Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Anything that is recognizable, does not belong to me. I'm debating if I'll use all wrestling people or toss in some OC's.
Summary: When one of the RAW Diva's is attacked, it brings the unlikeliest group of people together.
Pairings: All worked out for plot purposes.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I am going to try and get back on a bi-weekly update for this piece, but I can't make any promises.
Chapter 23
April 14, 2004
Semi full from dinner, the house mates next stop was the grocery store to pick up snacks. The original plan to pick up pizza had been nixed, instead those still hungry opting to pick up the necessary fixings for sandwiches and sundaes. Also on their 'shopping' list: soda, more cake and assorted candy. A recipe for disaster, perhaps, or just a recipe for one restless night. Whatever the case, the group split in the grocery store; Dawn heading up one group to hit the beverages while Bubba took charge of another group to hit the cold cuts and bread. Anything sweet was then left to Jeff and his group, the four managing to almost fill one shopping cart. Rob questioned why it was necessary to have that much candy, the Battle Creek native then pointing out they still had to get the ice cream and ice cream toppings. Both Lita and Jeff argued back that you could never have enough candy.. Plus they could use some of it for the sundaes. Meanwhile, off in the bread aisle, Bubba and Eddie were 'arguing' over which type of bread to get. The end result was two packages of tortillas and two packages of English muffins added to the cart, shredded cheese picked up with the cold cuts and a short stop to the canned goods to pick up tomato sauce. The mini grocery store run was becoming more involved then any of them had anticipated with each passing second. While the original snack menu had called for sandwiches and sundaes, they now added quesadillas and mini pizzas.
Dawn Marie raised an eyebrow as they convened at the check out. "Gee Jeffrey, did you get enough candy? Or are you planning an early Halloween celebration?"
"See?" Rob rolled his eyes, "I told you two that was too much."
Jeff rolled his eyes right back, "An' like I told you.. You can never have too much candy."
Chris Benoit supressed a sigh. "Why don't we just shut up and agree, hmm? Unless you want all of your precious ice cream to melt."
"Why don't we just shut up anyway and pay for our stuff so we can leave?" Bubba suggsted then, "There are people who didn't get a full meal at the pricey place."
Chris Jericho nodded, "Plus we still need to hit the video store and we all know how much we agree on movies."
Lita smiled, "Well that part is easy.. This is a birthday celebration, right? As Dawn pointed out at the restaurant, we have two birthday people." She gestured between herself and John. "Hence, we will pick the movies."
"Whatever," D-von tapped his foot impatiently. "Can we just pay for our stuff and go?"
Eddie glanced doubtfully between the full carts. "How are we gonna pay for all of this?"
"Duh," Dawn rolled her eyes. "We pool our money together.. Or those of us who have credit cards, use them." With a shrug she added: "It shouldn't be too much anyway, right?"
Nidia handed over a small wad of cash. "My brother gave this to me.. For an emergency or whatever.."
The New Jersey native accepted the cash, "Are you sure 'Dia?"
She nodded, "Yeah I'm sure.. It's not like I can't get more anyway."
Dawn merely shrugged in response, counting out the bills. "'Dia? This is a lot of money.."
"Well..." Nidia began, "It's saved money.. And like I said, it was for an emergency, ya know?"
"Dawn," Chris Jericho began patiently, "It's money.. We need money to pay for our groceries."
The brunette Diva frowned slightly, but the beckoning of Nidia's cell phone prevented her from questioning it further.
Nidia offered an apologetic smile, the brunette excusing herself to wait outside. "D? What's up?"
"Would you happen to have Lita's cell phone number?"
She blinked, "Why do you need--"
"I don't," he interrupted shortly. "And no, it's not H who needs it either."
Nidia nodded skeptically. "Alright.. I don't think it should be a problem but--"
"'Dia, if I knew why, I'd tell you." A pause, "Here.. I'll let him explain."
"Why do you need Li's cell phone number?"
"Because it's important, that's why." Randy let out a short sigh. "Look, I would've asked Stacy but that just would've been wierd. I'm not on the best of terms with any of her other friends so, that left me with one other option." At her hesitance, he added: "It's about the plan."
Slowly, she nodded. "Stacy's with us, so.."
"Unless she's tapping Lita's cell phone, I don't see any problems."
"Okay," Nidia agreed eventually. "But if Li yells at me for this--"
"I'll explain," Randy re-assured. "Thanks Nidia."
By the time the necessary information had been passed, the group inside was heading outside. And just in the nick of time as Nidia was just pocketing her cell phone. Of course, she didn't escape without some interrogation.. Dawn wondering who had called. To that, Nidia had explained it was her brother.. A small family emergency but nothing that required her to go home anytime soon. That explaination satisfied them all for the most part, Lita sending Nidia a questioning look all the same. The redheaded Diva was skeptical about the premise behind the phone call.. But, since she was the only one amongst them who knew of Nidia's family ties; she kept her doubts to herself. At any rate, the house mates split up once again, one half taking the groceries back to the house while the other half set off to find a video store. And it was at the video store that Nidia gave Lita the heads up. The revelation leaving the redhead a tad on the perplexed side but she reasoned it couldn't be anything that bad.
