Pairings - EB/VKM, SMH/HHH, HHH/SM
Series - TNA/WWE
Rating - M
Warnings - Language, Slash Themes
Disclaimer - I don't own anything. It is all owned by the WWE.
Summary - Eric violates the code and lands himself in a rather unusual situation.
Author's Notes - This is a work that involves slash fiction. If this is not your thing, consider yourself officially warned.
Word Count -
Quietly grumbling to himself as he sat alone in his car outside of the McMahon Family Mansion, Eric removed his keys from the ignition, flopping back against the headrest, before letting out a long sigh. Tired as the sandman had been unable to find is way to him the night before, he closed his eyes, his restlessness brought on by anxiety at the mere thought of dealing with the Billion Dollar Princess for an entire month, not to mention her soon to be ex-husband and his partner in crime.
Unbuckling his seatbelt and shoving open the door, he lifted himself out of his seat and trudged his way up the many steps to the front doors of the mansion. Pausing at the landing to readjust his jacket, he shook his head from side to side as he caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the ostentatiously large and polished stone doors. Out of sheer reflex, he began to fluff his hair back into place, rearranging the stray hairs that fell into his eyes, making himself presentable to whomever answered the door, always aware of the value of his appearance. Once satisfied, he pressed the button of the large silver intercom system, announcing his arrival in an uncharacteristically bland style.
Impatient with the lack of response, Eric inquired further. "Hello?" Waiting for a reply from the other side, he begrudgingly began to wonder if this was the beginning of a pattern to his day.
"Good morning, state your name and purpose please." Came the reply from the other end, from what seemed to be an equally impatient woman.
Running a hand through his hair, Eric pressed a fingertip against the small, silver button, before giving an equally automated response. "Good morning, my name is Eric Bischoff and I am here to pick up Stephanie." Releasing his pressure on the talk button, he took a step back, hoping to be lead inside at once, eager to get things over with as quickly as possible.
"Thank you, one moment please."
The minutes dragged on slowly, one by one as he waited, increasingly tired with the situation. Clasping his hands behind him, he began his nervous habit of rocking back and forth on his heels, turning to look around occasionally, as he let the time pass by. Having grown bored with the situation, he began to fall asleep on his feet, causing him to jump lightly in surprise when the doors finally opened before being monotonously greeted by one of the members of the household staff.
"Right this way, Mr. Bischoff." Came the disinterested voice of the man who now stood before him, extending his arms with a slight bow, showing him in.
Giving a nod of understanding, he made his way past the doors that reminded him of an artists rendition of the pearly gates, before beginning his journey down a rather brightly lit hallway, chandeliers casting a golden glow down upon the expensive rugs beneath his feet from above, vases of flowers and paintings littering the long path, giving the place a familiar Christmas time glow in the midst of October.
Marveling at how the other half lived, he carried onward, one foot in front of the other as he took a look around the place. Sure, he was rich, but no where near McMahon Money, and this place made Hulk Hogan's pad look like a ghetto by comparison. If this is how a McMahon lived all of the time, he thought to himself, then he wanted to be adopted.
Turning around a corner, he was ushered into a parlour, where his escort briskly informed him to wait, until such a time as Mrs. McMahon came to retrieve him. Making himself comfortable on a rather plush couch, he tried to content himself with waiting, annoyed that Stephanie didn't have her things in order this far into the morning.
"How typical." He lamented, watching as the time stretched onward, his eyes resting upon the ornate clock above the mantlepiece as ten o'clock approached. He had a meeting with creative at noon, and if the Princess didn't get herself into gear soon, he would be late on her account. The more he thought about it, the less content he was to wait around for her to finish up with whatever it was that she could possibly consider to be more important than his time.
While Vince had told him to look after her, he did not think that included him loitering in a parlour, waiting on her beck and call, at least as far as he was concerned.
Rising from his seat, he left the room in search of Stephanie, not really sure where to begin his hunt for the bane of his existance. Wandering down one hall after another,vhe scanned room after room for her presence without success. After awhile, he began to take notice of the various works of art that ran along the walls, canvassing the corridors with their miscellaneous swaths of color, having grown tired of the game of hide and seek he seemed to be playing. Tired from walking for what seemed like miles, he stopped to take in his surroundings, wondering briefly if one painting might be an original Picasso, before he heard her.
