Just Another Statistic

Author: PaulenaK

Rating: *R*

Pairing: Stephanie/Jericho

Summary: You never think it'll happen to you...

Disclaimer: I own no one! Wrestler’s property of the WWE and themselves

Authors Note: Angsty fic, Steph may take a few knocks here and there... I don’t dislike Hunter, he's just so good at being the bad guy... but otherwise all is good :)

'Denotes thought and/or emphasis'

**

Part One

**

She lay in a quivering mess all curled up into herself, too scared to do anything but stay there and count to a hundred like she'd been told to. Her head throbbed, her ribs hurt and she could feel a warm

stickiness between her legs. But she didn't move in her pain... not one inch, her whole focus on reaching her goal of counting to one hundred... then she could move, then she'd be safe.

Thoughts of what had been done to her this time flooded her mind in one fowl swoop and she forced the inhuman and contorted images of his face to the back of her mind. Storing those images where she knew no one would ever find them, least of all her.

She wished this could all be a terrible dream, a nightmare that would be willed away with the coming dawn, a pretence that she could laugh at later on in life. But her bloodied face and shaking limbs told her

different. Told her that this was the kind of nightmare that one never woke up from. The kind of nightmare that stayed with you, hidden inside your memory until one touch, one look or smell activated those thoughts and brought them all back ready to flash before your eyes as if they had only happened yesterday.

'Had she reached one hundred yet?'

Not wanting to take any chances she began the count again, her mouth moving as her lips formed the words but no sound came forth.

She felt safe where she lay and didn't want to move... just in case he was still out there, watching and waiting...

He was cunning like that, never one to let himself be out done by a woman. If he said count to one hundred he meant count to one hundred... not ninety-nine, not one hundred and one... but one hundred.

It was funny in a way, how screwed up everything had gotten. How hard he became towards his career, his friends... her. Yet when everyone else had turned away she had stuck by him, believed in him... loved him. She had wanted to be his rock, his stepping stone in his climb to the top... and once he reached the top she wanted to be the pillar that kept him there... and yet... she had missed when he had begun to resent her for that loyalty.

His ego taking first place once his resentment had turned to physical actions. She had hid it well, makeup, floppy hats, long sleeved shirts and outrageous sunglasses... then it grew into lies. Lies she would tell her family and co-workers to keep 'him' and his obsession a secret. Excuses she would come up with to not join in on all of the social activities her friends planned. And she had to admit they had worked... worked so well in fact that they barely invited her anymore.

But she was okay with that. That’s the way it had to be. He was just having a bad run in his life that’s all, but once he was passed that everything between the two of them would be well again.

'79, 80, 81...'

Light spilled into the room from the hallway as the door opened and she curled in closer to herself as a muffled curse reached her ears. She chanced a glance from her position on the other side of the room, thankful that the light from the hallway only brightened half the room but knowing if whoever it was turned on the light she would be sprung and her dirty little secret would be out for all to see.

She held her breath as she watched the figure walk forward and then curse again as his shin connected with an upturned chair that lay on the floor in the middle of the room. The same upturned chair that had been pressed up under the door handle earlier that night, preventing any interruptions... preventing any escape.

'Jericho? What was he doing in her locker room?'

Her question was answered a moment later when she heard another voice from out in the hallway.

"Wrong room numbnuts."

"I know that dick for brains... just wasn't in the mood to listen to you and Trish swap spit."

Christian chuckled as he leaned on the doorjamb. "Well spit has thoroughly been swapped so we can head back to the hotel if you want."

"Yippee." he replied deadpan.

She watched as they both left, Jericho quietly shutting the door behind him and she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard their retreating footsteps.

Slowly inching her way to her feet she felt along the wall till she found the small bathroom, slipping her shoes off she welcomed the feel of the cold tiles beneath her feet. Her fingers finding the shower cubicle she stepped in fully clothed and turned on the hot water, wincing as the heat burned where her skin had been torn and only when her body had begun to hum from the heat and the pain did she slowly remove her clothes.

Though she had kept the lights off she closed her eyes not wanting to see what kind of ickiness washed off her body with the water to disappear down the sink hole.

Only when the heat of the water began to lesson did she step out of the shower and gently wrap a towel around her still aching body. She walked towards the mirror, reaching for another towel that lay on the basin to gently pat her face dry. All trace of tears, blood and whatever else gone from her hair and skin.

Only then did she reach up to turn the light on, only then did she see what her husband had done to her, only then did she speak her first words to the girl staring back at her in the mirror.

"It's okay, Stephanie... he doesnt mean to do this... he loves you."

**

Part Two

**

She stepped out of the limo, her fake smile already plastered to her face as she thanked the driver. Looking at her now no one would ever believe that this confident, steadfast woman had been a bloody mess only hours before.

Her torn clothes having been discarded she now dressed in long pants, a long sleeve shirt and a jacket. Although her outfits were still stylish her taste had moved on to more conservative fashions to hide the bruised body beneath the clothes, while her long brown hair when styled just right and with the help of a hat or scarf covered half her face from the eyes of others.

Once inside the hotel she focused on the elevator doors intent on making it there before anyone stopped her, knowing she would be that much closer to her room once her booted heel stepped onto the plush carpet that lined the floor inside and the thick heavy doors slid closed.

She knew Hunter would be there waiting for her. His face would be forlorn and apologetic as he'd envelope her in his arms while showering her with whispered apologies, words of love and promises of it never happening again.

And she would hug him back, cradle his head in her lap and tell him it was okay, that she forgave him.

She always forgave him.

"Hold the elevator!"

Still lost in her thoughts her hand unwittingly reached out to stop the doors from closing and she silently admonished herself for her actions, stepping back as he entered till her back was pressed up against the mirrored back wall of the elevator.

Jericho took one look at her and rolled his eyes. "All the elevators in the world and I had to step into this one."

She ignored his comment silently willing the elevator to speed up as she pulled the collar of her jacket more securely around her neck, covering her latest bruising which began at the base of her throat and trailed around in a perfect circle.

She shifted uncomfortably on her feet when she caught him staring at her and forced herself to focus on the numbers lighting up above the elevator doors, inwardly sighing when the elevator stopped at her floor and she moved to pass him as soon as the doors opened. Brushing off his intense stare as just Jericho doing his Jericho thing in trying to intimidate her.

His hand reached out then, his fingers wrapping around her upper arm only to release her moments later when she cringed at the pain his small action had caused.

"Steady on princess, I wouldn't touch you on purpose." He looked at her as if she were insane, something else she had grown accustomed too. "You're bag?"

He motioned behind her and she turned her head to see her bag still sitting on the floor at the back of the elevator.

Her mouth formed a perfect oval before walking back slowly picking up the handle of her carry case. She chanced one more look Jericho's way to see his eye brows knot together and a strange look enter his eyes as he continued to stare at her, but he made no attempt to stop her as she exited the elevator and hastily made her way down the hallway.

"Goodbye to you too, princess." She heard him call after her before the elevator doors slid shut.

Taking a deep breath she slipped her key card through the slot provided and the door to the room she shared with her husband swung open.

The room was bathed in candle light and the scent of roses assailed her, reminding her of the old Hunter. The Hunter she had fallen in love with.

He appeared then, his eyes red from crying as he went down on his knee's before her, wrapping his arms gently around her middle.

"I'm so sorry, Steph... I love you... I'm so sorry..."

She heard his whimpers and felt his tears soak through her shirt and she slowly sank to her knee's to take him in her arms, her hand moving in slow comforting strokes up and down his back as the words flowed from her mouth like clock work.

"It's okay Hunter... its okay..."

**

Part Three

**

Stephanie stood in front of the small monitor fastened to the wall inside their locker room and watched her husbands match intensely. He was going up against Kevin Nash who had once been one of Hunter's best friends but now they fought as much outside the ring as they did inside.

Kevin had still been civil to her and joked around with her in the hallways as usual till Hunter had seen them... he had played loving husband right up until there locker room door was closed. Then he changed.

She had learnt from the first two times that it didn't pay to try to scream for help... no, all that had achieved was her lying on the cold tiled floor of the shower gagging on a cake of soap while he lashed out at her with his belt.

Her back had been scarred that night and she had had to call a cab to take her to an all night medical centre after Hunter had left, something he always did after he lashed out at her. Going to a hospital was always a big no-no in case one of the other wrestlers were there, that would just mean more questions she couldn't answer.

She had needed sixteen stitches to close the gash that ran across her back from one side to the other where the belt buckle had cut into her skin.

Hunter had been the perfect loving husband after that and she had thought that maybe he had found his way back to the man she had married... till less then a month later it happened again and kept on happening.

No matter how hard she tried he found fault with everything she did and it wasn’t long before trivial things like what colour nail polish she wore became a topic of ridicule for her.

She had thought of leaving thousands of times, had packed her bags ready to walk out on him, but at the end of the day she would unpack everything and put it all back perfectly folded inside her dresser.

Estranged from her family as she was she still held on to her dignity that made her a McMahon. A McMahon didn't back down or give up... a McMahon stayed till the end and fought for what they had... didn't they?

And right now all she had was Hunter... so she stayed and stayed... and stayed.

The roar of the crowd brought her attention back to the monitor and her eyes widened at her husbands form lying still in the centre of the ring, Kevin's hand being raised in victory by the referee and a single tear rolled down her cheek.

She slowly reached up with her hand to turn the small monitor off before seating herself on a bench to stare at the door and waited for the inevitable.

**

"Hey man, are you in or out?"

"Huh?"

"The game blondie," Farooq grumbled as he pointed to the cards Jericho held in his hands.

"Oh..." he replied looking down at them. "Ummm... Out."

The other three men at the table all rolled there eyes and Farooq looked ready to toss Jericho out of the room and would've too if Bradshaw hadn't of stilled his efforts to rise out of his chair and descend on the unsuspecting Canadian.

"Something on your mind, Jericho?" the big Texan asked as he dealt out cards to the remaining players.

Jericho shifted under his gaze not really sure how to answer that, wouldn't be good for his image if he admitted he had been thinking about another man's wife.

'Another man's wife who he hated' he added silently for his own benefit. Lately his mind had been a traitorous one.

He hadn't seen her since the day they had shared an elevator, not that he was surprised by it all anything, cause they didn't exactly run in the same social circles, but they did work in the same company... that in itself should be excuse enough to maybe see her in a hallway or something.

He knew he had unintentionally hurt her when he had reached for her arm as she made to leave the elevator but played it off by hurling an insult at her, a habit that came easy to him.

And then he had seen it. A greyish purply bruise that snaked around what he could see of her neck to disappear into her collar as she had turned to where her bag still lay next to the wall at the back of the elevator.

