Thanks so much for reviewing this fic guys! And just so you know, Evan/Candice was just something I used to get Mickie into her seat by herself for the chappy, LOL. :P But I'm glad some of you enjoyed it none the less. Maybe I'll include Evan in future chappies, if needed.

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Chapter Three: "Over Protective"

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She readjusted the black strap of her gym bag on her shoulder in order to create more comfort and reduce the sharp pain on her shoulder caused by the weight of the large back. There had been a lot on Mickie James' mind – she had still the unwanted thoughts about her father who was still in Richmond without her and though it caused nerves for her to admit it, she still had a lot of thoughts of the "Legend Killer" himself clouding her mind.

Mickie lightly push opened the glass double doors of the Raw Arena's entrance. Now, she was just dressed in a familiar beige colored top – that had been one of her actual wrestling attire tops – and a pair of loose black sweat bottoms to follow. She had around fifteen minutes to spare before airtime and was prepared to change into the rest of her attire then.

Tugging on the shoulder strap once more, a sigh emerged from Mickie's lips when she realized that carrying this bag was just too much of a struggle for her to bear. Still, she bit her lip and continued her best to carry the heavy bag as she attempted to make her way in between the empty spots of the crowded people who cluttered the halls of the backstage area.

She always wondered why these halls were so cluttered, constantly. Today, it had been cluttered with tons of crew members who were preparing up for the show – judging by their rushy attitude, Mickie estimated that they were off schedule. But besides the quick paced crew members who raced around backstage trying to perfect everything they could, it was also him who stood backstage, as well.

Her eyes slowly drifted away from her pestering shoulder strap and instead instantly traveled toward where a tall figure stood only just a few feet away from her – soon enough she learned that this tall and muscular figure could only belong to one man. The self proclaimed "Legend Killer". He stood in between the two of Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase. The two had seemed to be babbling of such he clearly had no interest for.

Or maybe he did? But he obviously could careless for whatever they were babbling about now as his icy blue eyes instantly stared directly toward her when she had arrived.

Soon enough Mickie began to feel uncomfortable as his glaring continued – it hadn't been that she was scared, or intimidated by him. She actually could admit that to herself because she knew better. Despite the harsh and ruthless horror that he created on screen, she found herself determined to believe there was more behind than his as of late sadistic behavior toward the McMahons and Hunter (or anyone else who he claimed got in his way).

Biting her bottom lip, the petite diva told herself in her head that she would turn away now. But she hadn't. She still found herself staring at him and even him staring back at her in return. It was no use to her attempting to turn away because she couldn't. As every second passed, it became more and more difficult for the brunette to follow up on the promise of her looking away.

She tried to reassure herself that she could actually still breathe when she released a long sigh from her lips. Eventually, she looked away from him and then off toward the Arena floor beneath her. Mickie tried to erase the image of his icy blue eyes from her mind but she wondered, did she really want to? She for so long wanted him to not give her the cold treatment that he had been previously doing but now that she actually seemed to have his attention, it confused her just as much as when he treated her coldly for no reason.

Mickie wondered if she would ever understand Randy Orton. Or maybe just understand why she felt she needed to understand Randy Orton, so badly…

"Hey you!"

Soon enough, a beaming Candice Michelle emerged behind her. The Candy Coated Diva was much less stress minded than the petite diva, and rightfully so. Candice wasn't dealing with the same puzzle of Randy Orton that Mickie surprisingly found herself dealing with so suddenly. Candice slung an arm around Mickie, pulling her in for an embrace. "Sorry about the house show, by the way. I honestly had no idea." insisted Candice as the discomfort of Mickie went unnoticed to the cheery diva.

Forcefully, Mickie erased – what should truly be nothing to her – thoughts and questions about Randy Orton from her mind, or she at least pushed them toward a back place in her mind so that she could focus on being the bubbly diva her friends was use to seeing her as.

Mickie gestured a short shrug with her shoulders followed by a force smile that broke out on her lips. "It's…fine, really. I'm not upset." Mickie assured the dark haired diva that towered over top of her. Even though Mickie's feelings about the house show were anything but fine. But, it just seemed like the 'right' thing to say.

"Really?" The eyes of Candice Michelle suddenly grew wider as she removed her arm from around Mickie's shoulder and stared toward her in both disbelief and shock. "I mean, if I were in that position I'd be furious. Pissed, even! I mean think about it, having to attend a house show that turns out you were never booked for! Personally, if I were you I'd-"

"Really, it's okay Candice. I'm fine." Mickie's purpose was just to say anything that would hush the now not so helpful Candice Michelle. The subject about the house show was something she had refused to think about since finding out the news that she had traveled along to a house show that she really was not suppose to show up for. It mostly pissed her off because she had left her father for no good reason at all thanks to WWE's booking.

Rolling her eyes at the thought – she tried to then push that away from the back of her mind, as well. It had been a lot of things that Mickie now was forcing herself to not think about. But she had to. If she went through her day thinking about her father back in Richmond, the mistake WWE had made on her at the house and then on top of it all Randy Orton – then she'd be a mess. She couldn't afford having Candice noticing it and then trying to nurse her through it all.

"Besides," Mickie began to speak up (knowing it would be easier to not think about these things if she changed the subject to something positive), "your match was good and I enjoyed watching it, Candy. You did well against Beth! Your injury is really wearing off. And, with me not being booked a match gave me free time to talk to my dad while I was backstage."

