Author's note: Sorry for the wait between updates. Real life decided to get in the way of my writing time and as it is, I'm writing this on the back of about three hours sleep in as many days. Thanks to Farra Sti for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
A couple of things to note: I will be following some of the actual WWE storylines from October 2007 up until the present as closely as possible, but anything that doesn't fit with my delusional world will be tweaked. As such, Lita hasn't retired, Chris Masters is still oiling up the place, the Signature Pharmacy scandal didn't happen and the Cruiserweight Title is still very much active. How that will all effect what actually happened, I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
As always, comments, thoughts and constructive criticism are not only welcomed, but encouraged. Let me know what you think! Xoxo
Usual disclaimers apply.
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Sweat dripped into my eyes and I hurriedly wiped them with the back of my sleeve. Michelle was still standing, but very dazed, and I applied a front facelock, turning it into a swinging neckbreaker. I covered her and Finlay, who was refereeing, counted one, two… She kicked out at two and a half and I swore loudly and punched her in the head.
"Why won't you just bloody well give up?" I yelled in frustration. Michelle was still down and I dragged her to her feet and over to the corner. I hauled her up onto the top turnbuckle and she appeared to recover, punching me a couple of times. I rolled with the punches like Finlay had taught me, punched her back, pulled her arm across my shoulders and climbed to the top rope, dragging her with me so I could hit the superplex. The move jarred my back a little but it was nothing major, and I covered her for the pin. Finlay counted one, two, three and I jumped to my feet, wincing as my back protested and raised my fist in a victorious salute as pure joy flooded me.
"Okay, that was good, but you got angry again, didn't ya?" asked Finlay as he helped Michelle to her feet. "You always get angry and go straight for a high-risk move. Your opponents are going to figure that out quickly and look to make you angry and try and goad you into making mistakes. I've told ya, you've got to keep a lid on it."
"Yeah, I know, it's not easy though," I said with a wry grin, accepting the criticism with good grace and stifling a yawn as he went through some more points about my performance. The last few days had been intense, way more intense than I was used to. The main focus in XHF was on hardcore matches, which meant that it was perfectly okay to beat someone with sticks until they couldn't get up again. Now I was having to learn a completely different style of wrestling, and learning how to pace myself and when to use rest holds so as not to burn out before the end of the match. To start with I had felt a bit lost, not being allowed any weapons, but I was a fast learner and was picking up the WWE style well, I thought.
The training regime I was on was a tough one. I met Finlay early every morning and we'd go through stretching exercises, weights and cardio before moving to the crash mats and grappling. He taught me so many new moves that my moveset was almost twice what it was when I'd joined the Diva Search. Then we'd head to the arena once the ring had been set up for the night's shows and go through a training match. So far I had wrestled Cherry, Michelle and Torrie and even Finlay himself a couple of times; although I'd beaten the Divas at least once each, I hadn't even come close to pinning the Irishman. He was a hard taskmaster, but I was learning a hell of a lot from him and had nothing but the utmost respect for him.
"Hey guys, are you done yet?" I looked up and grinned at Torrie as she walked over, a bright smile firmly in place. Torrie was always hanging around whenever I was training and we had already become good friends, which I was glad about; lovely as the guys were, being around that much testosterone was bound to be bad for a girl's health.
"Yeah, we're done here," Finlay confirmed, flashing me a rare smile. "You've got great potential, Elli. You just need to get familiar with our style and learn to keep your temper under control and you're there. And, you know, between you and me, even if you don't win the Diva Search I'm going to recommend you to Mr McMahon, see if we can't get you a developmental deal."
"Really?" I said excitedly.
"Yes, really. Like I said, you've got a lot of potential and if you keep working hard, then maybe you could be challenging for the Women's Title in a year."
"You're wonderful, thanks, Fit!" I squealed, giving the Irishman a hug. He grinned awkwardly and rubbed the top of his head.
"Yeah, well, I've still got to cast me eye over your sister and the other girl, so you can scoot. Go off and talk about… shoes, or kittens, or whatever you girls like to talk about."
"Come on, Elli! You're not needed at the house show tonight, right?" Torrie asked and I shook my head. "Great! I've got a couple of bottles of wine in my room. I'll call some of the girls over and we'll make a night of it!" She linked her arm through mine and shepherded me out of the arena.