He was shocked by the extent of the bruising... it was almost as if someone had strangled her.

"Jericho?"

Chris turned to the man beside him, his expression askance. "What?"

"Must be a woman." Bradshaw chuckled to himself as he laid down his cards and then proceeded to gather in his winnings.

Farooq threw his cards facedown on the table. "Ahh shit!"

**

Part Four

**

Jericho trudged down the hallway looking for someone else to bother after being ordered out of APA’s locker room. 'Fancy accusing him of not having his heart in the game.' he scoffed, 'he'd let them win his money didn't he?' He really didn't want to go back to his locker room knowing he wouldn't be able to sit there with Christian and Trish groping at each other. So instead he chose to find his own fun, at least that’s what he had told himself as he wandered the hallways.

He came to a stop at a T-section at the end of the hallway, looked down both directions, both were dimly lit and empty. 'Gee, Vince... all your money and your bludging on the lighting.'

Turning left he followed the hallway around to yet another hallway, his eyes lighting up at the sight of Kevin Nash, from the sweat gleaming on his person and the small limp in his gait it was obvious he had just finished a match.

"Hey Kev, how'd you fair?"

The bigger man smirked. "Kicked Triple H's arse from one side of the ring to the other."

"Pfft!" Chris waved the other man's words off with a puff of expelled air. "Been there, done that. Sick of doing it over and over again."

Kevin chuckled. "Still your same cocky self I see."

"In the flesh..." Chris grinned back, "and tell me, how did you escape the clutches of Mrs Helmsley and her beloved steel chair, hmmm?"

"Simple," Kevin shrugged as he took a few steps backwards away from Jericho. "She wasn't there." he added with a wave before turning to disappear down the hallway.

"She wasn't there." Chris mimicked as he continued on his path through the hallways of the arena, not really knowing where he was going, telling himself he'd find out once he got there.

**

Stephanie kept her eyes lowered and tried not to jump as the locker room door swung open hitting the back wall with a loud thud before being slammed shut again.

He was muttering incoherently to himself, one of the tell tale signs that tonight would play out like all the other times he had lost a match... and even some of the times he had won.

Before she knew what was happening he had her yanked up by the hair, his face so close to hers she could feel spittle rain down on her as the crude words started to flow from his mouth.

"Skank! Useless whore! Good for nothing lazy fat bitch!"

After a minute or two she stopped hearing his cruel words and only felt the pain as his hand continually struck out at her with each muttered expletive, until she found herself on the ground with her arms up covering her face.

'This couldn't be it?' she thought, 'his beatings usually lasted longer then this and ended with him burying himself deep inside her.'

Praying that maybe his anger had been sated she chanced a look through her fingers and saw him mere inches away from her, a evil gleam in his eye as he stared back at her.

She tried to back away but he buried his hands in her hair stilling her movements as his tongue lapped out over her cheek and down her neck. Her tears began to fall then, memories of what he would do to her whenever his anger built up into sadistic passion flashed through her mind. She tasted her own blood in she felt her clothes being torn from her, felt his rough hands against her flesh, pulling and twisting.

Her face contorted in her pain as he plundered her again and again and again until she was numb. In her mind she started chanting another prayer... not for him to stop, not even for someone to save her, but for him to finish it once and for all.

She opened her eyes to see him wipe the blood from his hands before he stared down at her, 'Clean yourself up.' he whispered throwing the soiled towel at her. His tone spent his look grave. Only then did she notice it was only his hands that were covered with her blood, yet judging from the pain she felt emanating from her lower region he had viciously raped her, therefore there should have been more of her blood covering his lower body.

She winced not doubting what had been done to her as she tried to pull herself to the other side of the room, as far away from him as she could. The towel still clasped in her hands she carefully laid it across her abdomen, cringing at the amount of blood that still flowed from her. It would be a while before she would have enough strength to get up from her position on the floor, so she just lay there, staring at the trail of blood she had left on the floor, only then seeing the bloodied water bottle Hunter had used on her... in her.

He emerged from the shower not long after, gathered his things and left without so much as a glance in her direction.

Her sobs came then, harsh and pitiful, tears of pain, humiliation and finally tears of joy. Joy that it was over... at least for now.

**

Part Five

**

Chris didn't know why he just didn't go back to the hotel, his match was over, he had no reason to hang around. Christian still had his tag team match with Lance but he had the rest of the un-Americans to cause chaos if the need arose, not to mention he had tweaked his shoulder during his match so it made sense for him to go back to the hotel and get comfy with a nice heating pad and maybe a little ice for later, yet he still remained, walking the hallways looking for someone to bother.

"And here's that someone now," he smiled to himself, whistling as he continued down the hallway towards the man who had just exited his locker room, and then proceeded to feign innocence after purposely walking into the other man.

"Watch where you’re going, Jericho." Hunter barked pulling the door shut firmly behind him.

"I was watching where I was going, didn't they teach you in grade school to look both ways before exiting a room."

Hunter's nostrils flared, his eyes shooting daggers as he stared down at the smaller man and then he scoffed waving his hand as if shooing away a pestering child and turned to carry on down the hallway.

Chris never one to let an opportunity to make mischief pass him by was about to comment on Hunter's loss to draw the man back to his side when a flash from under the door caught his attention, it was almost as if someone had turned the light off from the inside. Now that made no sense at all seeing as the occupant of the room had already left.

Chris turned, looking down the hallway Hunter had just disappeared down, then back at the door. 'Your getting more and more paranoid as your super stardom rise's,' he told himself, his hand reaching for the door handle.

He opened it slowly sticking his head in just a crack to peer around the dark room. He would of left then, just marked it down as 'Vince bludging on the utilities again' if he hadn't of heard the shower turn on.

From what he could see the shower door was closed and again no light shone from beneath the door.

He stepped away from the locker room door and shut it.

"Entry into spooked locker room take two." he said to himself before opening the door once more to listen to see if the shower was still on. It was.

Not bothering with the light he pushed the door open more and walked towards the small bathroom. He pushed the door open a crack and immediately felt the steam from inside brush over him into the coolness of the other room.

He couldn't see anything through the steam and his hand hastily reached for the light switch, flicking it on once his fingers ran over the tiny switch.

What he was met with etched itself into his memory, scolding his mind's eye like the hot water was scolding her skin. She had her back to him, her long hair plastered around her shoulders in sticky clumps, some of it still piled atop her head in a haphazard French twist. Her eyes were closed and her forehead was resting against the tiled wall of the shower. He doubted she even knew he was there.

His eyes took in the blueish discolouration that ripped across her lower back and down her legs, the colour darkening as it disappeared down her buttocks and inner thighs. He gasped at the sight, wondering how she even had the strength to stand before his eyes finally fell to the floor where remnants of blood and water still pooled around her feet. His eyes taking in the bloodied towel and her equally blood drenched clothes.

"Don’t tell."

His head snapped up at her voice, so soft, so sad, he thought he may have imagined it through the haze that was his mind and the sound of running water, but when it came again he couldn't deny the urgent plea in her voice.

"Don’t tell... please don’t tell..."

**

Part Six

**

"Don’t tell... please don’t tell..."

For once in his life Chris Jericho was at a loss for words. His expression one of shock and concern for her, anger and loathing for the one who had done this to her. His mind going back to the night they had met in the elevator, how she had shied away from him and his teasing. How he had seen the ring of bruising around her neck and he silently swore, cursing himself for not seeing it for what it was then and there.

Some how knowing she wasn't going to move from her position in the shower he tentatively moved forward picking up a clean towel from off the heating rack and stepped into the shower behind her, draping the towel over her shoulders before turning the faucet off.

"Please don’t tell..."

Her voice was like that of a scared little girl and he didn't know wether her voice shook from what had happened or if she really were scared that he would tell. And right now he wanted to do more then just tell!

"Shhh... everything is going to be okay." he cooed picking up another towel before leading her into the other room, his mouth falling open in shock once more when he hit the light switch. His eyes seeing the blood, her blood smeared across the floor. 'God what had he done to her?'

The pain on her face as she sat was nearly his undoing, his knuckles turning white as he clenched his hands into fists and had to will himself to relax. What good was he going to be to her if he couldn't even keep hold of his own emotions?

Time would come for him to vent his anger and frustration finding Stephanie like this caused in him, but till then he needed to keep it all in check. He needed her to feel comfortable around him, comfortable enough to never go back to her husband.

**

She moved like clockwork, although slow in progression, she seemed to know exactly which way to angle her body into her clothes, like she had done this countless times before.

The bruising on her navel and inner thighs were the worse, the pain they caused showed on her face as she inched her underwear up over her hips. Slipping her singlet over her head and down over her breasts before unclasping the clip that held her hair in place and running her fingers through her long locks before securing it again in a ponytail, allowing him his first real look at her face.

His hand inadvertently reached for her chin, bringing her head up so he could see her face fully in the light. She kept her eyes lowered but Chris didn't have to look into her eyes to see the bruising down the left side of her cheek or the cut on her lip. He didn't have to look into her eyes to see the self hatred and disgust he knew shone there, it all showed in the way she carried herself. Gone was the self assured cold hearted bitch. Before him now all he saw was someone who needed help but who was too scared to ask for it, too scared to let others in to see that her perfect life was anything but perfect. And he could see that she hated herself for it.

A high pitch squeal fell from her lips and he watched confused as she sprang to her feet. It took him a minute to realise exactly what she was doing and he felt something inside him break when he saw her fall to her knee's with a towel in her hand hastily trying to wipe the blood up from the floor.

"Stephanie... Steph... stop please..." He got down on his hands and knee's and reached for the towel, gently pulling it from her fingers. He saw her shoulders shake, heard the sob that rose to her throat, not knowing what to do as she leaned forward and placed her head in his lap. As if seeking what comfort she could from a man she only knew as her enemy.

"Don’t tell... please don’t tell..." She whispered in between sobs.

Chris's hand found its way to her hair and gently brushing it back away from her face all the time whispering the only words he could think of to sooth her.

"I won’t tell."

**

Part Seven

**

'God she hurt.'

Stephanie groaned as she tried to change her current position on the bed into a less painful one, 'if such a thing even existed.' she thought wincing as she rolled over onto her back.

She heard the scrap of a chair next to her and she inwardly cringed, knowing once she opened her eyes the penitent and remorseful eyes of her husband would stare back at her and she found herself wishing she never had to open her eyes again.

"I know you’re awake."

Her brows furrowed. 'That wasn't the voice of her husband.' slowly she allowed her eyes to open, focusing on the ceiling before darting around the room taking in the unfamiliarity of a room that wasn't hers. She could smell bacon and freshly made bread and she inhaled deeply, her sense's welcoming the wholesome smell of... home?

