Chapter 76:
Though he was officially a member of the SmackDown roster these days, Hunter Helmsley entered the backstage area of RAW as though he still owned it. In his mind, he still did. RAW would always be his home and he looked at SmackDown as a sort of vacation.
Several people called out greetings as he passed them, which he returned with a nod of his head or a brief hello before he located Batista's locker room. Shawn Michaels was waiting outside in the hallway, twirling his cowboy hat between his fingers.
"Hey Hunter." Shawn said with a half a smile. "Big guy just got here, not feeling very friendly though. He didn't even say hello to me when he got here."
"Don't worry, I have a feeling he'll act a little nicer when he hears what I have planned for our pal Randy." Hunter smirked at his oldest friend. "I've come up with a plan that will basically give Randy the rope to hang himself."
Shawn shook his head; an expression that was a cross between amusement and disbelief was on his face. "Do I even want to know?"
"You like Haley right? Want to help her out?" Hunter asked him.
"Well sure, she's a good kid." Shawn shrugged nonchalantly. "But I don't want do anything…unethical, to help her. If it's something unethical that you're planning?"
"Well," Hunter reached for the doorknob. "Why don't you come in, hear my plan and then decide whether you want to get involved or not?"
Shawn studied Hunter a moment before nodding. "All right, no pain in hearing you out."
"Good." Hunter opened the locker room without knocking and stepped inside with Shawn on his heels. "Dave!"
"What?" Batista's reply came through the closed door of the bathroom.
"Get your ass out here." Hunter, at home, took a seat on the couch. "I've got a plan to help you get your girl back!"
Shawn sat down beside his friend and frowned thoughtfully. "What if Dave isn't really innocent though and he's playing you?" He asked quietly.
"You didn't see how messed up he was that night, I did." Hunter assured him.
Dave came out the bathroom, dressed for that night's show in his trunks. "You've got five minutes."
"Wow." Hunter said sarcastically. "You really are being Mr. Friendly today."
"Your wife just denied me a rematch for my title. I've lost my girlfriend, I have to battle JBL tonight and know that Randy arrived here from Boston. Plus, the reason I lost my title in the first place is because Eve turned on me." Dave glared at his former teammate. "Give me a reason to be happy."
"Soon enough Randy's going to hang himself and you'll have Haley back." Hunter said simply.
"He's got a plan." Shawn told Dave with shrug. "He hasn't told me what it is though."
Dave folded his arms over his chest. "I'm listening."
"I have it on good authority that Randy is not too thrilled with Eve costing you your title." Hunter began to explain. "In fact, one would say he's feeling a little panicked about that decision, which to me, makes it seem like he definitely had a part in Eve's scheming."
"So? We already assumed that. It's not solid proof so it doesn't help me." Dave retorted with an eye roll.
"But this will." Hunter continued. "What you two need to do, is make sure that a camera crew sticks with Randy on RAW. He'll wind up confronting Eve and if we could get it on live television, he'll expose himself and Haley will see it all."
Shawn looked surprised. "That's actually a pretty good idea, and an ethical one." He said with a grin.
"See?" Hunter beamed. "Haley learns the truth, Randy gets screwed and we get our girl back. You guys in?"
Shawn nodded. "Sure."
Dave stayed quiet for another moment, thinking it over before finally nodding. "I told you I'd do anything to get Haley back, and well, this is fairly easy to do, so I'm in."
Hunter's eyes lit up. "Excellent."
Meanwhile…Haley leaned back against one of the turnbuckles in the practice ring and used her hands to push her sweaty hair off her face. "I hate being out of shape." She said exhaling heavily.
Michelle McCool smiled at her. "You've been resting for over a month so your shoulder could heal, obviously you were going to lose some of your fitness."
"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd be kicking my ass this bad." Haley shook her head in disbelief. "Being the Diva's Champion has really made you one tough bitch."
Michelle chuckled. "I've got a title match against Maryse coming up, I've got to be on top of my game. It's my first pay-per-view title defense, I don't want to lose it so quickly."
"The French Barbie?" Haley raised her eyebrows and laughed. "You'll wipe the floor with her. All she knows how to do is pull hair and throw you around by it. You can actually wrestle."
"Well, she knocked Maria right out last week in their match." Michelle grabbed two water bottles and tossed one to her. "That DDT of hers means business. I don't plan on experiencing it."
"I think the Wings of Love will put her in her place." Haley caught the bottle and unscrewed the cap. "Hey Michelle, thanks."
Michelle looked at her confused. "For what?"
"This, working with me in the ring so I can get back to RAW." Haley took a sip of water before continuing. "And, for being a really good friend and with me on your off days, even though you can't stand Dwayne and would rather be spending some of your time with Mark."
"First of all, you're my friend, of course I'd be here for you." Michelle assured her. "Secondly, I don't hate Dwayne, he just gets on my nerves with this whole Randy is the best thing for Haley crap. It's like he completely wrote off what Dave meant to you, which to me makes it seem like he wrote off your pain."
Haley looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know, I never thought of it that way. I just assumed because he and Randy have become such good friends that he just wants me to be with Randy 'cause he likes him."
"Which is part of it, but he needs to remember what Dave meant to you and why you can't just jump into another relationship." Michelle shook her head. "It just bothers me because I know how much Dave meant to you, and I can't even imagine how much it hurts you being without him."
"Some days I feel like I'm not going to get through the day without him. This huge piece of me is gone and I know I'm never going to get all of it back." Haley explained. "I thought he was my happily ever after. It sounds corny but I was already planning my dream wedding in my head. I'd fantasize about the kids we'd have some day, the house we'd live in. I was really happy."
Michelle gave her a sympathetic look and crossed the ring to hug her. "It's not corny. I thought you two would get married also. You were head over heels in love, Haley, of course you'd dream about a perfect wedding. I wish there was some way we could give that back to you."
Haley pulled back enough to look at her friend and shrugged. "I guess it's not written in the cards for me. What really gets me through the day is you guys. You and Candice, I can count on you girls for anything. Hell, even Kennedy has been supportive and he doesn't really care about anybody."
"You two formed some weird friendship when you were fighting the Burchills together." Michelle chuckled. "It's quite comical to watch just because he's such a tough ass, but can't help but like you."
"It's almost like having Jericho back, ego included." Haley rolled her shoulders and set the water bottle down. "We should probably get back to you kicking my ass, it's the only way I'm going get in shape."
Michelle grinned. "You know, if we ever wound up on the same brand, I think we'd put on some epic matches together, as a tag team or opponents."
"Yeah, just don't become a psychopath like Mickie did." Haley teased. "That sucks. I'd rather just be happy for whoever won and walk out still friends."
"Well, if I had a therapist, I think he or she would tell me I'm reasonably sane." Michelle joked. "But for now, this is as close as I'm going to get to facing you."
"It's probably closest you'll get to beating me too, since once I'm back in shape, I'd give you hell." Haley smirked playfully.
"Yeah right, I could take you." Michelle laughed as the two began to circle each other.
"Prove it." Haley challenged, moving in for a lock up.