At the Beginning

Disclaimer: Vince owns the personas, people own themselves.. I own the story idea.

Spoilers: RAW 6-12-06

Rating: M for language and violence.

Summary: With revenge on his mind, the last thing John Cena expected to do was help someone he was supposed to hate.

Pairings: Lita/Cena (eventually), others to be determined.

Notes: The Bimbo Search 2006 is being left out of my story. Stephanie is not pregnant, has not been in charge of the un-creative team and pretty much un-seen since her stint as the Smackdown G.M.

-x-x-x-

Part Four: Two Heads Are Better Then One

With the rosters joined again, it meant that every superstar should show up for both Smackdown and RAW.. Not that it was a big issue or anything like that, but it did make for crowded backstage areas and it also made it a little bit harder to get a good parking spot. But, even that was only a minor issue in the grand scheme of things. The first major issue with the rosters re-joined was everyone's storylines. Certainly, some of them could be kept on, but, others would have to be finished off to make way for the new string of storylines….or rather, for the newest storyline.. A revival, of sorts, of the Alliance angle. Only this time around, there was no WCW in the mix, so it was simply ECW vs. WWE.. Over the next two weeks, superstars from the WWE would be 'defecting' over to the new ECW…battle lines would be drawn and then the big 'war' would start. And while she wanted to be in ECW, Lita had already been informed that she would be staying on the WWE side of things. But, at least this time around, she wouldn't be at Edge's side, instead managing someone else in about two weeks time.. Stephanie informing her earlier that a new storyline was already being worked on and that it would start tonight at Smackdown. In addition to the promos for that, Lita was also going to be in a tag-team match, though as of this moment, she didn't know who her partner was going to be…nor did she know who the opponents would be.. The redhead hoping that she would find out soon, Of course, as she unpacked her things for the evening, Lita did have to wonder when Stephanie had become more actively involved, aside from helping with creative, and if the woman was coming back to television. But, before Lita could think any further on the matter, a stagehand knocked on the door to her locker room, informing the diva that she was needed in Mr. Long's office.

Lita raised an eyebrow as Stephanie McMahon greeted her. "I was told that I was meeting in--"

Stephanie nodded, gesturing for the redhead to come inside, "yes, this is Mr. Long's office, but, consider me the commissioner for tonight's show."

The redhead blinked, "permanently or just for tonight?"

The younger woman shrugged, stepping aside so Lita could enter. "Just playing it by ear for now, but, Teddy is still in charge of Smackdown, we're trying to figure out who to put in charge of RAW." Stephanie gestured to the unoccupied couch in the room, "we're waiting on three more people and I'm sorry for the short notice, but, things are going to be little hectic for awhile."

"Not too much different from the norm, I guess." Lita seated herself, toying with a loose strand of hair. "You said I have a match, plus a filmed segment for tonight, yeah?"

"Right," Stephanie confirmed with a nod, the brunette leaning back against the desk in the room. "Your filmed segment is with Edge.. We're cutting the storyline quick, which might not make too much sense but, it's all we can manage right now--"

Lita smiled wryly, "you won't get any complaints about that from me."

Stephanie crossed her arms over her chest, "your partner for tonight will also have a part in your new storyline, which, once I have details for that.. I'll need you to come up to corporate or something to talk about that."

The diva nodded slowly, "so who's--"

"Stephanie?" Dawn queried from the hallway, "you needed to see me about tonight, right?"

"It's open Dawn," glancing to Lita, the brunette smiled. "Dawn is one of your opponents tonight."

Lita sent a grin over to her friend as she walked inside, "I can definitely deal with that."

Dawn beamed, seating herself on the couch. "Kurt just went down to get a bottled water, he'll be in here soon."

The redhead quirked an eyebrow, "so Dawn and Kurt are my opponents then?" She sent a suspicious look back to Stephanie, "who's my partner?"

"Well.." Stephanie and Dawn exchanged a look, the younger woman speaking first. "He should be here soon."

Lita opened her mouth, just starting to say something when the door was opened…the redhead on her feet, hazel eyes flashing accusingly. "You asshole.. You were freaking tailgating me from the hotel all the way to the damn arena!"