Stephanie's eyes fell to the many framed magazine covers that littered the walls around her before she finally admitted to herself that this wasn't her hotel room and when her gaze travelled to the window taking in the falling snow outside it finally dawned on her that she wasn't even in the same city!

"Where... where am I?"

Chris noticed that she had still to look at him directly and sighed wondering for the umpteenth time if he had done the right thing in bringing her here.

"Winnipeg."

She felt the tears well up behind her eyelids and cursed her lack of control, she was away from Hunter, she was safe... she should be happy, right? Then why wasn't she?

She rolled over putting her back to him but he just moved around to the other side of the bed.

"Why won’t you look at me?"

Her eyes were squeezed shut, but she was well aware of the intense stare directed at her from the man standing at her bedside, not wanting to look up at him, fearing if she did then this... 'all' this... would be real, 'he' would be real.

"You said you wouldn't tell..."

"And I wont." he answered flatly falling to his knee's beside the bed, "But I didn't agree to let you go back," when she refused to meet his gaze he hooked his thumb under her chin to turn her head towards his. "Which is what you would have done, what you're always done..."

"You don’t understand... he doesn't mean to-"

"Don’t give me that crap!" he cut in harshly glancing towards the closed door before closing his eyes as if mentally counting to ten. "Steph..." he began again more calmly this time, "What he does to you, it's... its inhuman..." Images of how he'd found her flashed through his mind and it took all his will power to not let his feelings show on his face. "Hunter being your husband doesn't give him the right to do that." He trailed his thumb gently over her cheek, feeling the wetness there before running his hand up over the bruise on the side of her face. "How are you feeling?"

She offered him a smile but he could see it was strained, "I hurt..."

'And so will he.' he promised himself before both their heads snapped up at the light knocking that sounded through the door.

"Chris? Chris are you in there?" Came the voice of an elderly lady and Chris's face went stark white.

Stephanie's brow furrowed. "Who is it?" she whispered.

"My mom," he replied with a cheeky grin, "She'll kill me if she finds me in here, I promised her I'd let you rest."

"Your mom? You brought me home to your mom?"

"Of course I did... where else would I bring my wife to be." his grin widened teasingly at her shocked look before he walked over to the window opening it and sticking one of his legs out.

"But... but... I'm already married?" she stumbled to get the words out of her mouth, her head was racing and her face flushed. "Hunter..."

"It's time you stopped protecting Hunter and began worrying about Stephanie," he whispered cringing as the knock sounded through the door again.

"But I'm already married?" she repeated and made to get up only to wince as a sharp pain sliced through her abdomen to disappear down her inner thighs.

"Steph-" he made to climb back in through the window but she waved for him to go as she collapsed back against the pillows. "Just rest, okay? I promise you won’t need to worry about anything else."

The look she sent him was filled with pain and he smiled half heartedly trying to bring at least a glimmer of a smile to her face.

"Don’t look so worried... I've climbed in and out of this window thousands of times and have yet to break somethin- woah!" and then he was gone in a blur of curly blonde locks and denim, a loud thump and muffled oath alerting her of his landing before the door was slowly opened and Stephanie caught her first glimpse of Chris Jericho's mother.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear... I didn't mean to disturb you."

"It's okay, I was awake... please come in..." Stephanie tried to lever herself up onto her elbows, wincing through her smile.

"No, no... you rest... I... I will check back later..." The door was hastily shut again and Stephanie felt the pangs of new tears spring up in her eyes, it was obvious his mother didn't like her... and with good reason. Not only her wedding to Hunter but also her feud with Chris had been broadcasted on every major television station worldwide. His whole family had to know of the history between them! Everyone would look on her as the slut, 'like that’s anything knew,' she scoffed, 'She could handle everything they would say about her... but could she handle everything that would be said about Chris? And what of Hunter?' His mothers reaction to her presence was probably the reaction she could expect from everyone she came into contact with now, everyone except Chris... and only because he knew her

secret.

**

Chris slowly walked around to the back of the house, lazily tossing an old tennis ball from one hand to the next as he went over everything she had said... and not said. He had no doubt that she would try to go back to Hunter at any given opportunity, he had been in this situation before only then it had been his sister so he knew too well the thoughts that were going on inside her head. She would blame herself, telling herself if only she had of been different or done this differently Hunter wouldn't of felt the need to do the things he did to her. That’s what had happened with his sister, she had gone back to her mongrel of a husband and a month later they were all gathered around her one final time at her grave, a blow to her stomach causing internal bleeding had being her cause of death. He had never forgiven himself for not doing something then, maybe if he had she would still be alive today.

He couldn't believe that just last week he had been mocking Hunter and his Shrek of a wife, yet now there past didn't matter to him. Something not only happened to Stephanie in that locker room, something had happened to him as well and there was no way he was going to allow her to go back to that sick, demented son of a bitch!

**

Part Eight

**

"What are you doing?"

Chris looked up innocently from where he stood beside the kitchen sink. "Getting a glass of water." he replied turning the faucet off before bringing the glass to his lips.

"I don’t mean now, I mean upstairs."

Chris choked on his water sending a spray of clear liquid all over the bench top. "Upstairs?"

His mother chuckled as she walked around the counter, opened the fridge and started pulling out veggies to make a salad for lunch. "I'm your mother, I know you better then you know yourself... and then some," she eyed him with the same cheeky blue eyes that stared back at him every morning in the mirror. "But bringing Stephanie McMahon Helmsley home with you and then entering her room after

I told you to let her rest makes me think I don’t know you at all."

"I was worried," he explained sheepishly blushing under his mother's scrutiny. "You saw the state she was in when I brought her here-"

"Yes, I did." his mother cut in sadly. "don’t get me wrong you did the right thing, I'm just worried your the one who's going to be hurt when all this is said and done."

"I've taken a licking before, I can handle it."

"I wasn't talking about physical hurt." she replied the cheekiness lighting her eyes replaced by wisdom. "Here," she said pushing a plate of marinated chicken towards him. "Go get these on the barbi."

Chris dutifully accepted his chore and moved towards the backdoor that would lead him out into the yard all the while her words rolled over and over inside his mind.

He knew she hadn't meant physical hurt and by the look she gave him, she knew he knew but right now he didn't want to delve into the 'whys' of his actions, for now it was enough that he had gotten Stephanie away and any hurt directed at him, physical or emotional be damned because he was going to make sure she stayed away.

**

"Stephanie?"

Hunter roused himself groggily from the floor of his hotel room where he had fallen in his drunken stupor the night before, his eyes burned behind his closed lids as he waited for Stephanie to come.

She didn't.

"Stephanie?" He called again bringing his hand up to rub at his sore eyes before squinting against the glare of the sun that shone through the windows. He looked around the empty room void of any other presence but his own. The roses he had had sent up for her still laid untouched on her side of the bed, the candles burnt down to nothing, the once heated wax now disfigured and hanging off the holder in its cold state. His eyes focused on the tiny alarm clock on the beside table which told him it was well after two in the afternoon and he groaned trying to shake the cobwebs free of his brain.

Even though the hour was growing late Stephanie never left their hotel room after... after he had... 'god,' he thought as horrific detailed images flashed in his mind's eye of what had happened behind the closed door of their locker room. He pulled himself up using the couch to aid him to his feet before staggering towards the bathroom.

"Stephanie?" he called opening the bathroom door to a empty room. He turned, his eyes again falling on the bed and the roses that laid there untouched but he refused to believe Stephanie had not come back to him.

She always came back. Always.

Concern marred his brow as he remembered how he had left her, lying in a pool of her on blood on the locker room floor and it suddenly hit him that maybe Stephanie hadn't made it back to their hotel room because he had gone too far this time.

Reaching for his keys he headed towards the door, his foot connecting with a trash can emptying it of its contents, while ignoring the mass of empty beer bottles on and around the small coffee table as he paused to pull his boots on.

He left the room seconds later with only one thing on his mind.

He had to find Stephanie. He had to find his wife.

**

Part Nine

**

"Stephanie!"

She felt his arms around her waist her guiding her down the stairway moments after he had called her name.

"You shouldn't be up."

"If I lie down anymore your gonna need a crane to get me out of that bed." she grumbled allowing him to lead her out onto the patio and gently push her down into a chair.

He watched as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, a smile lighting her face before her eyes opened again. "The air is so clean and fresh..."

"Yeah," he agreed seating himself across from her before letting his gaze follow hers off into the horizon.

"You are so lucky, Jericho. You have the best of both worlds."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "I do? And call me Chris."

"Well, yeah... you get to come home to this whenever you want," she explained waving her hands out at the view of fresh crisp snow that had fallen earlier, "And, you get to enjoy the ever present sunshine of Tampa, Florida as well."

"Hmmm, I never really thought of it like that. I brought the house mainly so I would have somewhere to hangout when I wanted time to myself while on the road. Sharing a hotel room with another wrestler can start to ware on your nerves after a while." he looked up from his musing to find her smiling at him and he quickly shifted in his seat already feeling the blush start up the back of his neck. "What?"

"I dunno... doesn't it seem weird to you?"

"Sharing a room with another man who farts and snores louder than I do? Yes!" he exclaimed, his eyes twinkling as her laughter rang through the air around them. He was surprised by the sound, light and pleasing, not at all like the whiney, screechy sound that usually came to mind where she was involved.

He found he liked it.

"I don’t mean that," she clutched at her sides and winced as she changed her position on the chair all the while waving at him to sit himself back down as he rose to come to her aid.

He waited until she was comfortable again before asking. "What did you mean?"

"I meant, this, here, you and I..." letting her words trail off and shrugged. "No one is going to believe this you know."

He drummed his fingers on the top of the table thinking of the best way to tell her that 'that' was exactly why he had brought her here.

"Steph," he began reaching across the table to place his hand over the top of both of hers. "We have to talk about what happened."

She pulled her hands from his. "I don’t want to talk about what happened."

"He hurt you, Stephanie."

She shook her head.

"Yes, Stephanie, he hurt you." he got up from his chair and moved around the table until he was crouched down at her side. "He hurt you and if you go back to him, he'll hurt you again."

Her head was lowered and her hands were clasped over her ears. "No, no... stop, please stop..."

Chris wrapped his arms around her, rubbing his hands gently up over her back. His eyes meeting the teary blue depths of his mother's where both mother and son shared the same silent concern.

"Okay, Steph... Okay..." he hooked his finger under her chin and tilted her head up till her eyes locked with his. "But know this, you are safe now. I won’t let him hurt you anymore. I promise."

