Hey everyone! Thanks so much for all those reviews! I'm so excited about writing about Nikki and Dave off on their own now b/c I have so many great ideas for these two crazy kids! Lol. Please review!

Laura

FEB 27, 2005- PROVIDENCE, RI

Dave holds open the door for Nikki and she slides out, wincing at the slight pain in her ribs. Nikki's black eye is now a nasty green/yellow color and her ribs are still sore from the beating Paul gave her last week. Dave sighs sadly as he looks down at her, and she turns to look up at him.

"Dave, stop beating yourself up for what happened," Nikki states, placing her hand on his arm, "it's not your fault."

"I can't help it," Dave replies, "I shouldn't have left you alone that night."

Nikki kisses him softly and smiles.

"Stop, let's just think about Wrestlemania, ok?"

A small smile forms on Dave's lips and he nods. He grasps her hand in his and they walk into the Dunkin Donuts Center. As Dave pushes open the door to enter the arena, Coach rushes up to the two.

"Batista, Triple H said when you got here, he was going to beat you within an inch of your life," Coach states, out of breath.

"Was he mad? Was he fired up!" Dave asks, a smile on his face.

Coach nods and Dave chuckles.

"Well, I'll have to thank him for unleashing the animal," Dave answers, starting to walk away.

"Wait! Nikki, where did you get those bruises?" Coach questions, causing Dave to stop abruptly.

Nikki grasps Dave's arm, shaking her head no. Dave ignores Coach and they continue walking away.

"That son of a bitch…" Dave mumbles, shoving open their locker room door.

"Honey, calm down," Nikki states, "he just was doing his job."

"Paul told him to ask that!" Dave roars, "I'm going to kill him."

Nikki rolls her eyes and flops down on the couch, sighing.

"Paul's just trying to get to you, don't let him win," Nikki explains.

"Paul did get to me," Dave says, sitting down next to Nikki, "he hurt you."

He places his hand on her cheek and looks deep into her eyes. Suddenly the door bursts open causing Dave to jump up, ready to fight. Courtney walks in and raises an eyebrow.

"Chill Dave, it's just me," Courtney says, her gaze turning to Nikki, "how are you doing?"

"Better," she admits, "at least it doesn't hurt to breathe."

"Wanna go get a bite to eat?" Courtney asks, looking at Dave, "I mean, if it's ok."

Nikki glances up at Dave and he nods.

"Just watch her," Dave states, watching the two walk out of the room.

They head into catering and some of the wrestlers swarm around her, wondering if she's ok.

"Thanks everyone for being so concerned, but I'm ok!" Nikki yells out for all who crowded around.

The two girls push their way through the crowd and head up to get something to eat. Nikki's looking over the selection when suddenly a shadow falls over her. She looks to Courtney who's wide-eyed, fear in her eyes. Nikki whirls around to find Paul and Ric standing right behind her. Nikki backs up against the table, dropping her plate, causing it to shatter. Everyone turns to look at the noise and the room gets really quiet.

"Hello Nikki," Paul says a smirk on his face, "I see you're still recovering from my lesson last week."

They don't notice Trish sneak out of the room, running down the hall to Dave's locker room. She bursts into the room, out of breath.

"Nikki's in trouble," Trish gasps, "Paul…"

Dave jumps up, running out of the locker room down to catering. He slowly walks into the room to see that Paul has Nikki backed up into a corner, threatening her again. He slowly brings up his hand to strike her again, but suddenly Courtney jumps on his back, grabbing at his face. Dave rushes over to the trio, as Paul shrugs Courtney off, turning his attention back to the frightened Nikki.

"Don't you fucking touch her," Dave growls, stepping between the two, "this is between you and me Paul, leave Nikki out of it."

Paul holds his hands up in mock surrender, turning around and walking out of the room with Ric. Dave turns to Nikki who's helping Courtney up.

"You two ok?" Dave asks as Randy rushes up to them.

"What happened!" Randy demands, noticing how scared the girls look.

"We're fine Dave, Paul didn't touch us," Nikki speaks up, leaning onto Courtney, "he just shook us up a little."

Dave lets out his breath he's holding and places his hand on her cheek.

"This isn't safe for you," Dave states, "you need to go home."

Nikki shakes her head furiously, as Courtney goes to stand by Randy.

"No! I'm not leaving you!" Nikki exclaims, "I'm staying."

"Damn it Nik, this isn't a joke anymore!" Dave yells, causing Courtney and Randy to flinch, "you're going home!"

"The hell I am!" Nikki replies, not backing down, "I'm staying!"

"Nikki, you might wanna…." Courtney starts, but Nikki stops her.

"Shut up Courtney, don't take his side!" Nikki states, "would you leave Randy? I don't think so."

Dave sighs in annoyance and grabs her arm.

"Come on, we're getting you packed," Dave tries to lead her out of the room but she rips her arm from his grip.

"Screw you Dave!" Nikki screams, "I'm not leaving you to get hurt by Paul! I love you to much to walk away from this!"

Tears flow down her cheeks as she rushes out of the room, leaving Dave with Courtney and Randy.

"She'll cool off soon enough Dave," Courtney says softly, "just give her time."

"I just don't want to see her hurt," Dave replies, looking down at his hands, "why doesn't she see that?"