John snorted, "and? You was driving so damn slow.. Coulda gotten a ticket for goin' under the speed limit."

The redhead placed her hands on her hips, "then I'm guessing you got your drivers license from a box of cracker jacks because you can't drive."

Stephanie cleared her throat, "why don't we all take a seat.. We're just waiting on Kurt and then we'll go over the match for tonight and what it means for the future storyline."

Lita sent a dirty look in Cena's direction but, sat down none the less. "Please, save me some sanity and tell me this isn't going to be a permanent thing."

Stephanie grimaced, "not exactly. You won't always face Dawn and Kurt, nor will there be a lot of these tag team matches but.. Once you stop managing Edge, you'll need someone else to manage."

The redhead laughed without humor, Lita soon on her feet again. "Could you excuse me please? I need to scream."

Dawn grabbed her friend's elbow, "Li.. It's not permanent, alright? It's just temporary--"

Lita growled, "that's what they said when I first started managing Edge, and would you like to know all of the details there?"

Kurt blinked as he entered the office, "did I miss something?"

Stephanie shook her head, gesturing for Kurt to take a seat.. Dawn giving Lita's wrist a sharp tug…the redhead finding herself re-seated against her will. And wisely so, Stephanie went over the match as quickly as possible.. Informing the two tag-teams that they would be competing again on Monday night and running the same set of matches for the house shows. She also mentioned the possibility of more Head to Head shows, leaving the conversation at that…encouraging the four to head to the ring so they could get some practice time in before the pre-show meeting. And just as John, Lita and Kurt were heading out.. Dawn stayed behind.

"Dawn," Stephanie motioned for the older woman to join her at the desk, "when you said.. There might be a small problem, I really wasn't expecting that."

The New Jersey native shrugged, "well.. It can be worked out, I guess.. I mean, Steph, they really don't have the best past but, that doesn't mean things can't change."

Stephanie eyed her friend skeptically, "Dawnie.. In order for this to work? We may have to handcuff them together or something. I could be wrong, but I don't think Li trusts him, doesn't want to work with him.. And I can't say I really blame her."

Dawn smirked, "did you say handcuff them together? That might not be such a bad idea, you know.. I mean, if your dad can make a 'you can't see me' match.. Who's to say that you can't make a 'handcuffed to your partner' match."

"Because, that would make it pretty hard for the actual match to take place." Stephanie frowned thoughtfully, "although.. If there could be a variation, to make it possible.. We could bring back the roulette wheel on Monday night."

"And fix the wheel?" Dawn blinked, "but that's all luck of the draw and--"

Stephanie smiled deviously, "then it's the luck of the draw.. Let's say one blond Canadian gets the handcuff match.. He'll just have to compete with his hands cuffed together."

"Now that would be well worth it," Dawn said approvingly, "but, I should probably get to the ring.. Make sure those two haven't tried to kill each other."

Stephanie arched an eyebrow, "is it really that bad?"

Dawn rolled her eyes, one hand already on the doorknob. "She tried to bite him on Monday." And when Stephanie blinked, the older woman sighed. "It was after the match and we were all heading back to the trainers room so Li could get some help.. She didn't appreciate John carrying her over there."

Stephanie shook her head, "and you're sure this is going to work?"

The ECW diva waved it off nonchalantly, "of course it will.. Trust me, Steph.. Between you and me, this is going to run perfectly."

As Dawn left the office, Stephanie seated herself behind the desk.. A look of clear cut uncertainty on her face. If what she had seen in the office was any indication of the future, it didn't look like things would go smoothly at all. But, on the other hand, when the brunette thought about how stubborn both John and Lita could be and how different they were. They were just bound to clash on things. Going from that, Stephanie reasoned that the new storyline could go one of two ways.. It could either work out, like Dawn was predicting.. Or it could crumble and Lita would potentially be right back at square one…and managing Edge again. From what Stephanie had heard from Dawn, the latter option really wasn't appealing.. Which meant that, in order for option one to work, she and the ECW diva had a lot of work to do and not much time to work with.