Chapter 27: Batista vs. Flair
The match was brutal and was only getting worse. Flair did quite the number on Batista's knee, and it worried Lauren a great deal. HHH had been occupied from watching the match, so he didn't bother Lauren at all. He would simply glare at her from Flair's corner, and as he would walked around to follow the match, Lauren would stay on the opposite side of the ring from him. HHH jumped up onto the apron and distracted Batista while Flair continued working on his injured knee. Lauren ran up behind him and pulled one of his feet out from under him, so he would fall onto his face off the apron. As soon as he fell she ran to the other side of the ring to keep distance between them. That felt pretty damn good she smirked to herself and continued to watch the match. Flair continued to chop Batista in the chest, but Batista didn't seem affected by it. Instead he threw Flair all around the ring as Lauren and the crowd cheered for him. At one point in the match, while the ref was knocked out, HHH jumped in and actually helped Flair put a hold on him. Lauren took little time in jumping onto the apron and slipping into the ring. I just need to at least get HHH out of the ring. Batista will be able to handle Flair. So Lauren ran in and shoved HHH away from Batista, causing Flair to lose the hold. HHH's sights were now on Lauren as she slowly and steadily backed away from him into a corner. Before he could lay a hand on her, Batista grabbed him from behind and tossed him over the top ropes.
Once he was out of the way, Batista quickly mouthed 'Are you okay?' as Laurennodded and stepped out of the ring, but stood on the apron. She cheered louder than anyone in the entire arena, as Batista gave Flair the spine-buster. Batista then looked down at HHH as he gave him thumbs up, then thumbs down, as he gave Flair the Batista-Bomb right into the mat, pinning him 1...2...3! "Yes!" Lauren cried out in joy and decided to step in and celebrate with him. But before she could, she felt a hand clasp her ankle, and yank her down onto the hard floor. After a moment of dizziness, she saw HHH going into the ring to join Flair. No! Lauren screamed in her head as she tried sitting up and getting onto her feet. She used the apron to keep her up and watched as Flair and HHH beat mercilessly on Batista's bad knee. "Batista!" she cried. HHH just looked over at her with a sick smile on his face as he slipped through the opposite side of the ring and reached under. Lauren wondered what he was doing, but soon saw a sledgehammer in his hand.
HHH got back up into the ring as he held the sledgehammer high, and looked in Lauren's direction. "You're next!" he yelled and directed his attention back towards the injured Batista.
"No! Leave him alone!" she screamed and tried even more desperately to get into the ring to help him. She barely slipped in through the ropes when she saw the most amazing thing. As HHH was ready to hit Batista with the sledgehammer, Batista actually caught it in his bare hands! Both men were struggling against the other to take control of the weapon, when Batista simply snatched it out of HHH's grasp with great ease. Batista looked as though he were ready to attack HHH with the hammer, when he just snapped it in two over his good knee. Wow. Lauren watched in amazement as Batista tossed the broken weapon aside and as HHH and Flair run back up the ramp like frightened children. Lauren ran over to Batista's side. "Are you all right?" she asked him.
"Yeah. Just need to tape up my knee when we get backstage," he grunted holding his bad knee. Lauren wrapped one of his arms around her neck, and helped him out of the ring and up the ramp. However, just before they reached the top of the ramp, Eric Bischoff's music hit as he walked out with a big smile on his face. Both Lauren and Batista rolled their eyes in annoyance, waiting for what he was going to say.
"First I'd like to say congratulations Batista on your exciting victory tonight," he stated clapping his hands together. "But now I have some good news and some bad news for you. During the next few weeks, I have decided on a way for you and HHH to fight until WM21, without having to face each other and ruin your chances at attending WM21. I've decided to call it, 'Pick Your Poison' matches. Where you and HHH pick each other's opponents to fight that week. Now I've decided that you will get the first pick, and HHH will fight whomever you pick to face him next week. HHH will decide next week whom you will be fighting the week after that. Now with that being said, who's it going to be Batista?" Bischoff shouted in excitement as held handed Batista the microphone.