"Oh." Candice whispered underneath her breathe in response causing Mickie's eyebrow to arch. "..It's just; I thought you called him on the plane?"

Remembering the lie she had told Candice, the petite diva instantly slowly swallowed. She hesitated before eventually answering with a short head shake as her eyes drifted off toward the diva that stood beside her. "I actually got a bit nervous at just the thought of telling him, letting him down and most importantly knowing how disappointed he would be. So, I decided to hold it off for a bit, you know? By the time I called him, he already had a pretty good idea that something was up anyway. I didn't plan it out that way but in the end, it was much easier for me to break it to him."

Candice offered a sweet smile toward Mickie. "Did you check the match card for tonight yet? I heard word that there's a very interesting match for you Divas tonight before Wrestlemania." The petite diva shrugged her shoulders in response – she hadn't heard word of a match but she expected to be teaming up with Melina and Kelly as she usually did – Candice helped lead the petite brunette toward a nearby wall where the match card had been plastered up.

Mickie read the listed matches beginning from the top of the match card where it had been as listed: 18 Diva Tag Match w/ appearance from Santino Marella. Mickie shivered at just the thought, an 18 Diva Match just sounded messy to her and she knew it wouldn't go well. But she would still give it her all for the fans even though she knew that it would be difficult for anyone to enjoy a sloppy match.

Under her match for tonight was a few other matches that hadn't really caught her interesting – she wasn't really much to pay attention to other things around her as of late. But she notice that one of her good friends would be facing off against Smackdown!'s own self proclaimed Rated R Superstar. A match between John Cena and Edge? She was sure it would be good. But what would be the main event for the night was labeled as Randy Orton's Wrestlemania Address.

Normally, Mickie would just shake her head about how unnecessary it was for anyone to capture the main event spot for just a promo and especially the likes of Randy Orton who was far too cocky, he didn't need the main event spot to give him more reasons.

…But now, Mickie found herself curious to see how the promo would play out. Her perfectly pluck browed arched up as she read the letters of his name. She now found herself surprisingly anxious for the main event more than anything else. Even more anxious about this main event than any other in the several last past weeks.

"What're you looking at?" The sound of Candice's voice instantly drew Mickie away from all that had been clouding her mind about how the main event would probably go well. She knew it would. So quickly, Mickie looked elsewhere on the match card – hoping to herself that Candice hadn't seen her eyes practically glued toward Randy's name just moments before.

"Um, I was just looking at…John's match. I know it's going to go so well, I'm sure." Once again, Mickie found herself forcing a smile on her lips as she made the words as she went along and even insisting that she was actually talking about John's match as she pointed to where John's name was. A smirk rubbed on Candice's lips, noticing the now wide grin on Mickie's face without realizing that it was a forced one if anything.

To Candice, Mickie was smiling way too wide. She was convinced something was up between Mickie and John. Especially with their past before.

"Well, hello there Miss future Wrestlemania." Suddenly, an arriving superstar made his way behind the two divas – slinging his arm around a certain petite diva as he approached them and widely smiled toward her. It had been Raw's own John Cena. Mickie offered back toward him a warm smile before he peeked over toward Candice who hadn't noticed up until this point. "Oh…Candice, hey! What're you doing here, I haven't seen you around in…well, a while actually."

A small cackle emerged through Candice's lips. "Yea, well I'm just here to have a small chat with Vickie. Apparently, she's going to give me word on if or if not I can participate in the Miss Wrestlemania battle royal this Sunday. And, if she does say yes then you better watch out, Mickie." Playfully, Candice winked toward the tiny diva. "Oh and speaking of…I actually should get going now. Vickie wants to talk to me before airtime, and Raw is going to be live soon. But um, maybe John here can keep you company, eh Mickie?"

Before exiting, Candice gestured a suggestive wink toward Mickie which had been way too obvious of the intentions behind her words.

Mickie ran her fingers through the beginnings of her hair as she shook her head in disapproval of Candice who clearly sucked at not showing true intentions as she left the two of John and Mickie, leaving Mickie to feel the after embarrassment as she randomly walked her way around John Cena 'til she had been standing across from him, she then studied him from head to toe before breaking out in a smile.

"Long time, no talk." Mickie told him with a short cackle.

He only nodded in agreeance. "Yes, I would say so." Behind him – from what Mickie had instantly begun to notice – had still been the same superstar who was there before, Randy Orton. He even was standing in the same spot but this time there was no Ted or Cody standing with him. Mickie guessed that they had left, but why hadn't Randy followed with them? He noticed that he caught her attention and then leaned his elbow against the wall to keep him firmly standing. A small smirk rose on his lips, and Mickie just sighed in response. "So, are you up for it or what?"

Hearing the bits of John's words, Mickie cursed herself in her head – now understanding why Randy probably had raised a smirk toward her. She was completely ignoring John for Randy and she hadn't even noticed it. She now forcefully drifted her eyes from Randy and toward John as she blinked in confusion. "Um…huh?" Puzzled, she said. She knew she sounded like a ditz and she couldn't blame herself enough for once again drawing herself away from a conversation with one of her friends for something not so surprisingly Randy-related.