**

Stephanie couldn't sleep.

She sat at the windowsill, her mind a myriad of questions and emotions concerning the past two days.

'Where was Hunter? Did he know where she was? Was he even worried? What would happen when she went back? Would Chris really keep his promise?' Her mind could come up with no answers for the questions playing around inside her mind, except for the last one. Somehow she knew Chris would keep his promise. She didn't know how she knew this... only that she knew, and yet she couldn't squelch the nagging thought inside her that asked 'would knowing be enough?'

Getting up off the sill she walked to the door and pressed her ear to the wood, turning the handle softly, hearing the light click of the latch being released before pulling the door open. She stepped out into the hallway and slowly made her way through the darkness, down the stairway and into the kitchen.

She passed the fridge and saw the outline of her arm reach up, her hand clasp around the receiver that nestled on the wall and her fingers punch in the all too familiar numbers on the lighted keypad.

The phone rang on and on as she held it to her ear.

"H... Hello?"

His voice sounded groggy and tired as if she had just woken him from sleep.

"Hello?" his voice came again more forceful this time. "Steph?"

Her eyes widened but still no words passed through her lips.

"Steph, baby... is that you? Steph-"

She ended the call.

In a daze her steps took her to the sink where she reached for a glass on the bench and turned on the faucet, listening to the water as it spilled into the sink.

Hunter, darkness, running water...

The kitchen light flicked on.

"Stephanie!"

She looked down at her hands to see them covered in blood, shards of the glass she'd been holding embedded in her fingers.

She felt him beside her, felt her hand in his, watched the concern mar his brow as he examined her fingers.

"I... I'm sorry..."

"Shhh..."

With her free hand she started to reached for the glass pieces. "I'm so clumsy..."

He stilled her hand, bringing it back to her side, wrapping her injured hand in a towel before doing the only thing he knew to let her know she wasn't alone. He wrapped both his arms around her and held her close.

"Its okay, Steph, I'm here with you... every step of the way."

**

Part Ten

**

"Sorry if this is hurting," Chris whispered softly as he hovered over her hand with a pair of tweezers. "It always looks worse then it really is." he continued when she made no reply.

He looked up then and saw her gaze trained on the blood stained towel he had used to wrap her hand in before and he silently cursed himself for not shoving it under the table or something. Memories of the bloodied towels he had seen when he had first happened upon her in the locker room she shared with her husband filled his mind and he swore again knowing it would be having the same effect on Stephanie.

Her hand now sporting a stark white bandage he laid it gently in her lap before getting to his feet, silently going about the task of clearing away the first aid kit, wrapping the towel in a garbage bag before unlocking the back door to toss it in the trash can out back.

Chris sighed as he came back inside and frowned. Stephanie hadn't moved a muscle. He returned to his seat beside her and stared at her curiously before lifting his hand to wave it back and forth in front of her eyes.

Nothing.

Alarmed, his hands gently cupped her shoulders and he began to shake her. "Steph? Steph!"

"She's in shock the poor thing, sometimes our memories can be our worst enemy." came a voice behind him and he half turned in his seat to see his mother standing in the doorway.

"Well, how do we unshock her!" Chris countered letting his hands drop from her shoulders only to clasp her uninjured hand in his, hoping that his touch would in some way snap her out of it.

"She's need's a hospital,"

"No!"

"Chris, think about it. You brought her here four days ago and in all that time has she once mentioned her husband or what he did to her?" He felt his mothers presence behind him, felt her hands on his shoulders, smelt her motherly scent that was a cross between a bakery and fabric softener as she leaned her cheek against his. "She needs professional help, honey you have done all you can. She's fighting a war within herself and its one war she has to battle alone."

"I wont abandon her... not after..." his words trailed off and he lowered his head.

She gently cupped his chin and brought his face up so she could look into his eyes. "You can’t hide her here forever."

"Why cant I?" Chris felt a blush crawl up his neck he couldn't believe he had just said that! He sounded like a ten year old child not a grown man of thirty.

"Because if she doesn't conquer this battle raging inside her, sooner or later she's going to go back."

Chris felt his shoulder's deflate as his mothers words registered in his mind. 'She was right.' he thought, idly rubbing his thumb over the back of Stephanie's hand.

She patted his cheek, her eyes filling with unshed tears at the forlorn look in her son’s eyes.

He heard his mother quietly leave the kitchen, heard her tread lightly up the stairway and moments later a door close. He sat there for a few moments more and just stared at Stephanie as her eyes followed the tiny semi circle his thumb was lazily drawing on her hand.

He wished he were still that seven year old kid who would play wizards and witches in the backyard with his cousins so he could come wave his magic wand and magically make everything right in Stephanie's world.

"She's right you know," Came a small childlike whisper.

Chris sought out her eyes but she kept them trained on his hand as it held hers. "Right about what?" he asked softly, inwardly glad to see her responding to his touch.

"I will go back. I always go back." Her gaze lifted to his then and inside her blue orbs he saw a silent plea for help. "Don’t let me go back, please, Chris, don’t let me go back."

**

AN: /denotes phone conversation/

Part Eleven

**

"Where are we going?"

Chris didn't reply, instead he tightened his hold on her hand while at the same time keeping his floppy hat pulled low over his eyes as he lead her through the crowded airport terminal.

Her free hand still sported a bandage from her little episode in the kitchen of Jericho's family home and she reached up to pull at the puffy winter coat Chris had insisted she wear upon leaving the house. She had argued that it made her look like a marshmallow, but Chris had been extremely adamant and in the end she had given in.

She chewed on her bottom lip as she went over everything that had happened this morning to lead up to this point. She had been awakened by Chris early this morning, so early in fact it was still dark outside and then he had dressed her! Him! She couldn't believe it! All her protests went out the window with one pointed look from him that clearly left no room for discussion. His fashion choices had been in dire need of rethinking but again she was shushed into silence as he proceeded to dress her in baggy jeans, an old hockey jersey, high top way too big sneakers and the marshmallow jacket, which covered her entire body from head to foot and if that wasn't bad enough... it even had a hood!

Then under the cover of darkness he had lead her from her room out to his car and once he had settled her inside and moved around to seat himself in the drivers seat did she notice the two bags sitting on the backseat.

She had remained silent throughout the car ride. What could she say? It was obvious he was taking her back. And she didn't blame him. If she were him, she would take her back and be done with it! Wash her hands completely of a mess that should have stayed between husband and wife.

At the check in gate she stopped and tugged on the hand that held hers and waited for him to acknowledge her little gesture but he did nothing of the sort. He just tightened his hold on her hand and pulled her through the gateway.

He quite obviously was not going to answer her question so with a deep sigh she could only accept that he was indeed taking her back to her husband.

**

/"We're descending now... no she doesn't know a thing... well, I didn't want to go into any details without

you present... hey, that's what friends are for... okay, see you in a few minutes... bye."/

He snapped his mobile shut and breathed a deep sigh.

'Passengers please remain seated until the selt belt sign has switched off. Your luggage will be on travelator 4. On behalf of the airline and crew I would like to thankyou for choosing to travel with us.'

"Steph? Baby, wake up."

"Chris?"

"We’re here."

Her eyes sprang open and she shot up in her seat, her gaze immediately going out the window.

"Now she decides to take in the view." he teased, reaching over to unhook her seat belt.

She turned to him confused. "This isn't Connecticut airport."

He frowned. "Why would I be taking you to Connecticut?"

"I just... we left... and... last night... thought you had enough... I..."

"You thought I was taking you back." he finished for her. She lowered her head from his gaze and he mentally kicked himself for not telling her what he was up too, but with what he had in mind alerting her to his plan would have only allowed her time to think up an excuse not to do it. And that was the last thing he wanted.

She had to have been in constant turmoil all the way here! 'God, how insensitive am I?' He thought his shoulders drooping with the weight of his realisation. "Steph..." He placed his fingers under her chin and tilted her head up till her gaze locked with his. "There is nothing, n-o-t-h-i-n-g..." he emphasized. "... in this world, short of a lobotomy, that would cause me to send you back to that jackass, knowing..." he ran his finger up over her cheek. "... knowing what he does to you."

The tension that hovered over Stephanie's head seemed to dissipate and again he mentally admonished himself for carrying out his plan with no words offered in explanation.

"Then, where are we?" she asked quietly, her gaze once again going back to the window.

He pulled her up after him and stepped back to allow her to precede him down the aisle.

She felt his breath at her neck as he leaned over her shoulder. "Stanford, North Carolina." he whispered effectively shutting off any reply she had by giving her a little push towards the exit door.

It wasn't until they had made there way through customs and stood at the baggage travelator that she spoke again. "Why are we here?"

But she needn't have asked as a female voice broke through to them from the guard rail and she looked up to see a very excited redhead waving to them, no, correction, waving to Chris from the crowd.

"Lita."

**

Part Twelve

**

"Ahhh, Li, it's good to see you." Chris said letting go of Stephanie's hand to catch the redhead as she literally flew into his arms.

"You too. You don’t call, you don’t write, and here I always thought you'd never leave a girl waiting." she shook her head trying to keep her expression serious but one look at the blush creeping up his neck and she burst into giggles.

"I've been busy okay, besides I sent you flowers on your birthday." he reminded her proudly.

"Yes, you did... and I had a rash for a week," she looked over her shoulder to Stephanie as if it was something she did everyday. "Never accept flowers from this guy, his definition of flowers equals potted poison ivy."

"Well, how was I supposed to know." Chris exclaimed, he too turning to focus his gaze on Stephanie. "Beside's, it looked pretty on the picture."

An awkward silence followed as the two woman stared at one another. The redhead's gaze searching and pensive while Stephanie's remained scared and confused as she looked from Chris to Lita, then back again.

Lita pulled back from Chris's embrace and Stephanie instinctively reached for Chris's hand again, Lita's questioning brow shooting up as he reached back.

'She definitely looked a far cry from the woman who strutted her stuff confidently alongside her ass of a

husband.' the redhead thought, her mind taking her back in time on a merry go round of all the cruel and spiteful things Stephanie McMahon had done not only to her but to a lot of her friends. Chris included.

From what Chris had told her, Stephanie's wifely duties had included being a human punching bag, something else besides there gender and love of wrestling that they had in common. No one knew of course, of the dark period she had gone through with Matt and the cruel things he had done to her behind closed doors. Not even Jeff. Unlike Hunter though, Matt had been careful not to mark her by putting too much force behind his blows.

