Chapter Fourteen

New Champions

It was December sixteenth, and it had been an incredible few weeks for World Heavyweight Champion Dave Batista. It was a cold, blustery winter night, and SmackDown fans had filled up the arena, anxious to catch a glimpse of their favorite Superstars. Two weeks ago, after coming to the rescue of Rey Mysterio, they had started tag-teaming together. Tonight, they had a shot against the tag team champions MNM. They were both psyched. Dave had the opportunity to hold two championships at once. He only wished Cassie was there to see it. She was over in South Korea, doing some promotional work with Shane McMahon, Trish Stratus, Shawn Michaels and Carlito. It was her first time visiting South Korea, and she just couldn't turn down the offer to go. She was the only one there representing SmackDown. But Dave missed her.

"Cassie is going to be so psyched for you when she comes back to see you with two titles," Rey told him. Dave grinned.

"I think so, too. I can't wait till she gets back here. I wish she were here tonight."

"Are you finally going to make your move next week?" Rey asked. In the past few weeks, Dave had told Rey everything about Cassie, including his feelings for her. Dave nodded.

"I think it's about time."

"You think?" Rey asked with a laugh. Dave smirked. "Anyway, I have to go do an interview for the website. I'll meet you at the ramp at match-time."

"You know it, Rey-Rey," he said. They slapped hands and hugged before going their separate ways. Rey walked down the hall to the online interview area while Dave went back to his locker room. The two of them were riled up. There was an electricity in the air. Dave was confident that by the end of the night, he and Rey Mysterio were going to be the tag team champions.

MNM manager Melina walked down the hallway with a self-satisfied smirk on her face. She had a hand on her hip, her hips swinging seductively with each step she took. A beautiful Latina, Melina caught the eye of everyone she passed backstage as she made a beeline for the locker room. She was dressed in a gleaming red halter top with a deep maroon mini-skirt and knee-high leather boots. Her red and blonde hair was waved around her face. She had a big plan tonight to ensure that her boys kept the tag team titles. She was willing to do anything to keep the titles around the waist of MNM.

She stopped in front of the door. "The Animal". With a deep breath and a smile, she walked into the room.

"What's wrong?" Trish asked when Cassie shuddered. The group of Superstars and Divas were sitting around the table, eating at a local Korean restaurant.

"I don't know," Cassie confessed. "It feels like someone walked over my grave. I just got the strangest feeling that things are going to get crazy when we get home." Carlito and Shawn were too busy trading Ric Flair stories with Shane McMahon to pay attention to Trish and Cassie's conversation.

"With Dave, do you think?" Trish asked.

"I don't know, Trish. Maybe. I just have this bad feeling all of a sudden."

"What's up with you and Dave Batista anyway?" Shane asked. He had jumped in on the conversation. Cassie wasn't surprised. Dave and Shane were friends. The rumors weren't lost on Shane, who always kept his ear to the ground. Even though Shane was hardly ever backstage - his job required him to fly around the world all the time - it always surprised Cassie how he was always on the up and up with the latest gossip in WWE.

"We're good friends," Cassie answered honestly.

"Anything more?" Trish inquired.

"Anything less?" Shawn asked. They shot each other a grin.

"Speaking of you, Shawn, great work at Survivor Series," Cassie told him with a laugh. She was desperate to change the subject. "How is it that you always manage to get stuck in one-on-three situations?"

"Stroke of luck I guess," Shawn said with a laugh. The subject of Cassie Wallace and Dave Batista were completely forgotten as they fell into other topics.

Halfway around the world on SmackDown, Dave and Rey were celebrating. They had defeated MNM to become the new WWE tag team Championship. Melina stood withdrawn and seething at ringside. Her scheming had caught up to her, and her plans had backfired. Things weren't going to be pretty next week, but Dave wasn't thinking about it. Melina was going to see to it that the titles ended up back around the waist of MNM if it killed her.

And she had an idea...

"Cassie! Rey and I won the tag titles tonight!"

Cassie was half-asleep, but the joy in his voice woke her up in an instant. She was almost a full twenty-four hours ahead of Dave and her body still hadn't adjusted to the time zone change. "Dave, that's wonderful," she said with a yawn. "Congratulations."

"I know. I can't even believe it. Rey and I - we're just so psyched!"

"You should go out and paint the town red with Rey. He'd probably enjoy the company right now." They both understood the reason.

"It's too bad that you weren't with us, Cassie. You should have seen it - Melina was doing everything she could to interfere and she failed. She couldn't do it." The two of them laughed. Melina had been rubbing everybody the wrong way in the Divas division since her arrival in April.

"It wouldn't be the first time they failed at something," she laughed.

"How's Korea treating you?"

"Good. After the press conference we all went out for dinner. It's been a lot of fun hanging out with Trish. They went out to keep painting the city red."

"Why didn't you go?"

"Tired. I haven't adjusted to the time change. Plus with the flight tomorrow, I don't want to fly hung-over. It sucks."

"I can't say that's ever happened to me."

"Oh, you are so lying. You don't travel with Ric Flair and not experience the two together at some point."

"I'm telling you the truth," Dave insisted, but Cassie laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Your lips are sealed. One of these days, you should really write a book about your time in Evolution." He chuckled.

"I should. Anyway, I'll let you get some sleep."

"Okay. Have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"I'll try to remember that. Rey's the wild one."

"I'm sure. Have a good night, Dave."

"Cassie?"

"Yeah?" She yawned.

"I've...I've wanted to say something to you for a while, and I know it's been tough and it's been busy and crazy, but I know you sense it and you feel it, too. Cassie...I love you."

The words froze her, like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head. "W-what? I'm sorry, there must be a bad connection," she said after a few moments. "Dave, did you just say what I think you said?"

"I did," he told her emphatically. "It's driving me crazy that I haven't seen you since Survivor Series. With you going to Mexico and South Korea and all these other places to do all the promotional work...I miss you. I just wanted you to know this. I'll see you next week. Have a safe flight." She felt her heart melt.

"Dave?"

"Yeah, Cassie?"

"I love you, too," she told him after taking a deep breath and steadying herself. She was surprised to find her hands were shaking.

"I'll see you next week."

"Okay, Dave. Goodnight."

"Sweet dreams."

There was a click and her phone went silent. She snapped her cell phone shut and put it back down on the nightstand. She couldn't believe it; he had said the three words she had so longed to hear. It felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, knowing that he felt the same way. She rolled onto her side and fell back asleep.