She had been doing it to Candice and now John. But the remembrance of their touching on the jet still replayed in her head like a film on a movie screen. She tried to erase the remembrance, but nothing she was trying worked. She had put thoughts of the house show and her dad in the back of her mind, but the thoughts of Randy just continued to show up continuously whether she enjoyed it or not.

John slightly chucked as he shook his head. "I um, just wanted to know if you wanted to grab a bit to eat after the show. You know, catch up on old times…just you and me.." He proposed. "How does that sound to you?"

Slowly a smile made its way to Mickie's lips knowing she couldn't possibly turn down an offer that was seemingly too good to be so. Spending some time with John after the show brought good memories – she remembered the time she spent with him, her brother and her brother's girlfriend. That brought John closer to her family and ultimately closer to her.

"Sure John, that sounds great." She answered.

A flashy grin too quickly rubbed off on John face and shortly after, Mickie noticed a now exiting Randy Orton leaving after – he turned off in a different direction than where Mickie stood with John so that could barely make himself seen but his eye roll that bleed disgust and sharp turn down the hall definitely didn't go unnoticed and Mickie estimated that Randy probably didn't want it to…

"So, I'll meet you at the parking lot after the show then?" Mickie forcefully drifted her eyes away from the confusing superstar who was Randy Orton and back up toward a less confusing superstar. Luckily, she actually caught a hear of his words this time.

She confirmed it with a nod. "Sure. Sounds like a plan to me." A small smile emerged its way on her lips as John went his way and soon enough, she had went another – the image of the match card had been now replaying in her head and reminding her that even though she wasn't excited about the scheduled divas match…she still had to hurry and prepare for being that it would be starting off the show and she still had been only half dressed.

So now with gritted teeth, the tiny diva dashed down the now less cluttered halls. She held tightly onto the strap of her bag as she moved faster and faster down the hall. Mickie was heading in the direction of the Ladies Locker room and soon she noticed that the turn she went down had been the same turn that the self proclaimed legend killer had taken not too long before her.

And soon enough she noticed a glimpse of something catch attention of the corner of her eye. After it had been followed by an all too familiar cold breeze – she remained in disbelief of it all.

In her head, she continued telling herself that it just couldn't be him. She believed her mind was playing pointless tricks on her but to prove herself right; she stopped her running and looked over to her side where she swore she saw a glimpse of a figure and indeed it was a tall figure leaned against a wall.

His blue eyes widened. Unexpectedly seeing her here. It really did surprise Mickie to see that at least the feeling of shock was mutual between her and Randy Orton. Eventually, he nodded to show that he actually noticed her presence – which in reality shouldn't be much of a giant deal but when it came to Randy Orton (unless you were Ted, or Cody) if he showed you any bit of attention, it was a big deal.

In return, the brunette offered him a smile despite her daze look – her eyes studied his handsome features but thankfully, she was able to draw herself away from it all. She retorted back toward him with a nod of her own, surprisingly the scene between herself and Randy wasn't nearly as awkward as she would expect it to be only a few days before but that didn't change the fact that it was overly confusing.

Studying the empty spaces around her as she looked around, she noticed a draw of silence appear between her and Randy – he hadn't said a word and in return, she hadn't either. She remained unsure but she did soon enough continued to walk in the direction of the Ladies Locker room after giving him many moments to speak up.

She hadn't the time to engage a conversation though anyway – she had to get into the realization that she still had a match to prepare for. A sloppy match that she so had not wanted to participate in, but a match none the less. For now she just had to accept the nods that was exchanged between her and Randy and continue to move on. So what if it was weird and confusing? Wasn't everything lately? She had to convince herself that any other time something weird and confusing had happened to her was no different than anything weird that happened between her and Randy Orton.

…Well, that hadn't been true. Randy was far from anything she could compare to. But for now, she had to convince herself that he was for the time being and push away those thoughts from her head – she had a match to focus on.

Eventually, she had been out of his sight but before she had been, he instinctively turned his head in the direction only to catch the glimpse of her petite frame and overly bouncy curls before turning the corner. A sigh emerged through the lips of the self proclaimed Legend Killer – unlike the petite diva, he hadn't dwelled so much on what was weird, what was confusing, and what was hard to understand.

He remained focus on one thing as of lately and that had been the title he felt belonged to him. He was not Champion yet, but he knew it wouldn't be long before the WWE title belt would probably be worn on his shoulder.

Lazily, he pushed his body up from the wall and stood firmly on his feet. The remembrance of a certain someone had now been clouding his mind – unexpectedly, it hadn't been Mickie James nor had it been the man he was ready to take back his title from on the upcoming Sunday pay-per-view match – it had been a certain Chain Gang Soldier that he swore to himself he wouldn't have to deal with.

What Randy had mainly disliked about John had been that John just often didn't know his place. To the viewer's eyes, the two fought over everything and anything. They both were too young, too entertaining and at times too quickly to chase after what the other wanted – they could make a great team but they often found each other bumping heads.

Randy didn't understand it all. He had no problem with John like others such as Edge did. Randy knew his place in the WWE and John hadn't intimidated him at all – Randy felt that he intimidated John and was the better superstar of the two. But John always seemed to find a way to get involve with anything that Randy wanted. That was his only problem with John.

But tonight, that would change – Randy was sure of that.