"Nikki can be VERY stubborn, but I think you should let her stay," Randy chimes in, causing Dave and Courtney to look at him, "maybe she doesn't want to leave you because you make her feel safe."

"That's true," Courtney agrees, "she feels safe around you, she's thinking that if she leaves, she won't be safe."

Dave stares at the door that Nikki went through and nods.

"I better go find her before she gets hurt again," Dave mumbles, walking out of the room.

Dave wanders down the hall and finally finds Nikki sitting on the ground, her knees pulled to her chest and she's crying.

"Aw baby, don't cry," Dave says, kneeling down next to her, "it's ok."

"No it's not," Nikki replies in between sobs, "you want me to go."

"No I don't," Dave states, "I want you to be safe and if you feel safe being with me, then you're staying."

Nikki looks up into his eyes and he smiles.

"Really?" Nikki questions, "I can stay?"

Dave chuckles and nods. Nikki grins and hugs him tightly.

"I just didn't want to leave you," Nikki mumbles into his chest.

"Come on, lets get back to the locker room. I have some ass to kick tonight," Dave replies, helping her up.

They walk back to the locker room hand in hand and Dave gets ready for his interview with JR tonight. Nikki watches as Dave straightens his tie in the mirror before turning to her.

"Ready?" Dave asks.

Nikki nods and stands up, following Dave out of the locker room. Dave's music hits as the two come out to a thunderous ovation. Nikki smiles, gripping Dave's arm. He looks down at her and smiles back at her.

"This is amazing," Dave whispers to her.

"They really like you," Nikki replies, walking up the stairs.

Dave holds open the ropes for her and she gets in, shaking hands with JR. Dave gets in the ring, and poses on the turnbuckles before heading over to where Nikki and JR are. JR waits for the crowd to die down before starting.

"Batista, I'm sure the question that is on everybody's mind is why did you decide to stay on Raw and to face Triple H for the world title?" JR asks, as Dave smirks.

"It's real simple. Ever since I've joined Evolution, it's always been about one man, Triple H. It didn't bother me at first, but things change. When Orton won the title at Summerslam, is was still all about Triple H. When I won the Royal Rumble it was still about Triple H," Dave explains, "last week, I made a decision. I chose to do something about it. Last week, the Game got played."

"Now that you've made the decision, do you have any second thoughts?" JR questions.

"Second thoughts? Ever since I won the Rumble, I knew I was staying on the number 1 show. There was one person I wanted to face and beat, that being Triple H," Dave states, looking at Nikki, " I'm not taking Triple H lightly. He is probably the best in the business, a 10 time World Heavyweight champion. But, I'm bigger, better, and smarter than Triple H. At this moment, Triple H may be the man, but at Wrestlemania, I will beat him and officially become the man!"

Suddenly, Paul's music hits, causing Nikki to jump and her eyes fill with fear. Paul comes out with Ric following. Dave takes off his jacket, handing it to Nikki and unbuttoning his shirt as Paul and Ric slowly stop in front of the ring. Paul whispers something to Ric and Ric goes to the other side of the ring. Dave looks back and forth from Ric to Paul and Nikki backs into the corner, biting her lip. They both get in the ring, and Dave knocks down Ric and turns to Paul. Dave stares down Paul as he slowly backs out of the ring. Dave smirks and picks up Ric, giving him a thunderous spinebuster. Paul rushes back into the ring, but Dave turns around, causing Paul to stop. Paul again backs out of the ring and Dave gives Paul a thumbs down and grabs Ric, giving him a Batista Bomb in the middle of the ring. Paul jumps up on the ring apron as Dave motions for him to get in the ring. Nikki slowly moves to Dave's side and Paul jumps down, backing up the ramp. Paul sneers at the two, pointing at Nikki and shaking his head. Dave jumps up on the turnbuckle and signals that the title is his at Wrestlemania.

Dave jumps down and walks over to Nikki, grabbing his coat, and helping her out of the ring. He slides his arm over her shoulders and she leans into him.

"I never knew Paul was such a puss," Nikki giggles, "you kicked some ass!"

"Paul's unpredictable, but tonight, that's the same old Paul that I know," Dave chuckles, "lets get our stuff and go."

They start to walk down the hall but suddenly a voice stops them.

"Batista!" A males voice yells angrily.

Dave turns around to see Paul coming towards them. Dave pushes Nikki behind him and glares at him.

"What do you want?" Dave demands.

"You think your hot shit, but you've got nothing on me!" Paul yells, "just wait, I'll get you sooner or later. I'll hit you where it hurts."

Nikki narrows her eyes and steps out from behind Dave, walking up to Paul, stopping right in front of him. Dave watches as Nikki glares at Paul who just laughs.

"You don't scare me," Nikki says calmly, "find a new hobby."

"You will be scared of me you little bitch!" Paul hisses.

Nikki brings back her hand, slapping Paul, hard. Paul's head whips to the side as Dave watches wide-eyed.

"Fuck you Paul." Nikki walks away with Dave following close behind.

Paul watches them walk away, holding his cheek.

"You're going to pay for that," he whispers, turning his back and walking away.

There ya go! Chapter 16! Please review! I kinda have Stay with me on the back burner right now b/c I'm really into this one, but I haven't forgotten about it. Please review and look for the next chapter pretty soon!

Laura