"Listen, I don't need you to tell me how I feel!" Stopping at the sound, he realized he had heard the woman he was looking for. Creeping closer to the nearest doorway, he stood silently, confirming his suspicions.
"Hunter, you know, you can do whatever you want to do with him, I don't care anymore, as a matter of fact, you would be doing me a favor by getting rid of him, the last thing I need, is another power hungry, money grubbing jerk in my life, so you go on right ahead!" Eric heard Stephanie yell, chancing a glance into the doorway, he could see that she was on her phone, and could hear that her cheating bastard of a husband was on the other end of the line.
Realizing his good fortune, he decided to take the opportunity to eavesdrop to see if he could learn anything that he could use against her, after all she was the reason he was in the mess he was in right now and she was also in the way of him securing total control of General Managership of both RAW and Smackdown. Never one to ignore fortune when it came knocking on his door, Eric dashed to the other side of the doorway, safely out of sight, as he watched Stephanie paced around an island in her kitchen, one hand wrapped in front of her, bracing the elbow of the arm which held her phone to her ear.
"How embarrassing do you think it was for me, to have Eric Bischoff, come into my office last week and have him tell me, that you and Shawn, are having an affair, that the entire locker room knows about and has known about it for some time now? Hmm? How do you think that makes me look, to have my HUSBAND, running around with some little boy toy? Not some other woman, but a man, another man Hunter! I never even imagined, that you would do something like this to me, but you know what, I know better now! I know what kind of little boy you are! You're no man, Hunter. Real men, don't go running out on their wives, and screwing around with other men, ok, they just don't, so save the excuses! I don't care anymore. It's over between us, so you better hire a real good lawyer, because you're going to need one!" As he listened on, he couldn't help but shake his head at the ear chewing that Hunter was getting. Quite thankful that he was not in that guy's shoes. Of course, he would never have considered getting married to her in the first place.
"No, Hunter, how do you think that makes me look, when I am trying to run the family business?" Watching the McMahon stalk around her kitchen like a lioness, he looked on with some interest, as she stopped and grabbed an apple from a nearby bowl, followed by a knife. Looking on, he watched as she began taking out her frustrations with the world, chopping and stabbing the apple into bits, as she listened to Hunter. Her agitation growing ever more apparent, as she continued to mince the unfortunate apple with the large blade, reminding him of a horror movie he once saw.
Feeling a small pang of guilt rising in his chest at his initial, perverse delight in telling Stephanie of the affair, he quickly dismissed the feeling. After all, it was her own fault, right? How can you not know that your husband is sneaking around on you? Shouldn't she have womanly intuitions about this sort of thing? Everyone else sure as hell knew what was going on, and it is not like it the boys in the back could think any less of her than they already do. McMahon she may be, but birthright alone does not a leader make. Hell, she can't even run her own marriage, let alone a multi-million dollar organization!
Suddenly tensing as watched Stephanie stop and turn, he feared his cover may have been blown. Not wasting any time, he ducked around the corridor as fast as his feet could carry him, not wanting to hang around incase she really had caught sight of him. Holding his breath for a few cautious moments, he prayed that she had not seen him, before realizing just how childish he was acting. It wasn't like he was afraid of her, right? No, this was all her fault for keeping him waiting, and with that thought in mind he stood up and let go of the breath he was holding.
Comprehending that Stephanie had not seen him after all, he began to inch his way back towards the doorway, content to continue his spying upon the most vulnerable of the McMahon family. Only this time, unabashedly. Ultimately, it was his job to make sure that he did whatever necessary, to ensure his place as rightful G.M., and this, was just business. Popping his collar, he bounced his back off of the wall, and spun around into the kitchen, no longer concealing his presence.
"Well, well, if it isn't little Stephanie." Eric said, giving her the biggest fake smile known to mankind as he waltzed his way into the kitchen, taking long and leisurely slides towards the mansion's owner. Feasting his eyes on the woman who was shooting him the now familiar, dangerous, look her father was known for.
Watching as she hung up on Hunter, he continuted to observe her, as she tossed her phone onto the nearest counter, before closing the distance between them. Carrying forward with his smile, he beamed up at her equally false grin, her high heels giving her the height advantage. Taken aback slightly by her invasion of his personal space, he straightened up, bracing himself for the coming confrontation.
"Hello, Eric." Stephanie spat, as she loomed over Eric.
