Pairing(s)/Character(s) : Lita/Christian (eventual), Edge/Victoria, Randy, Cena, Tomko, Mickie, Melina; Appearances by many from TNA, the WWE and formerly with the WWE.. this is probably the biggest 'cast' I've yet to work with.
Dislcaimer: I own not. Title lifted from the song- And All That Could Have Been by Nine Inch Nails.
Rating: T (for now)
Summary: In the war between the WWE and TNA, the lines have been drawn.. Where does she stand? See my author note, keep it in mind. Still don't like it? Don't read it.
Spoilers: Some current angles/storylines from the WWE/TNA are being used, most will be ignored eventually in favor of my own plot.
Author Note: See the prologue for all of my notes. And I know, I take them OOC at times, but it's the way I write. Don't get all preachy with me for it.
With the upcoming roster changes; Melina, Mickie, Lita and Victoria found themselves with nothing to do for the better part of the night. Granted, Mickie and Victoria were scheduled to have a match.. Melina would be walking out with Johnny and Lita would be walking out with Adam and Randy for the main event. But, their previously scheduled match had been moved to next week... The four divas currently gathered in the gym at the arena. And where it concerned tomorrow, Lita and Victoria were slated to appear on Smackdown while Melina and Mickie would be appearing on ECW. They weren't exactly sure what they would be doing yet, but.. Vince and the Coach had promised them that they'd inform them as soon as they'd worked out the details. Naturally, that hadn't sat very well with the four divas.. But, there was really nothing they could do about it.
Victoria arched an eyebrow at the redhead, specifically at the shirt her friend was wearing. "Do the words 'stuck in the past' have any meaning for you?"
Lita glanced down at her shirt, "what's wrong with it?"
The older woman shrugged, "well there's nothing really wrong with it.. Just wondering why you're wearing it."
The redheaded diva blinked, "and just what's so bad about wearing an Edge shirt? I walk out with him, it would make sense--"
"It's an older Edge shirt," Mickie pointed out the obvious, "and I think that's what Vicki is trying to get at."
"And the problem would be?" Lita glanced down at the older logo shirts she was wearing. "I keep a lot of these with me. In fact, I'm pretty sure I have one of Jericho's older shirts and one of Benoit's older shirts in my bag."
Victoria shook her head, "I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. It's sort of cute. Just wondering why you're wearing it, that's all."
Lita rolled her eyes good naturedly, "maybe because it's comfortable and it was the first shirt I grabbed?" She uncapped her bottled water, "Vicki.. You've seen my closet since you were the one who insisted I needed that stupid organizer."
Victoria held up her hands in mock defense, "all right.. All right. You don't have to be so touchy." An amused smile formed at the corners of her mouth. "Do you have any of those Reeking of Awesomeness shirts?"
Lita grinned, "now what kind of person would I be if I didn't? I don't have one with me, but I do have one at home." She set down her bottled water, forgetting to put the cap back on. "I've got a Team X-Treme shirt or two at home, Austin 3:16.."
Melina canted her head, "do you collect them or did you buy them?"
"Kind of a running joke.. Before the rosters split, we'd all look at the merchandise together.. Sometimes it was to see who had the lamest t-shirt design and who had the best t-shirt design." Lita shook her head, reaching back to secure her hair into a ponytail. "All in good fun, really, but that somehow lead to Christian, Jericho and I shirt collecting. Chris would buy a shirt for himself, then two extras.. or Christian would be one for himself and two extras. Then it would be my turn and well, you get the idea... That's how I ended up with so many."
"Interesting," Mickie commented with the slightest of smiles. "I never really got to know either one of them too well but--"
Victoria snorted, "then you should consider yourself lucky. Don't get me wrong, those two can be a lot of fun to be around, but.. There are times I'd like to choke them."
Melina rolled her eyes, "the same could be said for any guy, Vicks."
Lita nodded, "as Vicki said.. They can be a lot of fun to hang out with, they do tend to play a lot of practical jokes though, it's usually on each other. If you wanted to hang out with them anytime soon.. I'm heading down to Tampa over the week with my brother. You could come with us."
Victoria eyed her carefully, "what's going on in Tampa this week?"
"Christian's birthday is coming up. I'm not sure if we're holding an early birthday party or whatever but.."
Mickie nodded, then blinked. "Why are you wearing a Canadian dollar?"