A demon smirk rose to his lips followed by loud voices that drowned out any sound around him. Those voices always put vicious thoughts into his head. Darker thoughts than he knew any man should own – but that never stopped him from following those voices, he didn't have much comfort with anyone else except for the voices. He grew to love them, despite the chaos they caused.

As he turned in a direction opposite of where the diva had trailed off, he ran into two chests. They belonged to Ted and Cody who had been unexpectedly standing behind him. His blue eyes widened in shock.

"Hey man, everything alright?" Cody had spoke up before Ted had the chance as Cody placed his hands onto his hips. The bushy brow of Cody arched up, showing the discomfort it was to see their mentor look so dismantled.

The self proclaimed Legend Killer now wore a proud smirk – Cody hadn't a clue of anything and Randy appreciated that, it made it easier for him to lie on other situations. But he realized that perhaps being honest about what was bothering him would be more helpful than on usual basis where he preferred to be kept to himself and have Cody and Ted not knowing of his business. He never felt it was their right to know anyway, they just needed to be ready to attack any man that he had ordered them to.

This was why they now came in handy. He placed a palm on Ted's shoulder and then his other palm on Cody's. "What a surprise, the two men I was actually looking for."

"You don't say. Is something up?" Ted asked as he looked into the icy blue eyes of Randy.

A cackle fell from Randy's lips. "Boys, everything is just fine. We just have some business needing to be taken care of. I'm sure you're both aware of who John Cena is." Each of the two nodded their heads as smirk tugged Randy's lips. "Well, let's just say it's about time we pay him a visit."

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The blonde haired ECW diva happily bounced up and down. "One…Two…Three! Take that Katie Burchill!" Tiffany now raised her long arms into the air in victory, replaying in her head the match earlier where she had actually received a pinfall on a pretty touch competitor. Mickie – who stood in the Locker room with Tiffany – had known first hand of that. Mickie could count plenty of pretty tough matches she had against the current ECW Diva, Katie.

Mickie laughed at the bubbly blonde diva before sliding an arm around her shoulder and staring up toward Tiffany with a warm expression on her face. "You did great out there tonight, Tiff." Patting Tiffany on the shoulder, Mickie soon was startled by the instant squeeze that Tiffany had given her as she practically lifted Mickie off of her feet. Mickie awkwardly laughed. "Wow, you really enjoy this wrestling stuff, don't you?" Mickie assumed and soon received a confirming nod from Tiffany as a retort. Mickie smiled, appreciating that at least she wanted to wrestle and not just be on TV to just been seen. "Well good because after tonight, I'm sure you'll be doing a lot more of it very soon."

Tiffany released a hopeful sigh that showed the desire and passion she clearly had for competing in the ring. "I sure hope so, Mickie. Working side by side with Teddy on ECW is great and all, but I really just want to…" The poor blonde Diva trailed off, feeling uncomfortable about finishing her sentence (not wanting to sound much like a brat).

Mickie once again found herself a giggling a bit. "Wrestle more in the ring?" Automatically she assumed and Tiffany's very slow nod allowed her to know that she was indeed right. Mickie kindly patted Tiffany's back. "It's okay, you can admit it. It's not a bad thing to want to wrestle when you're in the WWE, now if you don't want to wrestle than that can be a problem." Tiffany giggled toward Mickie's words as she lightly shook her head. "But seriously, why don't you just talk to someone about getting you into the ring more if you're so passionate about it?"

"Well, I'm hoping that I can prove it to them this Sunday in the battle royal." Tiffany admitted and then her face had lightened up. "Oh, and good luck this Sunday by the way. I really think you have the better chance than the majority of us."

Mickie smiled in return. "Well thanks, Tiff. It's anyone's game you have just as much of a chance as I do."

"Thanks Mickie, by the way is there any way that I could catch a ride with you tonight?" Tiffany asked hopefully yet just as well shyly.

Mickie quietly sighed. "Sorry, Tiff. I lended my car out to Candice tonight." The perfectly plucked prow of Tiffany rose. "Well, John and I are meeting up after the show tonight so I'm probably just going to catch a ride with him. " The petite brunette explained.

Tiffany's mouth slightly popped opened. "…John Cena?" She assumed causing Mickie to hush a quiet sigh in return, she really hated mentioning John around the other girls – ninety percent of them crushed on him and anytime she was around him or mentioned his name they would remind her of how "completely gorgeous" he was and how he was "just to die for".

It all annoyed her plenty. Mickie lifted her head up toward the blonde, preparing to speak again. "You see-"

Their convo was shockingly interrupted by a upset Melina bursting through the doors of the Women's Locker room. She carried with her the Women's Championship belt which she had angrily released from her grip, throwing it off toward a couch where it perfectly landed. She then collapsed on the couch – passing the other two Divas without a word or a smile, which was unlikely for Melina to do – and angrily crossed her arms against her chest as she pouted out her lips and said not a word.

Mickie raised her brow. "I'm doing well Melina, thanks for asking."

The dark haired Women's Champion slowly lifted her head up toward the tiny diva. Usually, if it was anyone else, she would probably end up in a heated argument with them – when she was pissed off, it was as if she expected everyone to know better than to say any sharp remarks or even look in her direction. But Mickie was an exception. Yes, she had been her enemy not too long ago but they had become very close ever since their tag match against Jillian and Layla. It killed Melina to see Mickie so hurt at the end of the match. Thankfully, she wasn't injured.