"I was just wondering when we were going to get on the..." Eric tried to get out peacefully, before being cut off mid sentence by the enraged woman before him, unable to defuse the situation as he had hoped.
"Shut up, Eric." Stephanie said, straightening herself up, as she flipped her hair back behind her shoulders. "I know exactly what you're doing, don't even play, you think that if you get rid of Hunter and Shawn, that you will be able to walk all over me, and take my spot as G.M., but I have news for you, Eric, I am here to take over the business from my father, and no one, especially not you, is going to take it away from me, do you understand?"
"I never said..." Eric managed, before being cut off again.
"I was not finished!" Stephanie said, silencing Eric once more with a wave of her hand. "I am going to make my family proud, and no matter what kind power you think you have over me, because my father appointed you as my 'babysitter', nothing you can do is going to stop me from making that happen, so you better just stay the hell out of my way. I don't like you, you don't like me so let's make the best of our time together by minding our own business." Reaching over, she snatched her cellphone back from the countertop before continuing. "Apparently, Dad thinks that I have something to learn from you of all people about how to run a business, sure, you beat us for a couple of weeks but then what happened? You lost control, came back and then drove WCW straight into the ground, I guess if there is anything to learn from you, it would be how NOT to run a successful company." Finishing with a tilt of her head, Eric watched, as her smirk devolved into a pout before his eyes.
"Let me stop you right there, Stephanie." Eric said, beginning to take his turn getting a word in about the current situation. "Whatever you think about me, does not matter in the slightest, I am only here because I have to be, not because I want to be, and if there is one thing you learn from me, it better be to adjust that attitude of yours, because it isn't going to get you far in the real world, all you know, is how to be a spoiled little rich girl, who has never had to work a day in her life, which is why no one in this business thinks that you can handle running this company." Giving a steelylook up at Stephanie, he took a bit of delight in the astonished look she gave him, before she regained her composure and leaned down into his face yet again.
"Your underestimating me, will be your downfall, Eric, mark my words." Stephanie spoke threateningly, as Eric raised his hands up defensively and took a step back with a smirk on his features.
"Oh, I wouldn't dare underestimate you, Steph." He began in a sarcastic tone, placing one hand on his heart, the other raised beside him, as if he were making a promise. "I mean, if you run your business like you run your life, then I obviously have alot to learn from you too." Eric finished, realizing that he had gone a step too far the minute the words had passed his lips. If there was any doubt that he had crossed the line, the truth was written on Stephanie's face, and in that moment he felt like a lesser man.
"You know, Eric, that was low, even for you." Briefly seeing the hurt in Stephanie's eyes, he watched as she turned away from him. Instead of apologizing he carried on. "Look, you don't like me, I don't like you, so let's each just go about our own business, and get this over with as quickly as possible, where are your bags?" Looking to get this over with, and get to his meeting as soon as possible, he quickly tried to get back to what he felt, was the important business at hand.
Thankful that she had chosen not to drag things out any further, his let his eyes follow her trail as she walked off into another part of the mansion. Grateful when she returned quicker than expected with some rather large suitcases in her hands.
"Let me get those for you." Eric said, reaching for the bags, only to hear her murmur something about taking care of them herself. Noticing the puffiness in her eyes, he could tell she had been crying, and that she was trying to hide it from him. Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable with the situation, he merely nodded before following Stephanie outside.
Hiking back down the marathon of steps, he fished his keys from his jacket pocket. Fumbling with the lock, before popping open the trunk, he motioned for Stephanie to put her bags inside, rolling his eyes at just how much stuff she was dragging along. Slamming the trunk, he moved to hold open the passenger side door for her, arely chancing a glance as she sat down inside.
"Buckle up." Eric said, shutting the door a little harder than he intended, before moving over to the driver's side and letting himself in. Placing the keys in the ignition, he began to back out of the driveway.
"Where are we going to first?" He heard Stephanie ask as she looked longingly back towards her home.
"Wait and see." Eric said, not wanting to say anything else that could land him in any more hot water. Replaying their conversation, over and over again in his mind, he knew that he had written his own pink slip. Stephanie was no doubt going to tell her father, the same way he had told her about Hunter and Shawn. The irony of the situation did not escape his notice, and for a moment, he wondered if she would enjoy it the same way he had. The thought of having the tables turned did not sit well with him, and if there was one thing he felt for certain, other than his own misery, it was that it was going to be a long drive and an even longer day.