"Another running joke," Lita explained shortly, tucking the charm back inside her shirt. "This one is from Chris.. I should take it off though, so I don't mess it up." She sat on the bench, reaching back to unclasp the necklace... Her arm somehow knocking the bottled water onto her lap.. "Shit. I'll be right back, I'm just going to change shirts."
"Well we all know you have enough.. T-shirt Queen."
Lita stuck out her tongue, the necklace in her hand as she made her way back to the locker room so she could get out of the wet t-shirt.. The diva quickly reaching into her bag, pulling out the first shirt she found.. The Edge shirt soon on the floor, as she tugged the new shirt over her head..
"I thought you were in the gym?"
The redhead turned at the sound of the voice, "I got my shirt wet," Lita explained to her friend. "So, just changing and now I'm heading back and--"
"You're wearing a Captain Charisma shirt."
"Adam, it was the first shirt I grabbed, all right? It's not like I can walk around in my bra."
He held up his hands in defense, "and this is me, not making a big deal out of it. I promised I wouldn't, so I won't."
Lita bit down on her lower lip, "Adam.. I'm going to tell you this because I don't want you to think I'm keeping secrets... If you want to be mad at me, be mad. I'm heading to Tampa for Christian's birthday."
"It's on Thursday," he commented casually, "I'm aware of that."
She blinked, "and you're not mad at me for that? For supposedly ditching you to hang out with him?"
Adam shook his head, "Benoit may have talked to me earlier.. He may have threatened to knock some sense into me the hard way. Look, I know this is hard for you and that I haven't been making things any easier. I have my personal reasons for not wanting to associate with that little jerk, but.. I shouldn't hold that against you." He held out his arms to her, "hug?"
Lita eyed him curiously, inwardly questioning him but at the same time.. She would take what she could get.. The diva hugging him back before she left the locker room.. Adam moving to the bench, starting to sit down when he noticed the shirt in the corner.
"Hey.. Li--" He stopped when he realised she had left, the blond man glancing down at the shirt that was now in his hands.. "My shirt?" Adam frowned, "oh what do I care. It's just a t-shirt."
Once RAW was over, Lita found herself hanging out with Victoria, Mickie and Melina at the hotel.. The four divas currently gathered in her and Mickie's hotel room, trying to find something decent to watch on television. Victoria had raided the redhead's gym bag and picked out an older Rock t-shirt to borrow for the night.. Mickie had picked out one of Jericho's while Melina was sporting one of Austin's. Lita was once again sporting the Captain Charisma shirt, the necklace she had been sent around her neck.
Melina glanced towards the locket, "is that just a charm or does it open?"
Lita smiled, "it opens. One of those five picture holder things.. I saw it but didn't pick it up so I guess Christian went back and got it for me."
Mickie leaned towards her, "may I see?"
"Sure," Lita unclasped the necklace, holding it in her hand so she could open up the locket. "It's from one of my visits there.. Chris had insisted we all wear these really stupid shirts." She pointed to each frame, "that's Terry, my brother, Chris and Christian."
Victoria squinted at the small picture, "what does the shirt say?"
Lita smirked, moving to get her gym bag; searching through it for a moment. "Here's the full sized picture.. If we stood properly... We're all with stupid."
Victoria rolled her eyes, "leave it to Chris.. Are there more pictures?"
"Yes, nosey.." Lita removed them from the envelope. "We didn't do much, just hung out at the beach, did a little shopping.."
"Who got you the dolphin?"
"Christian," Lita rolled her eyes when Victoria looked like she was going to make a smart ass comment. "He's my friend Victoria, nothing more. We both agreed that would just be too awkward.. Especially with what's happened."
Victoria held up her hands in defense, "I wasn't going to say anything about that. And besides, it's not like Adam should really care if something happened between you and Christian. You're single, Christian's single."
Lita rolled her eyes again, "but that doesn't automatically mean we'll start dating. He's my friend."
"It looks like you had fun," Mickie stated after she had looked through the pictures. "A lot of fun, actually."
"I did," the redhead replied honestly. "Like I said earlier, they can be a lot of fun to be around.. And like Vicki said, there are also times I want to choke them." Lita put her necklace back on, starting to say something when her cell phone started to ring.. "Crap."
Victoria reached for the object, checking the caller ID screen.. "William?"
Lita smiled, "I'll just take this in the bathroom." She took the phone, moving from the bed to head there, shutting the door behind her before she hopped up onto the counter. "You realise there's no need for you to do that, right?"