The same was for Mickie but Melina actually did get injured and that brought Mickie closer toward Melina when she had to protect her against the duo of Victoria and Natalya who tried to take advantage of Melina when she was most vulnerable.

"I'm sorry Mickie." A sigh emerged through Melina's lips as she eventually uncrossed her arms. "It's just…I was really excited about seeing Edge get his ass handed to him tonight and John didn't even show for his match! That gives Edge bragging rights about it and I know I won't live to see the day he'll shut up about it!"

It was a well known fact Melina hadn't liked Edge – of course no one knew why, but was it that hard to guess? Edge probably had said something rude toward Melina backstage and that resulted in her hating his guts. Edge wasn't that much of a challenge to the Divas' to dislike.

Tiffany's brow arched. "Mickie, aren't you suppose to be going out with John tonight?" The blonde Diva now began gluing all of the pieces together, resulting in Mickie to sigh…wishing that Tiffany had said any words but those ones.

Instantly, Melina sat straight up. "Say what?" All of this had been news to Melina and her cold glare thrown toward Mickie showed that she hadn't appreciated not knowing this – especially being that even Tiffany had known this and Melina hadn't. Besides Candice (who had became closer and closer to Mickie since Maria moved to Smackdown), Melina had been Mickie's closest friend.

Mickie attempted to offer a warm smile. "I was going to tell you. I just didn't rush into it. I don't see it as that big of a deal." She insisted.

"Not a big deal? Hello, we're talking about John Cena. No, we're talking about John Cena and you. Mickie James, this is a big deal."

Mickie hated the now dramatic Melina that was present. She hated how Melina now was emphasizing almost all of her words to show her just how important this should be – but Mickie just couldn't realize why so many people took it as being so important. "We're just going out as friends, Melina."

"That's what they all say." Under her breathe, Melina whispered as the remembrance of Maria speaking the same words before she had began dating John – suddenly the thought of Edge winning by default was less important to her instead she was more so interested with the news of John and Mickie. "Tiffany, is it just me or do you perhaps hear wedding bells as well?"

Instantly, Mickie snarled when she noticed a showy smirk rub off on Melina's lips. "Whatever." The tiny diva shook her and then dug into her bag and pulled out a towel which she threw over her shoulder – she began walking off in a direction, causing Melina's brow to furrow.

"Where are you going?" Melina asked puzzled.

"To hit the showers." Mickie simply answered whilst pointing toward the showers in the Ladies Locker room that were not too far from where they were standing. "I need to hurry up and clean up before I meet up with John." She reminded Melina.

Melina muttered a hush laugh, causing Mickie's perfectly plucked brow to furrow. "I'm sorry." She apologized for her laughter. "It's just, do you really think John is going to show? He won't even show for his own damn match."

Mickie shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I guess I'm going to find that out." She said, feeling confident that John still would show as Melina gestured a knowing look toward Mickie that was quickly ignored and Mickie then headed into the shower, making sure to tightly close the door behind her as Tiffany took a seat beside Melina on the couch.

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"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm standing here besides the duo of Legacy's Ted Dibiase and Cody Rhodes. Gentlemen, I was wondering if you had any thoughts as to why Randy Orton had not showed to his own Wrestlemania Address."

Mickie soon stepped out the shower, wrapping a white towel around her petite frame she soon stepped out of the steamy shower room to notice a leaned forward Melina sitting on the couch by herself – it appeared as if her eyes were glued to the large TV screen that was sat in front of her. "What's going on?" Puzzled Mickie asked. It wasn't much like Melina to be so intrigued like she was now.

"Shh!" Instantly, Melina hushed her in return but had not taken her eyes away from the TV Screen.

Mickie's plucked eyebrow arched upward. "Okay..?" Quietly, she spoke out toward the strangeness of Melina being as interested toward the TV screen as she was, as Mickie shook away the concern about it all she eventually then noticed that the same blonde haired diva that was in their room earlier was gone now. "Where's Tiffany?"

A muttered grunt was made by Melina when hearing a voice speak over the TV screen once more. "She caught a ride with Kelly and Candice." Answered – a now quite annoyed – Melina as she leaned in closer toward the TV screen, trying her best to now pretend as if Mickie wasn't even there.

Mickie shook her head in retort as she tightly clinged onto the white towel around her. A puzzled expression soon emerged on her features. "Hey, what's going on?" Mickie asked when noticing a much shorter Todd Grisham standing – very uncomfortably – in between the two of Ted and Cody.

Sharply, Melina turned her head. "Here's a crazy idea, how about you just watch it and then you'll find out?"

The thing Mickie noticed about Melina was that she always was cranky whether or not she was considered a face or a heel – she had that 'don't mess with me' attitude that separated her from the majority of the other divas. She made sure she was the dominant diva around. Even the times that she was joking around with the other divas, she still could put any diva in their place if needed.

Mickie took a seat beside Melina on the couch as she crossed her legs over top of each other and leaned in forward toward the TV screen.

"Do you two have any thoughts on why Randy Orton did not appear to his own Wrestlemania Address?"

Todd Grisham slowly swallowed – showing his fear of being here with the two superstars – before Ted immediately tightly gripped onto the black microphone and tilted it toward his much more preferred direction.