Assembly lines for the sandwiches, quesadillas and mini pizzas were spread out over the counters. Various two liter bottles of soda were set up on the island countertop and the candy was currently being poured into bowls. Of course, it had taken some bargaining with Jeff to not use all of the candy for snacking purposes, the Cameron native eventually consenting to saving half of the sweet stash. The rented videos -two picks by Lita and two picks by John- were currently sitting on the coffee table in the living room. Said piece of furniture had been pushed to the side to allow for more seating space. One of the couches had also been moved, squished alongside the other with a chair between them. By this arrangement, everyone would at least have somewhere to sit, even if it was on the cramped side. Bubba, D-von, Spike and Edge were currently standing in the kitchen assembling sandwiches while Dawn, Stacy and Eddie were taking charge of the quesadillas and mini pizzas. Furniture moving had been designated to Chris, Chris, Rey and John with Lillian gathering extra pillows from the bedrooms. But, before they could start their movie night, Lita decided now was the time to tell her friends from RAW about her roster switch.
"Alright," Lita began, the redhead currently occupying a couch cushion. "Chris, Chris, Lillian, Stacy, Victoria and Edge.. there's something I gotta tell y'all."
Victoria raised an eyebrow, "Something tells me this isn't good news.."
The redheaded Diva shrugged, "In some ways it is, but.. in some ways, I guess it's not."
Chris Jericho frowned, "Then why don't you tell us so we can judge for ourselves."
"I'm moving to Smackdown.." She let out a breath, "Next Monday will be my last appearance on RAW."
Stacy blinked, "For how long?"
"I don't know yet," Lita swept her hair from her face. "It's just, with everything that's going on over there.. I think switching rosters is a good thing."
The frown on Chris' face deepened. "But there's no title belt for you to compete for over there.. And no offense Dawn, but there's really no women's division over there either." The blonde man shook his head, "I can't see you being happy with that."
"I'm not Chris," Lita replied truthfully. "But, like I said.. There's just so much shit going on backstage at RAW. When I was backstage at Smackdown, I wasn't looking over my shoulder every five seconds."
Victoria sighed shortly. "Plus you don't have to worry about being in Evolution.. But, like Chris pointed out, you have no belt to compete for and really no division to compete in." She eyed the redhead curiously, "I don't know about you Li, but that would drive me crazy."
Lita clasped her hands together, "It's not a permanent move or anything.. Just until things settle down a bit or until these assholes back off."
Chris Jericho snorted, "If you're referring to Evolution.. That won't happen anytime soon. If you're referring to those stalkers of yours.. I don't see that happening anytime soon either."
The redhead gritted her teeth, "But it has to calm down eventually.. An' even if it doesn't I have to think that, Chris." She shook her head, "That's the only way I'll be able to sleep at night."
"I think the roster switch is a good move." Chris Benoit spoke up before Chris Jericho could retort. "As Lita said, it's not permanent.. And the belt will always be there for her to go after."
Lillian nodded, "I agree.. We'll miss having you around Li, but it's not like we won't be able to see you. You're just switching shows."
"Your health and saftey means more than a belt." Chris Jericho stated softly. "It just won't be the same.. Not having you around."
Lita smirked, "I can always stop by, just to pester you.." hazel eyes softened. "I'll miss you a lot, Jerky."
"Aww.." Bubba wiped away a fake tear. "I think this calls for a group hug."
Chris Benoit snorted, "I don't think so.. Why don't we watch the movie. That way all of the food you all insisted we needed won't go to waste."
Bubba stuck out his tongue, "Party pooper."
Lillian sent the redhead a warm smile. "Just don't forget about us."
Lita rolled her eyes good naturedly. "That'd be impossible, believe you me.. And besides which, there's always the joint pay-per-views."
Stacy nodded, pushing back a strand of hair. "It'll be different though.. Not having you around every Monday night."
Edge grinned, "We can always come bug you on Smackdown too.. I doubt they'd mind."
At that, Lita could only nod. True enough yes- she wasn't overly thrilled about not competiting for the belt. It didn't help that she didn't know how long it would be before she got another chance to do so. And as Chris had pointed out -and as she knew- there really was no women's wrestling division on Smackdown. Still, Lita remained confident in her choice. Her health and safety did matter, after all. But, that didn't mean she was completely happy with the roster switch. The redhead knew it didn't guarantee that the stalkers would leave her alone. And if they didn't, she would just keep dealing with it like she had been. Evolution, on the other hand, was different matter. Somehow though, she didn't see a big problem where the collective was concerned. Triple H had an iron tight grip on the reins of RAW and Lita really couldn't see him giving that up anytime soon. That thought alone re-assured her immensely.