I had to admit, I'd had a lot of fun travelling with the Smackdown and ECW crew over the last week and a half. What free time I had was spent in the company of Matt, Shane and Shannon Moore, who were amazingly fun and the nicest blokes I'd ever come across. CM Punk was a total sweetheart too and, much to Matt's annoyance, I'd run into Edge when he turned up to discuss his comeback with Vickie Guerrero and managed to befriend him, too.
Being a WWE fan I was well aware of the history between those two, and it amused me no end to hear Matt on one side complaining that Adam Copeland was the devil incarnate who would devour my soul while I slept, and Adam on the other side maintaining that Matt was a whiny little bitch who couldn't let go of the past. However, I liked them both, and neither of them was going to stop me hanging out with the other just because they had issues that they were too pig-headed to work out. In fact, I made it my mission to get them talking to each other again, whatever the cost. Of course, my plan would have to be put on the back-burner for now as Adam wasn't due to return until Survivor Series, but I was patient, I could wait. And in the meantime I could plot with my girls.
An hour later I was showered, changed and waiting in Torrie's room for Maria and Mickie to show up. They were both involved in the supershow, but their match was one of the first and they'd promised to be over as soon as they were done. In the meantime Torrie and I had decided to get cracking on the wine and talk about tomorrow's pay-per-view instead.
"You nervous?" asked Torrie as she handed me a glass. I took a long sip from it and tried to ignore the butterflies that had sprung up in my stomach the moment she'd spoken.
"I am now. Thanks."
"Don't be. All you're going to have to do is turn up, shake your ass and hope you win. It's out of your hands now, babe."
"Yeah, and that makes it worse," I said grimly. "If I had to win a match in order to win my contract then it'd be fine but no, I have to hope that the general public like me enough to vote for me."
"You're forgetting, we also have the right to vote. Shane's been going around threatening people that if they don't vote for you, he'll kick their ass. I think he's fond of you a little bit," she giggled.
"Really? Aww, that's sweet!" I laughed.
"And remember what Finlay said. If you don't win, he's going to try and get you a developmental deal. If you work hard, you'll be called up in no time. I think you'll be fine. You can wrestle, I'm sure you can cut a decent enough promo judging by the way you, Matt and Shane rip pieces off each other, and you've got plenty of people in your corner. Your fellow Diva Search girl could learn a lot from you." I grinned; Carla's only contribution thus far was to insult the other Divas and flirt with anything with gold. Safe to say, she wasn't making a lot of friends backstage. I chuckled as a weird sense of unreality stole over me.
"This is actually happening, isn't it? I have a real chance of becoming a WWE Diva."
"Yeah, you do. I know a lot of people say the Diva Search isn't the best way to join the company, but it's not the worst way either and I think if you or Kit win it, you've got a chance of bringing back some respect to the Diva Search. No offence to Carla, I'm sure she's a nice enough girl, but we really don't need another vapid blonde who's only here to whore herself around the locker room."
"I know, that's your job, isn't it?" I teased and laughed as I ducked the slap she aimed for my head.
"Hey! I do not whore myself around! I just like to tease sometimes, that's all," she pouted. "I was married so, you know, my flirting skills are a little rusty. A girl has to keep her hand in, after all."
"Uh-huh. And the fact that you're constantly 'practising' with a certain Mr Kennedy Kennedy has nothing to do with the fact that you find him insanely attractive, eh?"
"Well... no... I never said he was insanely attractive, I just mentioned, once, that he was cute, and I was drunk at the time, so it shouldn't be taken seriously. Anyway, he has a girlfriend. I think, I know they're going through a rough patch and I don't know how it's going, but anyway, he's off-limits." I laughed as she babbled and continued to protest that she wasn't attracted to Ken. Unfortunately, having known Kit for a number of years, I had formed the opinion that the more someone protested, the more likely it was that the opposite was true. There was a knock at the door and I went to answer it, as Torrie was still too busy denying any attraction towards Ken to notice.
"Hey! You started the boy talk without us?" demanded Mickie as she strolled into the room with Maria just behind. Torrie stopped babbling and jumped up to greet her friends with a hug.
"Hey guys, glad you could make it! Have you met Elli yet?"
"Yeah, we met briefly at Unforgiven, hi! Nice to see you again!" said Mickie brightly, squeezing me half to death in a tight hug.
"Glad to see you're still in the competition," said Maria warmly as she hugged me, too. "From what I hear backstage, you'll be working with us soon?"
"I hope so," I replied with a grin. "I'm having a lot of fun here."
"I should think so too, we got the best people," said Mickie. "Of course RAW has the best of the bunch."