The only reason Chris knew was because he had happened upon her drunken state in a darkened corner of a night club, a gathering of hopeful men surrounding her all vying for her attentions. Luckily for him all she was worried about was who was going to buy her next drink. She hadn't taken too well to him extracting her from her throng of admirer's, as far as she was concerned they kept her glass full and by leaving their presence, she would also be leaving the free alcohol. But once he mentioned a bottle of

Jack Daniel's up in his room adding that it was all hers as long as she came up to his room to get it, her tune had changed so fast it had been her to lead him out of the club. Then once out there she couldn't fathom her left from her right! So Chris quickly took over navigating there way to a taxi before Lita walked into a pole. Or worse. Within minutes a bright yellow cab had deposited them outside there hotel.

Once up in his room, it was over the promised bottle of Jack Daniel's that Lita had spilled the beans of what had been happening between her and Matt. She had even confessed to only being in that club just so she wouldn't have to go back to the room her and Matt shared.

Chris had been patient at best and Lita had found it easy to open up to him, despite her inebriated state. Only when she had cried till she could cry no more did she allow Chris to coax her into a restless slumber.

And as she lay there her eyes swollen and sore, looking up at him through hooded lashes, her expression one hatred, anger and pain, she knew as he sat there and watched her, his thoughts wouldn't be too far off from hers, conjuring up all the different ways he could beat Matt Hardy to a bloody pulp, clean him up, then beat him all over again!

Lita shook her head clearing the thoughts of her past away, that was ancient history, over and done with. She, with the help of Chris had gotten away from Matt without the discomfort of a very ugly scene between all parties, Matt merely shoving her towards Chris with a mumbled, 'Good riddance.'

He had helped her out of a tough situation back then, and now he had come to her for help. No matter her past with Stephanie, Lita knew she wouldn't deny Chris the help he asked.

A smile broke out on her face then and she stepped forward giving Stephanie a friendly hug in greeting, seeing Chris's look of approval and thanks out the corner of her eye.

"Hey Steph," she said when she drew back. "Welcome to my little corner of the world."

**

Part Thirteen

**

Stephanie still wasn't sure why they were here and for the life of her she couldn't believe Lita was being so nice to her. Not one bitter remark had passed between them even though Lita had every right to hate her considering there past, but to anyone who didn't know them, they looked like the best of friends.

Chris had one arm draped around Lita's shoulder's while the other still clasped her hand in its grip. She felt like a third wheel and tried many times while they made there way to Lita's car to extract her hand from his but he wouldn't relinquish his hold, if anything his grip only tightened.

'If Chris had of wanted time alone with his girlfriend, bringing her along had been a bad move.' she grumbled to herself as they reached Lita's little camry.

Lita walked around to the driver’s side, unlocking the car as she did so before slipping behind the wheel.

"Don’t worry," she heard Chris whisper next to her. "Lita's house is only about half an hour's drive from here." he added as if that explained everything. He opened the door for her and she removed the marshmallow she still wore so she could get into the back, her eyes widening as Chris climbed into the back with her, pulling her back against him so that her head rested on his shoulder before Lita drove off.

Her eyes flicked around the interior of the car, looking everywhere but at the rear view mirror in case she caught Lita's gaze on her through the glass. She didn't seem too upset that her boyfriend was currently sitting in the back seat of her car with another woman in his arms. Maybe she had read everything all wrong maybe there was nothing but friendship going on between Chris and Lita. But if that were the case, then why were they here?

She watched and listened to how easily Chris and Lita interacted with each other, it was like they had known each other all their lives and she couldn't help but feel envious. She and Shane had been close once upon a time, but then he grew up and followed in their father's footsteps as greed, money and power overtook him. Something all the males in her life seemed to have in common. All except Chris that is.

But as she really thought about it, she didn't really no that much about him outside of the wrestling circle.

She didn't know what food he liked, what programs he watched on telly or even what his favourite colour was! She knew nothing about him, yet, right now there was no one she trusted more in this world.

And as she continued to watch the other woman in the car, she saw that it was the same for Lita.

**

/"Hey, Shane, it's Hunter... Yeah, yeah, good.... Hey, Stephanie isn't there is she?... She's not... No, no.

Nothing important... she mentioned something about coming to see your mother today that's all, I just wanted to catch her before she returned to the hotel... Yeah, I'm sure... Hey, but if she turns up there, give me a call okay?... Okay, thanks Shane."/

"Damn." He slammed the phone down on the table and lifted his hands to rub at his eyes. "Where are you Steph?" he whispered slowly. "Where the hell are you?"

He walked over to the window and looked down at the people gathered around the hotel's swimming area. 'That's where he should be, not up here hiding from everyone in case they asked why Hunter Hurst Helmsley was without his wife.' What could he say to them? In the past five days he'd already used every excuse under the sun. The show was in a couple of days and if he didn't find her by then, someone was sure to notice her absence. 'Then he'd be screwed.' he thought picking up the first thing he could, which happened to be the TV remote and hurled it across the room. The sound of it smashing against the wall doing little to calm his nerves.

"Bitch."

It'd been hard trying to get information from the crew without letting it slip that he hadn't seen his wife in almost a week. It had been a waste of time of course, nobody knew anything about nothing. Seems he'd done so good a job on Stephanie that she had alienated herself from her family, her friends... and now apparently, from him.

He'd even gone so far as to getting a list of all the people who had gone home for the week. Another dead end he soon realised as the list came back with only one name on it.

Chris Jericho.

He had laughed at that. 'Yeah right, like Stephanie would go off with Chris Jericho. There was no one she hated more then the King of Bling Bling!'

Except maybe... her own husband.

He frowned at his thoughts. Maybe the need to get away from him had spurred her on to seek help from the one person he would least expect. Someone he knew she hated. Someone who hated her just as much in return.

The fact that his thoughts could well turn out to be true had him turning away from the window and stalking back to the phone.

/"Shane... yeah, it's me again... listen, I need a favour..."/

**

Part Fourteen

**

Stephanie walked from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her and moved towards the window of the bedroom Lita had shown her to once they had arrived at her home, waving Chris off with a muffled

'You know where your room is...' as she'd grabbed Stephanie's hand to pull her up the stairway.

That was over two hours ago. Once alone she had tried to sleep but having slept most of the plane ride here she had ended up lying wide eyed staring up at the ceiling.

She had tried not to think what Chris and Lita were doing... she had wanted to give them some time alone or rather just wanted to be away from the happy couple scene they were sure to make. It really was none of her business anyway. She huffed blowing out a spurt of oxygen that lifted the hair of her fringe, sending it up and over then back down to fan her forehead again.

She wondered what Hunter was doing right now, and if she were still there... what would she be doing? She caught her reflection in the mirror hanging on the wall across from her and like a magnet it drew her across the room until she felt it's cold surface on the warm skin of her cheek.

She couldn't remember the last time she had looked at the full length of her body in a mirror. In her mind it had been better not to, thinking, the bruises she was sure to see wouldn't be so bad if she didn't actually see them.

Closing her eyes she slowly allowed the towel to drop, pressing her forehead to the mirror she slowly opened her eye's to stare down at her feet. Her gaze slowly travelling over her ankles and up towards her knee's. 'So far so good.' she thought lifting her gaze higher. It wasn't till about mid thigh that the slight yellow discolouration became visible. Though the swelling had gone and most of the cuts had healed and the pain long since passed, her inner thighs still remained grossly dark and discoloured.

She was surprised at the deepness of the bruise and she turned her body slightly so she could view the back. She saw that the bruise went all the way around although not as dark as the front, her eyes catching the scar that trailed across her back. She remembered lying on her stomach crying while a stranger at an out of the way medical clinic had stitched her up. 'God, what had she done to deserve this.

How can another human being do that to another? How could he do it to her... she had loved him, would have done anything for him... and had on occasion. Why did he do this?'

A sharp knock at the door had her head snapping up with a start and she bent to retrieve the towel she had dropped before, securing it under her arms as Lita walked in carrying a small tray of food.

"Hey," she smiled, setting the tray down on the small table by the bed. "Hungry?"

"Hey." Stephanie smiled back, seating herself on the bed. "I am a bit."

"Good, cause Chris has cooked enough to feed all of Stanford. I have to remember never to let him near a cook top again. That man is utterly dangerous-"

Stephanie looked up, her hand paused in mid-air, a piece of mango which had been on it's way to her mouth wedged between her fingers as the redhead's words trailed off.

Lita's hand moved up to her throat before she pointed awkwardly to Stephanie's shoulder. "D...did he do that?"

Stephanie didn't need to look down to know what Lita was referring to. The image of the scar that started at the top of her shoulder and disappeared into the folds of the bath towel still imprinted on her mind. Unconsciously her hand went to her shoulder as if to try and hide the scar from the other woman's gaze.

'Y... yes." she stuttered, her hunger forgotten. Shame and humiliation written all over her face as she lowered his eyes to the bed covers.

Lita moved from where she stood, coming to sit beside Stephanie she took the other girls hand in hers, squeezing slightly. "It wasn't your fault."

Whatever Stephanie had expected to hear, it wasn't that. She had expected pity, even smugness considering they had never really been on friendly terms.

"It wasn't your fault." she repeated, her voice was no more then a whisper but the look in her eye's gave her words emphasis and Stephanie felt her eye's pool with unshed tears as once again she found herself getting and taking comfort from someone she thought her enemy, but there was also something else she felt, something that she hadn't felt when Chris had comforted her.

Understanding.

Chris had stood in the doorway and watched as Stephanie began to sob uncontrollably, her body heaving with the weight of her emotions. It had taken a lot for him not to go over there and gather her in his arms, he was surprised at the jealousy he felt at Lita having been able to achieve what he could not. 'You brought her here in the hopes of Lita being able to bring her out of herself, of being able to look back on her time with Hunter and dealing with it,' he silently told himself. 'And it looked like the redhead was going to do just that.' Stepping out of the doorway he started back down the hallway to his own room.

**

"Fasten your seatbelt please, the pilot is preparing for landing."

'Winnipeg, Manitoba.' He looked out the window at the first signs of the white capped scenery below, a disgusted look coming to his face. 'Why anyone would want to live here, surrounded more often then not with snow he had no idea.'

Shane had been curious as to why he, Hunter Hurst Helmsley had wanted Chris Jericho's home address, but he had come up with some asinine story about him and Jericho having idea's about working together on a storyline for Raw and that they had decided to work through the finer points together before bringing it up before Vince and the WWE writers. He chuckled as he remembered the look on Shane's face. Envy, pure and unadulterated, envy. His grin widened. 'Was it his fault he had reached a place the boss's son could only dream about?'

"The seat belt sign is now off. Please make your way to the exit and thankyou for choosing to fly with us."

