pout. "I thought that was your special line for me."

"She doesn't hold a candle to you. You're the only woman I know who can stand on a street corner and be the most beautiful two dollar hooker I've ever seen."

Stephanie giggled sarcastically, "Is that so? Well Jericho, it's been so nice watching you fall lower and lower on the scale of Raw, who are you going to be facing next week, some random face we bring in off the street, is that how far your career has lowered in the past two years?"

"Oh, you were always one to bring about the best in me," Chris said, "Now what exactly are you doing here Stephanie?"

"I came her to make you a proposition," Stephanie said.

"Stephanie, this is really quite sudden, I didn't realize that as soon as you got back you'd what to be ON your back."

Stephanie rolled her eyes comically. "I want to be partners again Chris. But this time will be better. We won't just be out to get that rotten ex-husband of mine."

"Oh really?" he asked.

She walked a few steps closer to him and stared him down for a moment. The heat and sexual tension between them was at an all-time high and as Stephanie licked her lips in Chris's direction, they both knew what they were going to be doing after the show. She leaned in a little closer, glancing off to the side to see the fans watching and she smiled.

"We can rule all of Raw," she said into her microphone. "How does that sound Chris, you in?"

"You bet your ass I'm in," Chris said, shaking her hand.

"Isn't this the sweetest thing you've ever seen," a sarcastic voice said from the top of the ramp. Stephanie and Chris looked to see Dave standing there. They had decided to let Dave interfere in the Highlight Reel, segueing into the match between Chris and Dave. Dave didn't get a lot of speaking parts on the show, but Stephanie sought to change that because he really did have a nice voice.

"Oh look Stephanie, he can talk," Chris said as Stephanie laughed and stood next to him.

"Cut the chit-chat Jericho, you and me in that ring right now. Obviously you didn't get the message when I practically knocked your head off the other week, so I have to show you again not to mess around with Evolution."

"Fine, get your ass down here and I'll show you how much you 'knocked my head' off," Chris said, pulling off his shirt and handing it to Stephanie. He gestured for her to leave the ring as the guys took the set away.

Stephanie watched as they started their match. She had to pay attention so that she didn't miss her cue. After a failed Lionsault attempt she was supposed to go to work. She gently laid Chris's shirt on the ground next to where she was standing and started slapping her hand against the mat, cheering for Chris. She also watched Dave intently. For such a big guy he moved so well in the ring. It really was a talent. So distracted was she, that she almost missed her cue, but managed to climb up on the apron and distract the referee. He came over and she pretended to argue with him as she saw Chris give Dave a low-blow behind the referee. Then Dave grabbed Chris and flung him against the ropes on the far side of the ring, which Chris managed to hold onto the ropes and go closer to where she was standing. Dave started to run and was going to take down Chris with the clothesline when Chris ducked and Dave hit the referee who in turn hit Stephanie.

She went to fall and by some luck of nature she landed right on her foot, which then twisted her ankle from the high stiletto she was wearing. She cringed and fell to the ground, grabbing her ankle. She knew she had twisted it, and she tried to stand up, but it was no use. Chris came over to the ropes and looked down at her.

"Stephanie, are you hurt?" he called to her.

"Yeah, but go on with the match, I'll be fine," she said, giving him a weak smile. The pain was flaring up. Chris was reluctant to go back to the match, but had to since they were on live. She caught Dave staring at her with concern, knowing that he was at least partially responsible for her getting hurt. He looked at her with genuine remorse and she felt the pain disappear if even for a moment.

Maybe she could use that guilt to her advantage.