Chapter Seventeen

A Familiar Face

In the stands, the fans were screaming and booing. Women in the stands openly wept. Everyone was devastated. A week ago, during his cage match with Mark Henry, Dave Batista had torn his triceps for the third time in his WWE career. Dressed in a white suit and with a heavy heart, Dave went to the ring and forfeited the World Heavyweight Championship, handing it back to SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long. Incredibly upset about losing one of his major headliners, Theodore thought quickly and called for a twenty-man battle royal for the title later on in the night. Dave got out of the ring and walked up the ramp as Theodore made the announcement. He was heart-broken and angry. He felt like his life-long dream had just been robbed from him. He had spent two hundred and eighty days as champion. This was not the way he wanted to lose it.

Rey Mysterio was the first person to greet him backstage. He was armed with a sympathetic smile. It made Dave feel worse. He had hoped Cassie would be there. For the past two weeks he felt like the worst human being on the planet. He hated knowing that he hurt her. Every time he saw her he could see it written all over her face, even when she smiled. Like Dave, Rey had gone through a lot in the past few months, but Rey had it much worse, considering Eddie Guerrero had gone so far as to try and take custody of Rey's son Dominick. Dave thought that Rey should have reserved his sympathy for someone more deserving.

"Keep your head up, Dave, man. You'll be back in no time," Rey assured him. Dave flashed him a wan smile.

"Thanks, man."

"Have you seen or spoken to Cassie yet?"

"She wants nothing to do with me. She hates me," Dave told him. "There's no point. I fucked up bad. You should have seen her last week, Rey. She...well, honestly, she tore me a new one. And I deserved every moment of it." Rey laughed at the comment, Dave chuckled at the recollection.

"She will forgive you soon enough. She's just hurting," Rey said. "These things take time. But don't worry yourself too much about it. Go home and get yourself fixed up so you can get back here." They gave each other a high-five that turned into a hug. Dave separated from Rey and walked away.

Further down the hallway, Bobby Lashley stopped Dave and slapped hands with him. "Hey, man," Bobby said. He was a giant man with chocolate skin and a soft voice. "Sorry about your arm, man. That sucks. I was really looking forward to finally getting to work with you."

"Thanks," Dave told him. "Who knows? Maybe we'll get a chance to do things when I get back." Bobby nodded. Dave continued to walk down the hallway. He just wanted to get out of there. He was tired of the pitiful looks.

Cassie sat in the Divas locker room, dressed in pink velour track pants and a pink tank top. She was clutching a pillow to her chest on a workout bench, her knees bent. She had seen everything. She had watched as Dave handed the championship back. Her heart felt heavy for him.

The door opened and Kristal Marshall walked in. She was wearing a revealing black shirt with red vinyl pants. "Cassie, Dave is on his way out of the arena."

"And I care about this development why?" Cassie asked.

"Oh, come on, Cassie, it's been a week! You've made your point."

"For you to come in here and tell me that he's leaving the arena tells me that I haven't made my point."

"Cassie, he's heartbroken and devastated enough, okay? He's had his dream snatched from him, he knows you're pissed at him. Just go say goodbye to him. Let him know that there's going to at least be a chance at rekindling your friendship when he gets back. Give him something to look forward to. He's lost the title and Melina is still suing him for sexual harassment. Just...go talk to him. We both know you want to."

Throwing down her pillow, realizing that the best way to make Kristal shut up is to just go with what she says, Cassie left the locker room.

"What the hell, man?"

Dave closed the trunk of his rental car, a silver convertible, and turned to see Cassie staring at him defiantly. Her arms were crossed over her chest. It still looked like she was angry with him. He was shocked to see her. "Cassie?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Dave?" she raged. She shook her head in disgust.

"I'm leaving. Should make you happy."

"Excuse me?" Cassie shook her head and ignored the barb thrown her way. "Are you seriously going to get into that car and drive away without saying goodbye to me?" she snapped at him. He was now officially confused. He thought she hated him. Did she forgive him?

"I thought you didn't..."

"Dave, we're friends," she told him, putting emphasis on the word. It stung Dave a little. He wished for more, but he was pretty sure he had blown it. "I know I'm angry at you right now, but I still have love for you. I'd at least appreciate the courtesy of getting a goodbye before you go."