Hunter unclipped his seat belt, grabbed his bag from the overhead compartment and made his way towards the exit. He sent the flight attendant a grin before pausing at the door of the small aircraft to breath in the crisp cold air.

"You better pray I don’t find you here, Stephanie." he whispered to himself, pushing up his collar before making his way down the steps towards the waiting limo.

**

Part Fifteen

**

"Excuse me can I help you with something?"

Hunter snarled before stepping back from the window he was currently standing in front of. 'They had to have a nosey neighbour.'

He thought, his lips curling up in a smile as he turned to face a little old lady in a brightly coloured floral apron and gardening gloves.

"I'm a friend of the Jericho's... I guess they forgot I was coming." He

sent her a smile nobody's grandmother would be able to resist and

watched as she melted.

"Well, I'm afraid nobody's going to be home for a while, usually

around this time the family go up to there summer house in Alberta."

"Oh, darn." Hunter smacked the palm of his hand against his knee.

"And I really wanted to catch up with my good buddy Chris."

She smiled. "Such a nice young man."

Hunter's fists clenched. "Yes." He said between his teeth.

"And so handsome."

He rolled his eyes.

"His mother is very proud of him, with everything he's accomplished.

And with that young lady he brought home with him, maybe now he's thinking of settling down."

Hunter's eyes slanted. "Young lady?"

"Yes, pretty young thing, although I never saw much of her whilst she was here... must be young love."

"You wouldn't happen to know the address of their summer house would you? I would really love to catch up with my good friend,

Chris."

"Yes, I have it at home. But if it's Chris you want you wont be finding him there."

Hunter started to tap his foot in impatience.

"He left a few day's ago with his lady friend. His mother, my good friend and neighbour told me they were off to spend sometime with... oh, I forget her name now... Linda or Lisa..."

"Lita?"

Her eye's brightened in recognition. "Yes, yes. That's it... Lita. Don’t know why I always have trouble remembering it... it's not a very common name."

"No, it's not. Well, thankyou for your time."

"It was my pleasure."

Hunter looked down at his watch as he walked down the footpath towards his rental car. A smug smile coming to his lips as he slid behind the wheel, if he left now, he'd be in Stanford, North

Carolina come morning, then be back in Connecticut by tomorrow night... and he had every intention of making sure his wife went back with him.

Wether she liked it or not.

**

"Steph? Are you awake?"

"Yes."

Chris opened the door slightly his eye's blinking as they adjusted to the lack of light in her room.

"Do you mind if I turn on a light?"

"No."

In the darkness he saw a figure shift in a chair by the window as he walked towards the bed to turn on the bedside lamp.

"Why are you sitting in the dark?"

"I don’t know."

"Come on Steph," He said moving closer to her. "We are friends right?"

She nodded.

"Do you trust me?"

She nodded again.

"Then talk to me Steph," He said, seating himself on the window sill.

"Let me know what's going on in that pretty head of yours."

She lifted her eyes to meet his, her gaze unfocused as if she were unsure of what to do next. Then she sat forward and pulled the top of her robe down over her shoulder, her fingers going over the top of her scar. "He... he didn't make a very clean cut did he?"

He knew how jagged the scar was at the top of her shoulder before it tapered down to her hip in a straight line. The image of it was etched on his mind, teasing his anger to no end.

"I alway's shied away from looking at my body you know, didn't want to see what Hunter did to me... seeing it in my mind over and over again was enough..."

"Steph-"

"I'm marked for the rest of my life," She went on, "Marked with a big 'S' for Stephanie... or Scarred."

Chris kneeled down before her reaching out to pull her robe back up over her shoulder before taking both of her hands in his. "Look at me, Steph." He said. "Look at me sweetheart, and listen to me. It's a scar. That's all. Visible or not, it isn't you. Do you understand that? If you think that's an 'S' on your shoulder right now, then that 'S' stands for Strong and Survivor, because that's what you are. Don’t ever forget that."

Not able to restrain himself any longer he gently pulled her toward him, his arms banding around her shoulder's as she responded to his embrace, her head falling lightly to his shoulder.

"Never forget that, Steph." He whispered, the scent of her shampoo mixed with the scent that was Stephanie filled his nostril's and before he knew what he was doing he had pulled back to cup her cheeks with his hands and then he leaned forward, gently touching his lips to hers.

**

Part Sixteen

**

"You... you kissed me."

Chris sat back on his heels and stared. He could do nothing else. Nothing else was registering within his mind but the fact that he had kissed Stephanie McMahon Helmsley... and liked it!

"I'm... Stephanie... I'm sorry..." He said getting to his feet so he could turn his back on her least she see the longing he felt mirrored there in his eye's. "I... didn't... I mean, I shouldn't have..." He heard a sniffle and chanced a glance at her out the corner of his eye to see she had drawn her knees up, her arm's locked around her leg's and her face hidden in the fold's of her robe.

His hands fisted at his sides in an attempt to stop them from reaching out and taking her in his arm's like he wanted to. Instead he lowered his head and walked to the door, pausing in the threshold to stare sadly back at her.

"I'm sorry." He said again before pulling the door closed behind him.

Stephanie lifted her head then and stared at the closed door. 'Of all the stupid thing's to do, Stephanie...' She silently told herself. Yet, she couldn't doubt the feeling she got whenever he was near. And that kiss just confirmed it. She was in love with Chris Jericho.

The tear's came again then and she hastily plucked a cushion from the window seat to throw it across the room. 'Hadn't she cried enough!'

She had wanted that kiss, had felt herself responding to it at the first touch of his lips on hers. Her body hadn't fully recovered from the hell Hunter had put her through, yet, here she was wanting to give herself to the first man to show her kindness in such a long time. He was her hero. And what does she do? She goes and puts every single name he ever called her over the years to good use.

"I am a bottle feeding trash bag ho."

Getting to her feet she pulled her robe more firmly around her and walked to the door. She had to get away from the four walls of her bedroom, she needed to think and right now her bedroom was the last place she wanted to be. Everything in it now reminded her of Chris and the kiss they had shared. Maybe she'd go out into the backyard she could be alone out there.

Her mind made up she gently eased the door open and slipped through.

**

"I kissed her."

"You what?"

"I kissed her." Chris repeated, turning so that his hip rested against the kitchen bench where he stood as he waited for Lita to finish stacking the dishes in the dishwasher.

She looked thoughtful as she dried her hand's on a dish towel, folding it in half, then in half again, placing it down on top of the bench before she looked up at him. "Are you out of your mind?" She stated simply. "What the hell can you be thinking with- No,

Don’t answer that." She looked pointedly at his crotch.

"I know exactly what you were thinking with."

He folded his arms across his chest his eye's rolling heavenward as she continued. "She is Stephanie McMahon 'Helmsley', the wife of the most hated man in the WWE, the daughter of the man who had his own wife drugged up and then institutionalised! A woman who you spent the best part of two year's calling a bottom feeding trash bag ho!"

She started to pace the floor space in front of him as she allowed her mind to carry her away. "I knew this would happen." She said turning to point her finger at him. "I did. I knew the moment I saw you at the airport that you were in way over your head."

"Lita, it was just a kiss-"

"Yeah, but where would it have ended, huh? Answer me that."

"I wanted to take her mind off her scar-"

"By kissing her!"

"Yes, by kissing her and I would do it again." He whispered heatedly. "Li... I think I-"

"I don’t want to know what you think right now." Lita cut him off readily. "Have you forgotten that she's still married?"

His nostril's flared at her words. "I haven't forgotten."

"Then leave her alone! Be the good Samaritan, that part of your nature I understand, but please, Chris, listen to me when I say, end this infatuation that you have with Stephanie and end it now. You'll only end up getting hurt if you don’t."

He could offer no response to her words because he had none. It wasn't that long ago he was having the same conversation with his mother. It seemed she and Lita shared the same view's, but he knew deep down that this feeling he felt for Stephanie was more then just an infatuation, and in time the whole world would come to know it.

**

Stephanie moved back down the hallway, away from the kitchen and back up the stair's to her bedroom. She had planned to go through the kitchen and out to the back porch but Lita's words had stopped her in her tracks.

'End this infatuation that you have with Stephanie and end it now. You'll only end up getting hurt if you don’t.'

Feeling the weight of the wall's closing in on her again, she crossed the room till she was once again by the window, the light from the bedside lamp Chris had turned on casting eerie shadow's on the white painted wall as she passed.

"You'll only end up getting 'him' hurt..." She whispered to herself as she stared out the window.

Unlatching the lock she stuck her head out and breathed deeply of the cool night air, oblivious to the man who sat in a rental car across the street.

**

Hunter rolled down the window just enough for his eye's to lock on to the figure of the woman who stood at the open window, a sadistic smiling turning up the corner's of his mouth.

"Ah..." He whispered into the wind. "There she is..."

**

AN: Warning: Physical abuse.

Part Seventeen

**

"You’re up early."

Lita lifted her head from her coffee cup to see a sleepy

Chris clad in only pyjama bottom's standing in her kitchen doorway. She watched as he yawned loudly and stretched, scratching his chest as he moved towards her.

"What you got there?" He asked, his eye's squinting as he tried to focus on the notepad sitting next to her cup. She held it up and faced it to him so he could see it more clearly.

"Egg's, bacon, milk, bread..." He said, reading the first few item's Lita had listed before sinking down in the chair across from her. "Does this mean we're out of food?"

"Not entirely," Lita replied leaning over to open the fridge. "There's a stick of celery and a half eaten piece of pizza."

He sighed as he stared at the content's of her fridge expectantly. "Dib's on the pizza!"

"Not on your life, buster!" She said squatting his hand away as he reached for the slice.

"Aw, Li, come on, I'm starving."

"Good, then the sooner you go the sooner you can eat."

His mouth fell open. "You mean 'I' have to go?"

"If you want to eat I'm thinking, YES."

He tried his puppy dog expression and even managed a quiver in his bottom lip, but she was having none of it.

"Beside's," She continued, "I thought maybe Steph might want to talk, you know... girl stuff..."

His mouth pursed in a perfect little 'O' before he again looked down at the list.

"Fine," He grumbled taking the list from her finger's and getting to his feet. "I'm going, but I want you to know I will not enjoy one minute of it."

"You don’t have to enjoy it," Lita said smiling at him as he paused to look back at her. "You just have to bring us some food."

**

Chris hadn't even been gone two minute's when the door bell rang. Lita walked to the entrance hall and looked out the side window to see her car still in the driveway. Shaking her head she pulled the door open. "Now what did you for-" But that was as far as she got as she felt herself being shoved back so hard she ended up on her butt staring up at the huge figure of a man who now stood in her doorway.