"You're only saying that because you're on RAW," Torrie pointed out with a giggle. "Everyone knows Smackdown's the best."
"Nuh-uh, we've got John and Randy, Jeff Hardy, me and Maria... RAW definitely wins in the good-looking stakes. Even the old guys are hot!"
"I'll tell Shawn and Hunter you called them old," I threatened with a grin.
"Pfft, do it, all that will happen is Shawn will sulk and Hunter will flex his muscles and beat the crap out of Randy," Mickie laughed.
"Anyway, we've got pretty people on Smackdown too," said Torrie. "We got Matt... okay so Jeff's the prettier Hardy, but Matt's still hot... we got... uh..." she looked at me for help and I laughed.
"Adam, Shane?" I suggested. "But, you know, Mickie's got a point, RAW does have the hottest guys on the roster. Ken's over there after all."
"Oh shut up!" Torrie muttered as Mickie burst out laughing.
"I like you," Mickie declared, pulling me down next to her on the bed and wrapping her arm around my shoulders. "You're going to fit in well with the rest of us, I can tell. So, tell us all about you. I want to know your dirty little secrets," she added with a grin as she topped up my wine.
It was great fun, hanging out with Maria, Mickie and Torrie. I felt a little shy at first, considering that I was not only sat with three of the sexiest women on television, but that I'd had a massive girl-crush on Maria for what felt like forever. Mickie and Maria were so friendly and welcoming though that I soon warmed up to them and felt like I'd known them forever as we chatted about wrestling, shopping and, most importantly, boys.
"So, Elli, you've been hanging around the company for a couple of months now, any hunks that have caught your eye?" asked Mickie in an all-too casual voice that set alarm bells ringing. She was bound to be plotting something; the fact that Torrie and Maria were smirking knowingly was a tad unsettling, too.
"No, not really... why?" I asked warily.
"I'm just nosy. Come on, there must be someone you like! Or at least find attractive. We've got plenty of attractive guys in the company, there's bound to be someone."
"I haven't really thought about it, I guess," I replied. "I joined the Diva Search for a chance to actually wrestle for the biggest company in the world, not to get off with as many hotties as possible."
"Boring!" Maria snorted. "Anyway, we're not talking action, we're just talking ogling. There's nothing wrong with a bit of window-shopping, right, girls?"
"Well I've already seen Matt naked, what can top that?" I asked, grinning broadly.
"What? When?" shrieked Mickie.
"When I came over to Smackdown, I was hanging with Shane in their hotel room and he came out of the shower. Didn't even try to cover up or anything, the harlot," I laughed.
"Yeah, Matt's a whore," giggled Maria. "You want to watch yourself. He tries hitting on all the Diva Search girls."
"We think it's because everyone in the company already knows him as a super-sweet nice guy so maybe he can trick the new girls into thinking he's hot," said Torrie. "It never works. He's just too much of a nice guy."
"Well, let me tell you, anyone who's not dating him is missing out. Boy's definitely well-hung," I giggled.
"Really?" asked Maria, looking rather interested. I made a mental note for later, resolving to do some digging if I could. She caught me watching her and looked away hurriedly, the faintest of blushes staining her cheeks. Interesting!
"Yep. His next girlfriend's a lucky girl."
"Why don't you be his next girlfriend then?" asked Mickie curiously.
"No way, we get on far too well for anything like that!" I laughed. "I used to have a crush on him way back, and I have no problem with admitting that he's hot, it's just something I'm not ever likely to pursue, you know?"
"Pfft! That's no fun!" Mickie sulked.
"Yeah, well, I don't really do relationships, you know?"
"Bad boyfriend?" asked Torrie sympathetically and I nodded. That was putting it mildly. "Well, let me give you a piece of advice. If you're crushing on someone, do NOT tell these two because they will move heaven and earth to get you together. They're a nightmare, I swear."
"We're not that bad!" Maria protested as Mickie burst out laughing.
"What can I say? I like helping people to be happy, even if it's just for ten minutes."
"A whole ten minutes?" I gasped, affecting a look of wonder. "Where do you find these magical men?"
"I've got a list..." Mickie began, taking her phone out and beginning to scroll through her phone book.
"Put it away," laughed Torrie, slapping Mickie's hand down. "You don't want to scar the new girl before she's even started with the company."
"I'm not scarred, just incredibly entertained," I said with a grin. "You girls are nuts. I like you."
"Yay!" Mickie squealed and hugged me tightly around the waist. "Does this mean I can get you drunk and grope you inappropriately in front of the guys?"