"Do we have any thoughts? Of course we have thoughts about why Randy didn't show. But quite frankly, neither Cody nor I have to share any of them with you. So therefore, we won't."

Cody – who stood on the other side of Todd – firmly nodded in not only agreeance but also a hint for both the men to begin to make their exit and so they had before a chirp interrupted the two.

"Well, that may be so however I think the both of you can agree with me when I say that John not showing up to his match against Edge tonight and Randy Orton not showing to his own Wrestlemania Address is a bit bizarre."

The bushy brow of Ted arched upward toward the words spoken by Ted. A sharp pain rose through his veins. He hadn't heard the voices that Randy Orton claimed to everyone that he heard but Ted did convince himself inside of his head that Todd had just made a very bad move on his part.

Immediately, Todd sharply turned around and ran in the direction of Todd. He stood close enough to him until their foreheads and noses had practically be leant against each other, purposely making sure that Todd would be intimidated by him. "Just exactly what are you insisting, Todd?"

The innocent ECW commentator drew his head away from Ted as Cody noticed Todd now wearing a white face. This of course caused a smirk on Cody's face – the three of Randy, Cody and Ted practically lived on intimidating others and to them someone like Todd was just too easy of a target.

As Todd backed away from Ted, he unexpectedly found his back being brushed up against the hard solid chest of Cody Rhodes who circled around Todd without notice – this proved to anyone who was watching just how well Randy had trained the two of them to move quickly and unnoticed. Todd though wasn't appreciating Randy teaching them this, obviously.

Now learning that there was no where to back out, he only slowly swallowed and attempted to continue. "I-I just expected that perhaps Randy Orton and John Cena both being no shows tonight would make anyone suspect that-"

"Suspect what?" Cody loudly spoke up. "What, that Randy had something to do with John not showing for his match?" Angrily, Cody threw his hands in the air to show complete disbelief of the conversation. "I cannot believe you'd even insist that Randy would have anything to do with Cena backing out of his match tonight. Cena was Edge's problem tonight, not Randy's. So why should anyone point fingers toward Randy of all people?"

'Though the words had made sense, Cody 'forgot' to mention that Randy wasn't exactly Mr. Innocent on the red brand – it didn't make a matter to whether or not Randy was currently feuding with the superstar or not. If you were to so look at the Legend Killer wrong then he'd probably would serve you back your head on a silver platter, and now that he had Ted and Cody he was able to get away with all of his crimes easier than he was in the past.

He was the mentor of the two and they practically would do anything for their mentor.

"I apologize gentleman." Todd began speaking up and as well began regretting not only just his words but accepting to do this job as a backstage interviewer – he wondered what the hell was he thinking agreeing to do this? "I just suspected that was the obvious question on everyone's mind."

"Of couse you would." The sharp remark from Legacy's Ted Dibiase was followed by him harshly pushing Todd on the chest with his flat palm. This caused him to fall onto the chest of Cody who then only pushed him further, resulting in Todd to end up falling onto the cold floor of the Arena. As Todd attempted to straighten the frames on his glasses, Cody and Ted only smirked down in his direction before cackles emerged through both their lips.

They did eventually make their exit however, leaving Todd to try and make it back to his feet.

000000

"…John not showing up to his match against Edge tonight and Randy Orton not showing to his own Wrestlemania Address is a bit bizarre."

A bitterly cold breeze bristled against the back of the petite brunette diva as her mind had been cluttered. Besides the much not wanted images of Santino flaunting around in his proclaimed "Man-kini", she still had a familiar interview replaying through her head. Sighing, she readjusted the strap of the same heavy black bag she had carried in the beginning of the night as she – now dressed and prepared to leave the Arena - pushed opened the doors of the back entrance of the Arena and soon found herself standing in the empty parking lot.

There were very few cars there, in the almost deserted lot. The majority of the Superstars were gone. Only very few Crew members had still been inside of the building and – of course besides her – all of the Divas had immediately driven to their hotel buildings at the ending of the show. She once again readjusted the strap of her back as she stood alone in the parking lot – way to pack only your entire life in your bag, Mickie, she angrily told herself inside of her head.

A few moments passed by her and with a loud grunt the diva dropped her bag to the ground. Of course the weight of her back was only one thing causing her so much frustration – she also had been assured of one thing that she hadn't wanted to admit until then. John isn't going to show, she admitted to herself.

She finally did admit it despite how much she didn't want to. Biting on the flesh of her bottom lip – when being tired of standing for so long out in the parking lot for what she felt was for someone who wasn't going to show – the diva bent down to grab the bag she dropped earlier. "…I'm out of here." She muffled underneath her breath to of course no one in particular but herself.

Before she picked up her bag she only wondered one more thing to herself: where exactly had she been plan on going? She had lend her car to Candice for the night, knowing that John was going to give her a ride but this all being of course before John ditched the Arena. She wondered if he being a no show had anything to do with her. Or perhaps, it could have just been family problems..?

"Something wrong, sweetheart?"