"But I thought..." he began, but she put a finger to his lips to silence him. The touch of her finger against his lips caught him by surprise.

"Whatever is going on with you and that bitch Melina, we'll get through them together," she soothed, much to both their surprise. "I have a match with her next month during the Australian tour. I'll see if I can get her to put a stipulation on the line, hopefully something about the lawsuit..." Dave looked at her, shocked. Even in her hurt and her anger, she still wanted to help him. In her own way, she had forgiven him, even if both of them hadn't realized it yet.

"I'm so sorry, Cassie. If I could go back and change everything, I would..."

"I know," she whispered. "But it happened, and dwelling on it is just going to make me angrier. Dave, you need to go get your arm looked at. Rehab it, do what you have to do, and I'll be here when you get back. Then we'll deal with MNM and Mark Henry, all right?"

He reached out and touched her face. She was receptive to his touch. It caught him by surprise. He was pretty sure she was going to hit him or shy away from his touch. He wasn't sure how far to take things. She looked up at him and he could still see the hurt shining in her brown eyes. He leaned down and kissed her softly. He didn't add any tongue or apply any pressure. It was just a soft kiss to test the waters. He pulled back and she looked up at him. Her breathing was slightly labored, her lips parted. She looked beautiful. He slid his good arm around her waist and drew her close, kissing her again, this time adding more pressure to the kiss.

She finally pulled away. "Go take care of yourself," she said. She was surprised she had let him kiss her. It was their first kiss. "I'll see you when you get back."

"Keep in touch?" he asked her. She nodded, stepping back and watching him as he climbed into the car. She was so confused. She watched as he backed out and drove off into the night. Her heart was skipping beats. She felt faint.

Cassie walked back to the locker room. She kept herself tight-lipped for the rest of the night, refusing to divulge any details about what happened between her and Dave in the parking lot. The other Divas could sense a change in her. She sat down to catch the main event, wedged between Kristal and Christy Hemme. The three of them were caught by surprise when an all-too-familiar All-American entrance song started blaring in the loudspeakers.

"What the hell is Kurt doing here?" Kristal snapped. "He's Raw!"

"I guess he's not anymore," Cassie shrugged. "It's good to see him back here on SmackDown. Especially since Teddy just lost his World Heavyweight Champion. We could use all the star power we can get."

"How did it go with Dave?" Christy asked. Cassie shrugged.

"Fine. I said goodbye. He left." It was none of their business what they had talked about or what they had done, Cassie knew. She could still remember his lips on hers in the parking lot. The first kiss had been soft. So had the second, but he had been a bit firmer with her. His lips on hers reignited a fire she was trying so hard to extinguish. She wanted him. She was willing to overlook everything, and the thought of that scared her. Cassie didn't know what the kiss was supposed to mean for the two of them. It wasn't like she could call Dave and ask; he had enough to worry about at the moment.

"Cassie! Earth to Cassie!"

"What?" Cassie looked over at Christy, who was waving a hand in Cassie's face.

"What's got you so spacey all of a sudden?" Kristal demanded. Cassie shrugged.

"I just have a lot on my mind right now," Cassie answered.

"More like Dave Batista," Kristal chortled. Cassie felt herself grow irritated.

"I mean, like my first tour of Australia," Cassie pointed out. Kristal wasn't letting up, though.

"Where you're facing Melina, who slept with Dave..." The other Divas in the room looked at Kristal like she had just broken a taboo. Cassie glared hotly at Kristal. Everyone shrunk under Cassie's gaze.

"And if you don't watch it, next week I'll be meeting a certain Diva Search reject who doesn't know how to shut up in the ring..." Cassie threatened darkly. It was still a very sore subject for her, and she supposed it would be for a long time.

"Sorry. Sheesh," Kristal said with a shake of her head, tossing her light brown hair over her shoulder. "I didn't realize it was still such a sensitive subject."

"It was two weeks ago, Kris," Stacy Keibler pointed out.

"Can we all just drop it?" Cassie asked them hotly. The Divas fell silent, feeling uncomfortable. Cassie just watched Kurt Angle, her arms crossed over her chest. The battle royal ended with Kurt winning his fifth title. The monitor faded to black and the show was over. Cassie quickly gathered her things and left, desperate to leave the other girls. She had too much to think about.