"Do you even have to ask?" I giggled.
"Yay, I have a new pet! And... oh... someone's ringing." She smiled softly as she checked the caller ID and answered the phone with an insult before hopping off the bed and disappearing into the bathroom to take the call. Maria and Torrie grinned knowingly at each other.
"That'll be John then," said Maria. "I swear we should just lock them in a room and refuse to let them out until they agree to start dating."
"Oh, we'd be there forever, you know how stubborn they can be," said Torrie. "Mickie and John have been flirting with each other for something like three years now," she explained. "Occasionally they'll get drunk and make out but nothing ever comes of it because they're both too stubborn to admit that they really like each other, you know?"
"That sounds familiar," I snorted, thinking of Kit and how it always took forever for her to admit to liking someone.
"Yeah, well, if they don't do anything soon I'm going to... I don't know... jab them with sewing needles or something," muttered Maria. "I love Mickie, and I love John, but having them both whining about how they really like each other but don't want to ruin their friendship or whatever really drives me nuts sometimes. You're lucky you're on Smackdown, you don't get any of this!" she grumbled to Torrie.
"Any of what?" asked Mickie as she came back out of the bathroom. "John just called. He's ordered us down to the bar. Said if we don't get our asses down there in ten minutes he's going to send 'the boys' round." She made sarcastic quote marks with her fingers and rolled her eyes. "As if we'd be scared of Randy anyway."
"Randy's more than one person now?" laughed Torrie. "I mean, I know his ego is so vast it's almost got it's own presence, but..."
We gathered up our purses, left the hotel room and headed towards the lifts, laughing and joking about John and Randy. We were just about to head through the double doors at the end of the corridor when I heard my name being called. I turned to see who it was and groaned as John Morrison sauntered up.
"Hey Elli... it is Elli, isn't it?" he said, flashing me a perfect smile. I was almost dazzled by the brightness of his teeth. "I almost didn't recognise you in clothes."
"Oh, shut up!" I groaned, feeling my face start to burn. "I'm not normally in the habit of running around half naked. That was Paul's fault."
"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed about. If you've got it, flaunt it and from what I saw, you've definitely got it." He winked at me and I flushed again, inwardly cringing and hoping that he'd either get to the point or walk away.
"Is that why you're always wandering around topless, because you think you've got it?" I teased, gesturing at his open shirt, deciding to fall back on gentle insults in the place of having anything of substance to say. He grinned.
"I -know- I've got it. So where are you lovely ladies off to?"
"Out, hopefully somewhere far away from you," Mickie spat, and I started slightly at the venom in her voice; she and Maria were glaring at Morrison with open hostility. He looked a little put out at the interruption for a moment, and then shrugged off the comment.
"I was just making conversation."
"And now we're ending it, bye!" said Mickie brightly, grabbing hold of me and shepherding me through the door before either of us could say another word. I glanced back at Morrison as Mickie jabbed the button for the lift, all the while muttering under her breath; he was stood with his arms folded, watching us, the expression on his face unreadable. I shivered slightly, although I wasn't sure why, and followed the girls into the lift.
"Ugh, he's a total sleaze!" Mickie grumbled once the lift doors had slid shut behind us. "Trust me, Elli, you do not want to get mixed up with him. I had enough of his bullshit when he was with Melina and ugh, he loves himself. I don't think there's anyone more annoying, arrogant and downright hittable in the company."
"I don't know, Chris Masters could give him a run for his money, now there's a man that needs to learn that 'no' means 'no'," said Maria with a grimace. She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tight. "You stick with us, Elli. We'll keep the undesirables away from you."
"Yay, I have protection," I giggled and fell silent as the girls started discussing the less reputable men on the roster. I had to admit, Mickie's little rant had me rather intrigued. I wasn't one for listening to what other people had to say about people, and part of me couldn't help but wonder if Morrison really was as bad as she said. I brushed the thought aside for the moment and joined in with the conversation. If I won the Diva Search, I'd have plenty of time to find out for myself.
Moments later we had settled at a table in the hotel bar and had ordered John to go get us some drinks. It was a large room with tables and chairs scattered around the bar, and a raised area off to one side where a few people were already drunkenly gyrating in time to the music, which was some cheesy 80s rock ballad. People from all three brands were milling around and I waved at Matt and Jeff as they wandered past on their way to the bar and jumped as Ken Kennedy appeared from out of nowhere.