"Yeah well, with Adam acting like he did.." Christian shook his head at the phone, though she couldn't see it. "I didn't want to--"
"I understand," she interrupted shortly. "And I do appreciate that.. What's up?"
"I talked to Lance today and he said that you two are driving down to Tampa on Wednesday."
"Well someone's birthday is coming up soon," Lita leaned back against the mirror. "Unless you don't want us there, in which case.. Lance and I will just stay in Atlanta."
"I never said I didn't want you two there.. Just trying to figure out where everyone is going to stay."
"Right.. I thought it would be easier to just rent hotel rooms.. Me, Benoit and Lance anyways since we're driving down there together. Unless you and Chris have actually cleaned recently."
Christian snorted, "I keep my house clean.. Jerky's a pig, not me."
Lita made a noise of disbelief, "yeah right. I seem to recall spending most of my visit one time, cleaning up your house. And then going grocery shopping with you, does that ring any bells?"
"Well at least I can cook." A beat passed, "honestly Leets, it doesn't matter to me. If you, Lance and Benoit want to stay with me, that's cool. Terry will probably crash at Jericho's so.."
"Which leaves me, my brother and Benoit to share the guest room?"
"There's the couch, the guest room and you could share my room."
"How generous of you," Lita didn't have to see his face to know he was smirking at her. "But I guess that could work.. Or, we could go with my idea and rent hotel rooms."
"You don't want to share my bed?"
"Christian, the last time that happened.. You snored in my ear."
"I had a cold."
"Bullshit."
"Did you know that you talk in your sleep?"
"I do not talk in my sleep."
"Yes you do, Li."
"Whatever, I'll call my brother tomorrow.. We'll take care of our hotel rooms and--"
"It wouldn't make sense to do that though. If you three are only going to be in Tampa for a day or two.. Just stay with me. And if it all comes down to it, Jericho has a very comfortable couch."
"I'll bring it up with Chris since I have to be at the Smackdown taping."
"Why are you going to be at the Smackdown taping?"
"Because of the upcoming angle with TNA, you know how McMahon can be.. He wants to start alliances and whatever. Team RAW is probably going to be myself, Randy, Adam, Vicki, Mickie, Melina, Jeff and John."
Christian smiled, "and you'll be here next week for the upcoming iMPACT taping. If you need a place to stay.."
"I'll keep you in mind," she toyed with a strand of her hair.. "It'll be nice working with everyone there.. Or at least the people I know."
"I'm sure you'll get along with everyone over here. And if not.. Me, Terry, Kurt, Brother Ray and Brother Devon can beat people up for you."
"And Tyson."
"And Tyson," he was silent for a moment.. "you got the necklace, right?"
"I'm wearing it now...Thank you for the locket."
"No need to thank me Leets.. You wanted it. It's really not a--"
"Don't tell me it's not a big deal, because it is. You're a very thoughtful friend." A pause, "and no.. That doesn't mean I'm going to tell you what I got you for your birthday."
"Not even a little hint?"
"Nope, you'll just have to wait and see." Another pause, "and I should probably go.. It is late and--"
"I'll see you on Wednesday then?"
"If not late Wednesday night, then on Thursday morning. It all depends on who's driving, traffic and whatever."
"Right.. Good night, Li."
"Good night, Christian." Lita waited until she heard the dial tone, half checking through her messages before she turned her phone off.. Heading back to the main part of the hotel room.. "What?"
"Christian?"
"You little eavesdropper," Lita shook her head at the older woman. "Yes, that was Christian.. He just wanted to know when Lance, Benoit and I would be getting to Tampa. And yes, before you ask.. I already told Adam. He was fine with it."
Victoria nodded slowly, "just wanted to make sure.. And tell Christian I said happy birthday. I'd go with you and all but.. I've got a feeling Adam may need the company."
Lita nodded, "yeah.. I'll be sure to pass the message on." She cleared her throat, tucking her phone back in her bag before settling back on her bed. "So.. Did you three manage to find anything good?"
As the four divas settled into watch the movie that was playing, Lita's thoughts drifted back to last week.. How Adam had reacted then compared to how he'd reacted earlier that night. It was a definite improvement and maybe Chris Benoit did have something to do with it, but.. She also had a sinking feeling that Adam was hiding it well. As Victoria had said, there was really no reason it should bother the tall blond man.. But it obviously did. Maybe he didn't always say something or he didn't always react, but.. Lita knew it did bother him. Inwardly sighing, the redheaded diva hoped this would all resolve soon and peacefully at that. Especially with the two companies working together soon.