They had just finished viewing the first movie, the sandwiches had all been consumed and the plate of quesadillas was near empty. Most of the mini pizzas had been split between Bubba and Chris Benoit.. The candy, of course, being consumed mainly by Jeff and Lita. Currently, the house mates were in the kitchen again.. This time to assemble sundaes. In accordance with a prior agreement, John had control over the second movie. Their seating arrangements remained the same, sundaes balanced carefully on laps or placed more securely on the floor. And since it was now going on 1:00 a.m., the group of house mates decided this would be the last movie of the night. Even if they didn't have to be at a house show the next day, they still needed some sleep. Added to that, they still needed to work out the sleeping arrangements. It just so happened though, just as Lita was settling back on the couch...her cell phone beckoned. With an apologetic smile, she passed her sundae to Jeff, wisely fielding the call outside.
"Is there a reason you're callin' at 1:00 a.m?"
Randy rolled his eyes at the phone, "Would you rather I call at 2:00 a.m.?"
The redhead snorted, settling on a patio chair. "Why are you callin' me anyway? 'Dia had said something about the 'plan', but.. Somehow I doubt that."
"It does have to do with the plan," he stated simply. "When were you going to tell us that you were switching rosters?"
Lita blinked, flicking away a leaf. "Good news travels fast, apparently.. Which makes me wonder, how the hell did y'all find out? An' why does it really matter?"
He paused, "Well.. To answer your first question, H makes it his business to know whats going on. Especially where it concerns members of Evolution--"
"News flash," she interrupted shortly. "I'm not a member of Evolution."
"But you were going to be," Randy pointed out quickly. "Just because H and Stephanie aren't on good terms, doesn't mean he doesn't know what's going on with Smackdown."
"Whatever," she toyed with a strand of hair. "So, I'll ask again- Why does it really matter?"
Randy rolled his shoulders, "You being on a different show, won't stop H.. You realize that, right?"
Lita huffed, "What can he really do about it? I already talked to Stephanie and she's already working things out with creative."
"But, that still won't stop him."
Lita let out a frustrated sigh. "Why is he so hell bent on me being in Evolution?"
"If I knew, I'd tell you, but H doesn't share everything." Randy moved from the chair he had been occupying. "There's also something you need to know."
"What now?"
Another pause, "Dave and I were being followed on Monday."
Lita made a face, "And this relates to me how?"
"When we walked you and Nidia back to the locker room," he explained shortly. "Problem is, we don't know who it was."
The redhead laughed without humor. "That's usually the point when someone's stalking you.." She shook her head, "But I can't say I'm surprised. They've been after me from the get go and apparently 'Dia too."
Randy nodded absently, "What are you going to do about it?"
"I can't really do anything," she shrugged nonchalantly. "The police are involved to some extent but they haven't figured out a damn thing."
"So, in the meantime, you'll isolate yourself on Smackdown.."
"I'm not isolating myself on Smackdown," Lita replied crisply. "I felt safer on Smackdown." She waited a beat before adding: "And what does this have to do with the 'plan'?"
Randy shrugged, "Nothing really.. I just thought it would be easier to work things through if you were on RAW."
"It would be, yes.. But life isn't easy." A short sigh, "I'll still help you but I have to look out for me."
"I'm not arguing that," Randy raked a hand through his hair. "Would it be possible for you, Dawn and John to meet up with me?"
Lita raised an eyebrow, "Where, when and most importantly- why?"
"Wherever," he said first. "As for when.. Friday or Saturday. I'll call John so don't worry about that part."
"That'd help," she quipped dryly. "Now why do we need to meet?"
"To go over the 'plan'.. You switching rosters would alter it somewhat."
"Fine, fine.." She rolled her eyes, "I would like to have one free day to myself before the pay-per-view so.. How about Friday."
Randy nodded shortly, "Friday is fine."
"Was there anything else you needed?"
"No," he fell silent a moment. "I'll see you Friday then."
"Right." Lita waited for the dialtone to hit her ear, the cell phone turned off shortly after.
While she wasn't too surprised that Dave and Randy had been followed, she did wonder why Triple H would be so damn persistent. How could she -just one person- be that important? There were plenty of Diva's on RAW who could compete for the women's title.. And who were more suited to being a part of Evolution. Now, Lita wondered, just what Triple H would do next. Did he really have that much power behind the scenes? Or was he just bluffing? And if he did have that much power, how was he going to use it? Even if it did mean a higher frequency of trouble, Lita didn't want to stay on RAW. It wasn't safe for her and with Evolution added to the picture, it was a less desirable place for her to be. On the other hand, being in Evolution could be a good thing. It would mean having all of the perks, but was she willing to pay the price? At this point in time, Lita felt the answer was a resounding no. She did not want to be in Evolution and right now, she didn't want to be on RAW. And as Lita made her way back inside, she could only hope that Triple H wouldn't screw up her chance of switching rosters.