A cold breeze erupted beside her – being that it was so windy outside she couldn't tell if it was only the wind or well, him. Biting against her bottom lip in confusion, she slowly rose to her feet. By now she had came to the realization that of course it was him. Though it was odd for her to match those words to something that he would say…

Now standing tall on her feet, she turned in the direction to where she had heard the voice and she was stunned to notice a platinum blonde haired superstar standing behind her with a proud, flashy smirk rubbed off on his lips. A soft giggle toward her own ridiculous beliefs of Randy being behind her had emerged through her lips. "Dolph, hey." She greeted him, placing her hands on her hips.

The superstar Dolph Ziggler – who made sure everyone knew of him – transformed his smirk toward a way too quickly look of concern toward the diva. It wasn't hard for anyone to notice the look of fluster on the face of the usually hyper diva. "Having trouble tonight?" He assumed, his voice bleeding as much concern as his expression.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Just a bit." In return she answered toward him before her brown eyes drifted down toward the black bag that sat beside her feet whilst a sigh emerged through her lips. Oddly, she felt a palm brush against her arm and as she lifted her head back up she noticed that it indeed at been Dolph. He wore a comforting smile on her lips.

"What's the problem, then?"

The two had briefly met backstage – well, then again who hadn't met Dolph – but Mickie still considered him a pretty cool guy despite how annoying other superstars complained him to be. Even one of Mickie's good friends, CM Punk, had warned her about hanging around a guy like Dolph. Besides Punk feeling that Dolph was too annoying for anyone to tolerate, Punk had been convinced that Dolph was too smug-faced all the time and trouble.

Plus, he had already made sure that Mickie, Kelly and Candice knew of him and rumors were that most of his intentions of doing just that weren't good – Candice complained to her not too long ago about Dolph being trouble as well, but Mickie just didn't see it like others. He was just one of the few new guys, that was all she thought of him as.

"Well," the petite brunette had began speaking up, "Besides the fact that I'm stranded here without a ride, I'm also stranded here with a bag that I swear must weigh half as much as me." A cackle fell through Mickie's lips, attempting to find some sort of amusement out her troubled situation.

"Stranded? I don't understand." Puzzled, the blonde haired superstar retorted.

Mickie sighed. "…I uh, I was suppose to catch a ride with John Cena." Instantly, the blonde brow of Dolph had arched upward – John wasn't really much of a favor from most of the guys. Besides John being a huge name in the business, Dolph knew that a lot of the girls fell head over heels for him by first look. "But as you know, he was a no show for his match and I suppose he'll be a no show for our plans tonight. Which is just great."

After Mickie shuffled a short eye roll, a flashy grin graced the lips of Dolph. "No worries, I'm here. And I insist on giving you a ride back home, I won't take no for an answer." Smoothly, he said causing Mickie to shake her in retort followed by a laugh. "C'mon. You need a ride home right? Well, I'll give you one."

It hadn't been that Mickie hadn't trusted Dolph, she really just hadn't wanted to cause any trouble with him taking her home – she felt that she wasn't his problem to deal with. But then again, he was right…she did need a ride home. He slung his arm around the petite diva, causing her to slightly smile. "Okay." She answered back to him.

Instantly – as if it was possible – his grin widened. "Awesome!" He exclaimed. Before the petite brunette could bend down to grab her back, the arm of Dolph had quickly lowered down until it rested on her back. She felt his palm awkwardly rubbing her exposed skin, causing her brow to arch in return.

"You, um, do know where my hotel building is, right?" Mickie assumed or perhaps hope that Candice or Kelly – being she had been staying in the same building as the two – had mentioned something to him. But she knew they didn't. Either way, something had been forcing her to ask him this question before walking off and getting inside of his car.

He shrugged carelessly. "No, I don't. But you're more than welcome to stay in my hotel room tonight as a substitute. I can promise you you'll enjoy yourself more there."

A quiet cackle emerged through Mickie lips whilst running two of her fingers through the beginnings of her light brow colored hair. "You're joking, right?" Automatically, she assumed – it wasn't odd for the guys to spat out sexual jokes here and there and she was assured that Dolph was just one of those guys who did so.

Instantly, Dolph smirked in return. "Now why would I be joking?" Much to Mickie's surprise, he slid his other arm around her waist until securely having her in his grip. Her brow arched unsure of it all but Dolph leaning forward to her began to make it all more clear to her – she glared in disgust, inching further from him only for him to pull her closer and closer toward her each time she drew away.

She tightly grabbed on his arms and attempted to loosen his grip. "What is wrong with you?" She spat out after noticing that her attempting to loosen his grip was no use at all.

A small cackle of amusement emerged through his lip before he leaned further toward the diva that he easily towered over. Instinctively, Mickie estimated that he oddly was trying to press his lips against her as she noticed that had been in the direction he was leaning toward. Mickie continued to dodge it all away as she moved her head back out of his reach. "Stop fighting it." He ordered her.

His voice was loudly and clear surprisingly the realization of just how angry he could get hadn't been what stunned her – instead it had been the sight of a black t-shirt with a bolded "L" in red and yellow print. It had been worn underneath a black leather jacket. Her eyes remained fixed on the image. Dolph – with his back turned toward what was behind him – forcefully grabbed a hold of Mickie's face so she was turned toward him.

Just as he had prepared to kiss her, he felt a heavy palm lay on his shoulder and pull him back from the diva. Dolph now went into a confused state. "Back off." The voice sternly demanded. A smirk rose on his lips, knowing of the figure without even needing to turn and face him – but he still did so anyway.