"Hey, Elli," he greeted with a grin, grabbing a chair from the next table over and sitting in between me and Torrie. "How's my favourite Diva Search girl? I've been voting for you, by the way. You better buy me a drink."
"Hey, I told y'all to vote for Kit!" John complained as he reappeared with a tray of drinks in his hand and Randy lurking just behind him.
"Yeah and since when did we ever do anything that you tell us to, Cena?" huffed Randy, poking his best friend in the shoulder. "I'm the champ. People do as I say."
"Yeah, you wish, Orton!" scoffed Ken. "All you ever say is 'blah, blah Champ blah, blah die Cena blah, blah boring blah'."
"How about 'blah, blah, bite me'?" Randy retorted.
"If you insist." Randy roared with pain as Ken bit down hard on his forearm. He hit the Green Bay loudmouth over the head, and in the ensuing struggle John was almost knocked flying.
"Hey, watch it you assholes, I nearly spilt my drink!" he said angrily.
"He started it!" Ken and Randy chorused, and glared at each other.
"Yeah well, I'm off to Smackdown soon so at least I won't have to deal with him any longer," muttered Ken, digging Randy in the ribs. He grinned at me. "So if you win the Diva Search you better get your ass on Smackdown, you hear?"
"No way, man, she's staying on RAW with us!" said Randy, clapping me on the shoulder. Ken got to his feet and he and Randy started squabbling with each other; John tried to intervene and got hit for his troubles.
"Guys! I've got to win the bloody thing first, we can fight about where I'll end up afterwards, yeah?" I said weakly, feeling another rush of nerves as I thought about the final tomorrow. I didn't want to think about it. Thinking about it made me feel sick... I took a large gulp of my drink and looked around for a distraction, which duly arrived in the form of the Hardys and my sister. Kit grinned as she slid into Ken's vacated seat, while Matt and Jeff watched the fight with interest.
"All right, guys, break it up!" said Jeff loudly, clapping his hands for attention. They ignored him and he sighed. "Randy, Candice was looking for you."
"Really?" Randy let go of John and preened. "I'll be right back." He straightened out his shirt and wandered off in search of the brunette. John and Ken eyeballed each other for a moment before John sat down and Ken snorted and turned to talk to Matt.
"You do realise there'll be hell to pay when he realises Candi wasn't actually looking for him, right?" laughed Kit. Jeff grinned.
"Yeah, but it was either that or watching them fight like children. Again. Someone's got to keep them in check, you know? I swear, sometimes I feel like their father." He laughed. "I can't be their father. I'm too pretty. And way too young... in fact, in order to be John's father I'd have to give birth to him four months before I was born... whoa!" He blinked rapidly and shook his head. "Not thinking about it. Thinking about it makes my head hurt."
"Aww, poor Jeff's head," soothed Kit, stroking his hair. Jeff smiled, closed his eyes lazily and leaned in to her touch. I couldn't help but grin at the exchange. It was so cute! Mickie nudged me with her foot from across the table and grinned.
"They've been like that all week," she confided. "I'm willing to bet that if she ends up on the main roster, they'll get it together."
"I don't know, she can be stubborn," I said, watching Kit and Jeff closely. They were most definitely flirting; Kit was twirling her cocktail stirrer around her mouth and Jeff was trying very hard not to notice. "I say we get her to dance and see what happens. She dances way too sexy for her own good."
"You're on! I'll talk to the DJ," said Mickie, giggling manically as she disappeared.
"Hey, I see little Jeffrey Nero has some attention, how about some love for his far more handsome brother?" I grinned up at Matt as he leaned on the back of my chair.
"Handsome? You look like you belong in a slasher movie," I teased, poking at his head; he'd had to receive stitches after catching a nasty whack from Rey Mysterio's knee brace during the Smackdown tapings this week, and was still looking pretty beaten up.
"I thought the ladies all loved a war wound?" he asked with a pout. I laughed and patted his cheek.
"Maybe they do. If I see a lady I'll be sure to ask her."
"Bah. You're no fun," he teased, biffing me over the head. I grinned at him – and laughed as I recognised the next song on the playlist. Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard. I caught Kit's eye and we both smirked as she nodded her head towards the dance floor. This was one of our favourite songs to dance to. She took hold of my hand and led me to the raised area, and we both laughed as we noticed half the roster watching us curiously.
"Ready to make a lot of men feel very uncomfortable?" she asked with a devilish grin.
"As always," I giggled, draping my hands lightly around her neck as we started swaying our hips in time to the music.