"Hunter."

"Hello, Lita." He said loving the rush of power he got at seeing the redhead cower before him on the floor. "I believe you have something that belongs to me."

"She doesn't belong to you!" Lita spat back, "She's not your possession. She's your wife!"

Hunter shrugged. "Wife, possession... it's all the same thing."

"Where's Chris?" She asked fearing the worse.

"Oh, he mustn't of gotten enough sleep last night, but don’t worry, he's getting all the rest he need's now."

"You bastard!"

He stepped through the doorway then and smiled. "Don’t worry, Lita, I promise he'll not interrupt us." He said closing the door behind him before advancing towards her.

"Leave her alone!"

Both Hunter and Lita looked up to see Stephanie standing at the top of the stairs.

"Stephanie, baby, there you are. I've come to take you home."

"She's not going anywhere with yo-"

Hunter stopped Lita's outburst with the back of his hand. "If you don’t mind, I was talking to my wife." He sneered down at her before once again turning his eyes up to Stephanie. "Baby, I'm sorry you had to see that, you know how I get when other's interfere in our business. Please, baby, all you have to do is come back with me and we'll forget all about this."

"Steph, don’t listen to him. He's done something to Chri-"

"I said shut up!" Hunter bellowed and Lita gave a sharp cry of pain as his booted foot found its way to her mid-section.

"Stop it! Stop, Hunter, please! I'll come back!" Tear's welled up in her eyes at hearing the word's that fell from her mouth, but she had no choice. She couldn't let Hunter do to Lita, what he had done to her.

Walking down the stair's her eye's fell on Lita, a silent apology lurking in there depth's as she stepped over the redhead and reached out to place her hand in the one Hunter held out to her.

"I'll come back." She repeated, her gaze locking with his.

"That's my girl," Hunter said placing his fingers under her chin and forcing her to look down at Lita. "But, just so you don’t get any ideas of doing something like this in the future. Here's what will happen if you ever leave me again."

Stephanie gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth as he lifted his foot again and brought it down across Lita's cheek, the redhead's neck snapping back from the force before her head lolled to the side and her body lay slumped against the wall.

Stephanie could only send up a silent prayer that Lita would be alright as Hunter led her towards his car, opening the passenger door he pushed her down into the seat. Only as he walked around to the driver's side of the car did she see the unconscious form of Chris lying face down by the side of the house.

Tear's blurred her vision as Hunter drove off down the quiet Stanford street.

**

Part Eighteen

**

Her neck was stiff and even with the added comfort of her palm moving in slow circles at it's base, it still felt like it supported a bowling ball in the guise of her head. With the help of the side table, Lita pulled herself up, her leg's wobbly and her head throbbing, she harshly pushed her fingers to her temple's trying to still the spin cycle getting to her feet had caused.

Tentatively she opened her eye's knowing the first thing she would see was her reflection in the mirror that hung on the wall above the side table. She didn't flinch or raise her hand to the dark bruising that had already formed its ugly mark down one side of her face, instead she turned her head to admire his handy work. 'How was it men knew exactly where to hit a woman to make it look like they had been hit by a train?'

Matt had always been careful not to mark her, or at least not noticeably. He hadn't had the balls to face Jeff, not wanting his younger brother to know that the brother he idolised was nothing but a coward who got his kicks by abusing his girlfriend. Yet, Hunter had, and with no hint of compassion or regret. It was like it had been drilled into him that striking out at a woman, wether it be his wife or not...was okay.

In her mind she saw Stephanie standing at the top of the stairs, her voice clear and unusually calm as she told Hunter she would leave with him. It was at that moment that Lita had gained a new found respect for the Billion Dollar Princess. Walking down those stairs and placing her hand, her 'life' back into the hand's of her husband had to be the hardest thing Stephanie had ever had to do, knowing what she would be going back to, yet she had done it, to protect her, to protect Chris- "Oh my god! Chris!"

Ignoring the dull throb that still pounded away at her temples, she pushed herself away from the side table and groped her way along the wall towards the front door.

"Chris?" She called shakily, almost afraid of what she might find. "Chris?" She made her way towards her car, leaning down to look through the window she saw her key's still in the ignition and the shopping list she had written earlier along with his mobile phone sitting on the passenger seat.

"Chris!" She called again, walking around the car to the side of the house. And there she saw him lying face down a few feet away. "No, Chris..." she whispered brokenly, a few quick steps and she was on her knee's at his side. Tear's fell from her eyes as she carefully pulled his blonde hair back from around his neck so she could feel for a pulse. Her eye's closing as she whispered a silent prayer of thanks when beneath her fingers she felt the steady rhythm that told her, he was still alive.

Getting to her feet she stumbled back to the car to retrieve his mobile phone. "Your gonna be okay, Chris," she whispered as she punched in the emergency number. "You have to be, Stephanie may need you now more then ever."

**

She didn't cry. She didn't scream. She just simply lay there, her body inert, her mind blank, distancing herself from what was happening as he grunted and groaned above her. He had wasted little time in inflicting his mark upon her again. Her body, which had begun to get back to one all over colour was now showing signs of ugly purple and yellow blotches. Her left eye was swollen shut and her lip was still bleeding, a wound she had inflicted upon herself as her teeth had sunk into it as she tried to block out the feeling of

Hunter as he'd entered her.

"This is my life." she thought, her eye's wide and still dry of tears stared unseeingly up at the ceiling. "Chris and Lita are safe... and this is my life."

**

Part Nineteen

**

"Chris? What are you doing?"

Lita stood with her arm's folded at the foot of his bed and watched as he finished tucking his T-shirt into the waistband of his jeans.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked not looking up from his task.

"It looks like you're getting ready to leave the hospital."

"No. Really? What gave it away?" he scoffed, his eyes darting around the room as he searched for his shoes.

"Chris, you were unconscious for 6 hours straight."

"6 hours wasted." he grumbled under his breath from where he crouched over a chair, his foot up on the seat so he could tie his shoe lace. "6 long hours..." he breathed again, tightening the knot on his lace before dropping his foot to the floor. "Who knows what he's done to her."

Lita watched him lift his other foot onto the seat and began tying his other lace, the light thin straps slipping from his fingers as he fumbled with the knot.

"Damnit!" he cursed in frustration stepping away from the chair, only to kick out at it a second later sending it sailing into the wall. Turning his head away from the redhead in case she see just how much of a strain his angry outburst had caused. "I promised her she would never have to go back to him, that he would never hurt her again."

He felt Lita's presence behind him and even though he wanted to take comfort in the hand she had placed on his shoulder he found he couldn't. He found the only action his hands wanted to do was squeeze as mental pictures of his bare hands choking the life out of Hunter Hurst Helmsley filled his mind.

'She trusted you.' his subconscious told him. 'She believed in you.'

As if reading his thoughts, Lita stepped around him so that she was able to look him straight in the face, her eyes full of concern as they stared back into his.

"I should've been more alert to what was going on in the outside world. I mean one quick phone call to Christian and I would've known that Hunter wasn't on the road with them."

"I know you Chris, you wouldn't have risked Stephanie's safety if word got around that you were asking questions about Triple H and his wife, don’t get me wrong, I love the guy as much as the next person but even you have to admit he's got one of the biggest mouths in the business."

The glimmer of a smile shone in his eyes, but it didn't stay long. "Yeah, well, didn't stop Hunter from finding out anyhow." Chris sighed, seating himself at the end of the bed. "I'm sorry you got hurt in all this." He said softly reaching up to lightly touch the bruise that marred her cheek.

"Eh, I've had worse," Lita shrugged off his concern. "I'm more worried about Stephanie you know I could be looking a lot worse had she not appeared at the top of the stairs. I can remember a time when she would've laughed at Hunter booting into me like he did."

Chris nodded, knowing that the old Stephanie McMahon Helmsley would have indeed enjoyed seeing Lita writhing in pain all bloodied and beaten. And if'n it had been him, hell, the old Stephanie McMahon Helmsley would have gotten down on her hand's and knee's and praised the god's!

"But she didn't Chris," the redhead continued. "She helped us the only way she knew how. She went back. That alone took a lot of guts."

"She really is something, isn't she?" Chris said after a moment of silence.

"She's the strongest person I know." Lita replied reaching out to squeeze his hand. "Now, do you think you can indulge the nurse's just this once and lie back down on the bed?"

Chris looked from Lita to the doorway where two of the nursing staff stood waiting for his reply. He smiled at them before turning back to face Lita, his expression changing to one of determined resolve before he curtly replied.

"No."

**

Part Twenty One

**

He had to focus.

If this night ended how he wanted it to he had to be one step ahead of Triple H all the way. And that meant he had to put aside the need he had to rush over to Stephanie and check for himself that she was real. That she was here.

She looked so fragile, so alone, so scared. He felt his heart clench up and then a hand touched his arm.

“Easy Chris,”

He shut his eyes at the sound of Lita’s voice behind him, her calm easy tone bringing him back down to earth.

“She’ll be fine, just stick to the plan.”

He sighed heavily and turned his back on the couple, Hunter now stood poised on the top of the steel steps watching him, while Stephanie remained on the outside, her head bowed and her eyes to the floor.

Lita was right, he needed to suck it up and stick to the plan.

Nodding for Lita to climb down off the apron he turned to face his opponent and raised the microphone he’d been holding to his mouth.

“Are you a gambling man Hunter?” he asked simply.

“Usually,” Hunter replied after he was handed a second microphone. “But you see, there’s nothing of ‘yours’ I want.” He said smirking in Lita’s direction. “Besides, if you had of been paying attention as I made my entrance you would have heard that this is a non-title match.”

Chris grinned and absently rubbed his chin.

“Oh, I heard alright Junior,” the grin left his face leaving in its

place a look of serious determination. “But it’s not your title I want.”

Confusion loomed about the arena, but Chris paid it no heed as his eyes once again fell to the woman standing meekly on the mat outside the ring.

“I want Stephanie.”

Hunter laughed and leaned back on the ropes with a smug expression on his face, his title belt slung protectively over his shoulder.

The sight made Jericho sick.

He continued to watch as Hunter glared out at the crowd as they began to cheer and shout in both disapproval and encouragement.

“I totally agree with you,” Hunter addressed the crowd turning there reaction around to his liking even as his eyes stayed trained on Jericho. “You’ve been lusting after my wife for the best part of two years, haven’t you Jericho. The entire name calling and feuding era was just a ruse, pretence to keep your pathetic little self in her life.”

Chris remained silent and the booing was over taken with a ‘Y2J’ chant.

“You sure that’s what you want?” Hunter continued lifting his hand to wave in his wife’s direction.