With his smirk still present on his lips, he shook his head in disgust. "Orton." He addressed him as. "What the hell do you want?" The petite diva standing behind Dolph had stepped back a few more steps, practically almost tripping over her black bag that laid on the floor. She grunted as she quickly attempted to stand back firmly on her feet. Dolph peeked over toward his shoulder toward Mickie. "Watch your step, sweetheart." He flashed Mickie a smirk, causing the diva to scoff in disgust.

The self proclaimed Legend Killer followed the eyes of the blonde haired superstar to the small brunette. "Grow up, Ziggler. She's mine." Randy told him matter of factly, as he drifted his icy blue eyes toward a now amused looking Dolph Ziggler who only shook his head in response.

"You don't say so." Quietly, Dolph retorted back toward him causing Randy to instantly step forward – as this all was preceded, Mickie remained quiet hoping that she was all out of sight, though she was puzzled by Randy's words she wanted to believe he just said it all to keep Dolph from hurting her. But that left to Mickie's next question as to why Randy would ever care if Dolph hurt her or not. "I should've known." Underneath his breathe, Dolph had muttered before a cackle fell through his lips. "She is pathetic enough to settle for you if anyone, Orton."

A voice cluttered his mind – the same voice that had actually led him to this spot of where Dolph and Mickie where – it ordered him to wipe away the smug face that Dolph so easily wore. With his fists now clenched, Randy could feel his fingernails sinking into the skin on his palms as he tried to hush the voices.

"Whoa, whoa, simmer down. I was just fooling with you, Orton. After all, I would hate to end up like Cena, eh?"A smirk that showed that Dolph knew rubbed on his lips causing Randy's brow to arch up as he only shook his head – what he hated so much about superstars like Dolph had been that were so damn cocky. Sometimes, they reminded him of him. "You definitely are a Legend Killer after all, huh?"

With a small cackle, Dolph turned toward Mickie with his lips now puckered in her direction leaving the brunette to glare down toward the ground. The blonde haired superstar turned back toward Randy. "She wants it." Randy knew that Dolph was just taking advantage of him right now. If Randy was going to attack him than he surely would've done so already – but Randy didn't, which made Dolph believe he could say what he wanted when he wanted.

Dolph knew he could get away with acting how he wanted.

With a wide grin, the blonde haired superstar walked away from the two. This left Randy feeling sick in his stomach – he wasn't one to bite his tongue. He never had before and he never expected that he would have to. Much to Randy's not wanting, Dolph had paused before he reached the door and turned back toward the brunette who still had yet to raise her head. "Hey Mickie." he called toward her, causing the diva to slightly lift her head but still not staring in his direction. "If you ever want to feel some real pain, you know where I am."

By the time his last word left his lip, he felt his head being driven into the glass of one of the doubled doors – though it hadn't broken the first time, Randy Orton had grabbed Dolph by the collar of his shirt and – with everything he had – threw Dolph into the glass door once more, causing it to shatter much to Randy's wanting as a satisfied smirk rubbed off on his lips.

The sound awakened the petite brunette as she stared wide eyed in front of Randy – but Randy was numb to it all, it had only been two people there and that had been him and the voices inside of his head. The feelings of Randy's beating left Dolph feeling in regret toward it all but he was soon thankful when he noticed the face of Mickie appear nearby. Her arms tightly gripped around Randy's forearm to pull him from Dolph. Mickie was probably one of the few – if not only – diva(s) that would actually touch Randy when he was in this state.

Instinctively, Randy would've thrown Mickie toward the side for stepping in a place where he usually would think she didn't belong – but somehow he just remained distracted as everything had frozen when she touched him, even the voice stopped at her touch leaving him to now only see the damage of what he did. Dolph's hair was barely a platinum blonde but instead a crimson red from the blood that drowned the top of his head and made its way down his face in drips.

The sight of it all was just horror to Mickie but she slowly swallowed. Dolph had been now sitting on the ground on top of shattered glass. He was in a daze look as he tried to gain some consciousness but it was no use at all.

Soon enough, the feeling of Mickie's palms placed on top of his chest directed Randy's ice blue eyes down toward her. "We have to go, now!" She told him as she attempted to push Randy away from the sight but it was no use – the pushes of the petite Diva had been doing no use. Randy stood frozen at everything he had just done as the brunette pushed against his hard chest, grunting each time her effort went without an effect.

He ran his hand threw his short hair. His hand had been filled with the blood of Dolph. Flustered, Mickie dashed toward where her bag was and attempted to lift it up but before she could, Randy reached down toward the bag and lifted it up for her without a grunt of pain like she normally would do when she lifted the bag.

She would have thanked him but her brown eyes were busily widened that he was responding but he gave her no time to ask any questions before he gripped her arm and pulled her away from the scene.

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Author's Note: I hope you guys liked this chapter; I rewrote some parts at the last minute. I tried to show how out of control Randy can get when his voices get involved as well as how unknowingly overprotective Randy has gotten since the John/Mickie meeting. So, do you think really had anything to do with John being a no show? Lol. :P Btw, I hope I did well with writing the 'Randy attacking Dolph' scene, I wanted to make it seem realistic and be a combo of Randy just naturally being overprotective of anything and of course the voices. R&R please.