Batista snatched it out of Bischoff's hands and thought about it for a moment. When suddenly, a smirk came to his face. "So what you're saying Bischoff, id that I can pick anyone from the RAW locker room to face HHH next week, correct?" he asked. Bischoff nodded with a smile on his face. "The next week, it'll be HHH vs...CHRIS BENOIT!" Batista said as the crowd went wild at the mention of the Rabid Wolverine's name. He shoved the microphone into Bischoff's chest as Lauren helped him backstage to their locker room.
Once they finally got inside, Lauren helped Batista to the couch and set him down onto it. "I'll go get you some ice, okay?" she told him. Batista simply nodded and rubbed his knee. Lauren ran down to catering and ran back with a bag of ice. "Here you go," she panted as she walked over and gently put it onto his knee. "Anything else you need?" she asked him.
Batista just smiled. "Just you." Lauren smiled back and stood up to close the door. "A bonus would've been to see the look on that bastard's face when I announced his opponent for next week," he chuckled.
"I know. I didn't even expect that, and I bet he didn't either." Lauren said as she walked over to the mini-fridge and got out sodas for both of them. She handed his to him and sat next to him to drink hers.
Batista took a swig of his, only to hear Lauren wince. He looked over to her to see her putting down her drink and rubbing her right wrist softly. "You okay?" he asked setting down his own drink.
"I must've landed on it when I fell off the apron," she told him. "It's nothing to worry about. It'll probably be better tomorrow."
Batista ignored her minimizing her injury and lightly took her wrist in his hand. Lauren hissed through her teeth as he squeezed a little. "You might want to get this looked at," he told her.
"It's just a little bruised that's all. I'll just wrap it and it'll be fine," she told him trying to get her hand out of his so he would worry about his own injury more. However, Batista didn't let go so easily. He reached over to the coffee table where his bag sat and reached inside to pull out some of his tape. Batista started to gently wrap her wrist for her while occasionally looking up and smiling at her. Lauren smiled back as she felt him stroking her wrist while wrapping it. Once he was finished, he lifted her wrapped wrist to his lips and gently kissed it. "Thank you." she whispered shivering at his touch. "Now that you've wrapped my little wrist, I'd better wrap your little knee" she said and knelt on the floor as she began to wrap his knee. Batista watched her as she did it with such focus and precision. "There we go!" she announced and gently kissed his wrapped knee as she looked back up at him with a smile. "Let's get changed and head on back to the hotel." Lauren walked over to her bag, grabbed her change of clothes and headed off into the connected bathroom. "I'll change in here so you can have your privacy." After the bathroom door closed Batista just smiled to himself and pulled his change of clothes out of the bag and got dressed. Once he was done he limped over to the bathroom door and knocked. "Coming!" she called out and in a split second opened the door. "Well, I'm ready. But are you sure that you should walk all the way to the limo on your bad knee?" she asked him worriedly.
"I'll be all right. It's not that long a walk anyways," he told her. Lauren looked at him, still unsure but nodded. She grabbed both their bags and had him lean on her as they walked out to the limo. They simply talked about the match and how next week might be. "I wonder who HHH will pick for your opponent after his match with Benoit," Lauren said.
"Who knows? Knowing him it'll probably Snitsky or someone like that," Batista replied. Though he felt Lauren shiver a little at the mention of Snitsky's name. He wrapped his arms around her, "Don't worry. I won't let him anywhere near you again." Lauren simply nodded and laid against him the rest of the ride to the hotel.
A/N: Another chapter down, but there are many, MANY more to come. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll try to keep up the pace since I'm WAY behind where Batista actually is. Since I'm sure you know by now that I'm basically following what he does, and just adding a girl into the mix, hehe. Thank you all for the awesome reviews, and I can't wait to read more, lol. 'Til next time :)