Note: Some of JR and King's lines come directly from the taping, so if you recognise something one of them says, the chances are the line is not one of mine.

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Part Twenty Three

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"Well, King, it's here at last. We've had bother versus brother-"

"And look what happened there, JR!"

"It was uncalled for and, my God, I hope Lita is okay. From what we can tell, Jeff Hardy, Edge, Rob Van Dam, Billy Kidman, and, if you can believe it, Chris Benoit have all joined forces to comb the building looking for Lita. Lilian Garcia has even left ringside to help."

"Forget about Lita, JR, did you see the look of triumph on Dawn Marie's face?"

"Somehow, King, I doubt you were looking at her face. Triple H is now making his way to the ring, sledgehammer in tow. Look at that sadistic smile on his face. He knows exactly where Lita is."

"Of course he does, he took her."

"Let's hope Shawn Michaels can get Lita's whereabouts out of him before things go too far. There's a lot of bad blood here, King, a lot of bad blood. These two were best friends, brothers one might say, and things have boiled down to this."

"Well, it's about to get underway, JR, and look at the look Michaels' face. I dunno, I think Triple H might have hit the mark. What do you think, JR, do you think he and Lita are-"

"I have no idea, King, but, safe to say, Michaels is not in a good mood. The last time Shawn Michaels' set foot in the ring to wrestle was 1609 days ago, if you can believe that. He left the game due to a broken back, but this is about pride and passion, about evil-ness and ego. It's gonna be a fight."

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Jeff threw open another door, the reverberating smack as it hit the wall was the only thing that gave him any satisfaction. The room was empty. He moved further in and checked the bathroom, before sweeping the whole room in case there was another 'clue'.

Having taken Michaels at his word, they'd searched the area in and around their locker room. They'd found a lock of Lita's hair taped to a piece of paper hidden in the bathroom of the locker room next door. The words 'Close, but no cigar' were written in Matt Hardy's sloping scrawl.

He'd broken the mirror.

The arena was huge, but Jeff was beginning to realise that Shawn was right; Triple H wanted to taunt them with her so he was unlikely to have taken her out of the building. They'd checked with security anyway. Whilst Angle and Flair had both left, they were informed that there was no way Lita was with them.

"Nothing." He turned to see Chris Benoit standing in the doorway shaking his head. "We got some of the other guys helping to look. Pretty sure this is the last hallway."

"No one found anything?" he asked, his hopes falling and his anger rising.

Benoit shook his head. "The Rock's checking the last room at the end of the hall and Edge is next door."

Jeff let out a guttural shout and threw the chair he was holding across the room. "Where the hell can she be?"

As if answering his question, Lilian and Rob burst into the room. He frowned questioningly as he watched the blonde ring announcer waving her arms about and trying to catch her breath.

"Ring!" she gasped. "The ring?"

"What?" He moved towards her. "Is Michaels in trouble?"

She shook her head violently, still breathless, and her boyfriend answered for her. "It's the only place we haven't checked."

"I think someone'd notice if Lita was in the ring," Jeff said, looking at her dubiously.

"The crowd?" Benoit muttered. "But they wouldn't be able to keep quiet about it."

"Not in the ring," Lilian cried, "under it!"

Jeff's eyes widened. "Right under Shawn's nose…literally." Lilian nodded. "You know the way up under it?" he asked and she nodded again.

Edge had arrived in the hallway outside the room with just enough time to hear the end of the conversation and, without speaking, he stepped aside as Lilian rushed out of the room. No one spoke as they all ran after her.

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Lita struggled against the neck tie that was securing her arms behind her back. It seemed that, although the evening must have been planned to an extent, no one had thought to bring anything to tie her up. Not that that had stopped them, but it had been amusing to watch Flair, Angle, and Matt – or the three stooges as she now thought of them – arguing over what they were supposed to do. That was, unfortunately, when Dawn Marie had shown up with the tie. Lita didn't want to know where it had come from or who Dawn Marie had done to get it.

"So, enjoying yourself?"

Lita glanced up at the small hatch a few feet above her head and rolled her eyes. "Small talk, Matt? You always did like to talk for no reason."

She could only see his head, but he looked pissed. Whatever Matt said in response, however, was drowned out by the crowd. She jumped as she heard a thud coming from above her and tried once more to shout for help. Her attempt was met with a punch in the face.

She cried out in pain, hissing as her sore ribs jerked with the movement. She'd been able to move enough that Triple H's sledge hammer hadn't hit with full force, but it had still hit. Twice. Her ribs were aching, but she was confident that nothing was broken. She blinked, her eyes full of tears. She was only glad that the angle she was at didn't allow Matt much room for a good swing. Her eye was sore, but she didn't think it'd bruise.

"Not yet, Lita," he said angrily. "You know the rules. First Hunter cripples your new boyfriend and then we take you out. Just in time to see the look on Michael's face when he realises he's been right on top of you all night. I'm sure it's not his first time ther-FUCK!"

Lita smirked in satisfaction as he grabbed hold of his bleeding nose. She was tied up, lying flat underneath the ring, but she did have some movement and she was more than happy to take any opportunity to head butt the man who'd so gleefully broken her heart so may times. Not anymore, though. She no longer felt anything for him but hatred and pity.

She looked up when the canvas above her shook. She still couldn't believe that she was actually right under the ring. She was trapped in the centre, lost between ladders and chairs, trash cans and kendo sticks. Shawn was literally a few feet above her head and she couldn't get to him. Every time someone lifted up the material around the ring in order to grab a weapon, a hand clasped over her mouth and she could barely breathe, let alone speak. The fact that Triple H looked right at her every time it was him only made her angrier.

She jerked her head, watching as Matt disappeared from the hatch. There was a noise from below this time.

Something was happening.

She only hoped it meant that someone had found her, because, from what she could hear, the match was almost over. Unfortunately, the crowd was so loud she had no idea if they were cheering or booing…she had no idea if Shawn was winning, or if he was lying broken and hurt a few feet above her head.

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Torrie shivered, hugging Devlan close to her as she continued to watch the room through the small gap around the edge of the door. She couldn't see much, but every noise was wreaking havoc with her already fraying nerves. She shushed Devlan again, holding him gently against her as he began to wriggle. She was amazed he'd stayed quiet and still so long, to be honest.

"Shh, Dev," she whispered. "We need to be real quiet."

"Like mice?"

She smiled and nodded. "But no squeaking either."

He giggled and, at that moment, she froze. There was someone entering the hospital room.

She hadn't been able to figure out most of what had happened at the start of Shawn and Triple H's match, couldn't hear what they were saying to each other. But, as Shawn's eyes had widened in shock, Torrie had felt her heart stop. Triple H hadn't wasted time starting the match, but what the words he'd spoken, with a sadistic smirk on his face, still echoed silently around her in the small space: 'I heard about Devlan.'

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End of Part Twenty Three

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AN: I have no idea if it's possible, wherever they are, to have a 'trap door' under the ring. Obviously people like Taker and Kane have come up from under the ring before, but whether they were there the entire time, or there is another way, I have no idea. However, in this fic, there's a trap door. Deal with it. ;)

Two more chapters to go! They're already written, just need a quick proof and then they can be posted! ;)