Chris’s response was to hand the microphone he held through the ropes to Lita before motioning for the referee to start the match.

Hunter shook his head and relinquished his own microphone.

“You dumb fuck.” He sneered across the ring. “You should have gone after the title.”

Chris was ready for Hunter as he advanced, it was all on now, he had to focus and stay focused no matter what. His future, Stephanie’s future, ‘their’ future together depended on the outcome of this match.

**

Lita watched from the outside as Chris and Hunter locked up, parted, and then locked up again before the latter of the two forced his opponent into a corner. The referee was there instantly to break up the two men, but not before Hunter got in a cheap slap to Chris’s face.

He then turned to smirk down at her again and she responded with a glare, her fingers itched, wanting nothing more then to scratch that smirk right off his face.

The two men locked up again and Lita allowed her gaze to shoot across to where Stephanie still stood.

God only knew what was going through Stephanie’s mind right now, her head still lowered, her teeth nibbling anxiously on the finger nails of one hand while the other was wrapped protectively around her middle. To Lita it seemed that Stephanie was off in her own little world and from what was going on inside the ring, Lita didn’t blame the other woman for retreating.

Lita had been so focused on Stephanie that she hadn’t realised Hunter had gotten the upper hand on Chris inside the ring and gasped when she saw the blood that gushed from a cut on Chris’s head just below his hairline from having his head rammed repeatedly into an exposed turnbuckle.

She watched as Hunter turned to his wife and started making his way towards her and pointed towards Jericho who was trying to right himself with the help of the ropes.

Lita could barely hear the words he shouted down at Stephanie over the roar of the crowd, but whatever they were by the way Stephanie’s hands flew up to cover her ears left Lita in no doubt of the context.

She saw Hunter point to a steel chair and yelled for Stephanie to fetch it, she hesitated, her eyes darting to Chris who was now up on one foot.

The crowd seemed to pick up on Stephanie’s reluctance and started to chant her name, which only infuriated Hunter more and before Lita knew what was happening he had grabbed his wife by the hair and proceeded to pull her up onto the apron.

“Chris!” Lita yelled jumping up onto the apron herself, but Chris had already heard Stephanie’s cries and had made his way across to where the other man stood slouched over the ropes to deliver a kick to Hunters side. The force of his kick causing the other man to release the hold he had on his wife and Lita dropped back down to the floor to make her way over to her friend.

Chris saw this and silently thanked the red head, but out of the corner of his eye he also saw Hunter take another swipe at Stephanie through the ropes and something inside him snapped.

He charged off the ropes hitting the other man with a cross body, Hunters grunt as all the air was knocked out of him bringing a satisfying smile to Chris’s face.

But as he straddled the other mans chest, his hand at Hunters neck holding him in place, that smile left his face for in his mind he didn’t see Hunter Hurst Helmsley anymore, he saw the sad face of his sister as she left his mothers house to return to her husband for the last time. He saw a drunken Lita confessing to being too scared to go back to the room she shared with Matt and above all he saw Stephanie that first time he had happened upon her in that locker room and his rage tumbled over into no mans land as his fist came down repeatedly on the head of Triple H.

**

“Jericho! Jericho!”

The sound of someone yelling his name was a mere irritation in his mind as his fist continually connected with its intended target, not caring of the other mans blood that now covered his fist and splattered his chest.

He felt more then saw the presence of others behind him, but shrugged off there attempts to pull him back and only when Christian and Rob hooked there arms up under his and someone else wrapped there arms around his waist were they able to pull him back.

They continued to hold him back, Christian and Rob forcing him back into a corner before placing themselves physically in front of him to make sure he stayed put.

EMT’s arrived and Hunters body was rolled onto a stretcher and had been wheeled halfway up the ramp when Chris realised that Stephanie followed obediently behind the stretcher.

“Stephanie! Stephanie!” he called pushing his tag team partner out of the way, so he could slip through there hold.

“Stephanie!” he called again coming to a stop at the ropes where Lilian handed him a microphone. “Stephanie please,” His hands poised on the top rope and waited as the EMT’s stopped and for the first time since coming down to the ring Stephanie lifted her gaze to meet his.

She saw him smile through the hair and blood as it matted in chunks around his face.

“Don’t go,” he said simply into the microphone.

Those two words finding there mark within Stephanie’s chest and the tearsshe’d been holding back slipped forth.

He thought this could end, that he could just show up and everything would be alright, but deep down she knew it wouldn’t be. Hunter would still be a factor in her life wether she left him or not and by staying with him as his wife she’d be keeping others safe. Others like Lita… and others like Chris.

She would never be free of Hunter, he’d proved that when he showed up on Lita’s door step and kicked the hell out of the red head all because ‘she’ had dared to leave him.

‘No,’ she told herself. ‘The only way I’ll truly be free of Hunter is when one of us dies.’

Turning away from the ring she nodded to the EMT’s to continue up the ramp and without another look back at the man still standing inside the ring, she followed them.

Chris’s expression fell and he shrugged off the comforting hand Lita had laid upon his shoulder before turning his back on them all.

She was choosing to stay with Hunter. ‘HAD’ chosen to stay with Hunter. He knew he couldn’t help her unless she was willing to help herself and that thought alone made him want to carry her off yet again just to shake some friggin sense into her.

He tried to keep his gaze away from the group still making there way up the ramp, but it seemed even his ‘will’ was not his own tonight.

He lifted his eyes and caught them just about to disappear through the curtain and his gaze settled on Hunter to see the other man lift his head from the stretcher.

Jericho’s fists clenched when their gazes locked and a smug expression appeared on the World Champions face.

And then they were gone.

**

Part Twenty Two

**

He walked into his locker room and drew lowered himself down on the bench next to his bag.

She had stayed.

He had presented her with the perfect opportunity to get out and she had stayed.

‘SHE HAD STAYED!’

He reached for his bag with the intention of getting out his street clothes when instead it went flying across the room, the sound of it hitting the wall doing little to calm the rage and the hurt that boiled beneath the surface.

He hated Hunter Hurst Helmsley more then he ever thought possible, he hated Stephanie for choosing to stay with Helmsley – he stopped his line of thought right then and there and allowed his head to fall to his hands.

‘No he didn’t, he didn’t hate her at all.’

He heard the door open, but he didn’t lift his head to acknowledge whoever had entered as his mind went over everything that had happened tonight.

‘He hated the crowd for raising his hopes with there cheers, he hated

Christian and Rob for pulling him off of Hunter, he hated-‘

“Chris?”

He looked up at the sound of Lita’s voice.

“Not now, Lita.” He replied dropping his head again.

‘He hated the EMT’s for coming down to ringside, he hated the referee for calling the EMT’s down to ringside-‘

“Chris,” she whispered again quietly.

He felt her hand this time on his back as she lowered herself next to him and rested her chin on his shoulder.

‘He hated LIta…’ his mind continued ignoring her show of friendship. ‘…for offering comfort when all he wanted to do was go get a drunk, but most of all he hated himself for feeling this way.

She ran her hand through his hair, brushing it back behind his ear so she could see his face.

“You know, we could stop by that Mexican place we saw on the way here…” Lita began feeling the need to say something. “…pick up some food… Christian, Trish and Rob said they’d stop by… it’s been a long time since we’ve had a night with all of us together…”

Lita’s words trailed off as Chris held up his hand to silence her.

“I know what you’re trying to do Li and I appreciate it, really I do… but right now all I want to do is find a quiet little bar somewhere and get drunk.”

“I’m flexible,” she said getting to her feet. “Whatever you wanna do is fine.”

He got up and walked over to where he had thrown his bag and scooped it up in his hand and flinging it over his shoulder.

She moved to follow him through the door when he stopped her.

“I meant alone.”

“Oh,”

He lifted his hand to cup her chin bringing her eyes up to meet his.

“Don’t worry about me okay, I just need to be alone.”

She nodded in understanding.

“Okay,” she whispered as the door closed behind him.

**

Stephanie tried to peer out the car window into the darkness, but could see nothing that resembled what they had passed on there way to the arena. She wanted to ask Hunter where there driver was taking them, yet her lips stayed firmly shut and her gaze looked for anything except the man seated across from her to focus on.

He had come away from Jericho’s rage with 6 stitches in his brow and a swollen lip, painkillers and a good night’s sleep were prescribed so she knew he wasn’t that badly hurt and she couldn’t help but hope Jericho hadn’t feared as much as Hunter had in the injury department.

She felt bad for him having gone through that for her, but in the long run her decision would benefit them all.

The car stopped and as soon as the driver had opened her door the sound of waves breaking against the shore and the tangy taste of salt in the air assaulted her senses.

“I took the liberty of having out stuff moved to a different hotel, I had a feeling you wouldn’t want to be in the same hotel as Jericho, especially after tonight.”

Her eyes fell to the ground in front of her and her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

She should have known he would turn this all around to ‘his’ liking, which meant the blame got shifted to ‘anyone’ and ‘everyone’ but him.

The driver carried Hunters bags up to the door of the little beach house then with a practiced ‘Will there be anything else Mr Helmsley’ he was gone… and so was Hunters loving act.

As soon as the door opened her head connected with the wall, his hand forcing the side of her face into the panelled surface with his elbow.

“You did the right thing tonight, Steph,” he whispered into her ear. “You do know what I would have done had you gone to him, right?”

She nodded her tears slipping down her cheeks and into her mouth.

“You belong to me Steph, no one is ever going to take you from me.” He said pulling her head back by her hair before slamming it back into the wall.

He released her then and watched as she crumpled to the floor. Looking around him he reached out and picked up a vase of flowers that had been sitting on a side table, bringing the flowers to his nose and inhaling deeply of there scent before letting the vase fall from his fingers to the floor beside her, her hands coming up to protect her face as shards of glass flew this way and that.

Grabbing his bag he walked towards the bedroom pausing in the threshold to stare over his shoulder at her.

“I’m going to have a shower, I want ‘that’” he waved to the broken vase, “cleaned up.”

Stephanie drew herself up to her knees and nodded to her husband before he closed the door.

With her head throbbing and the side of her face already starting to swell she cleaned up the mess, her movements jerky and slow.

A corner of the couch was wet from the water inside the vase so she opened the French doors that led out to the ocean to let the cool breeze in to help dry the wet patch and the smell of the sea filled her senses again.

She could see the white tipped waves as they rushed up to meet the shore only to roll back out to sea again before making that same trek back up to shore, almost as if the waves were grasping for something that was sitting just beyond it’s reach.

Before she knew what she was doing she had stepped out onto the balcony and down the stairs till she felt the shift of the sand beneath her.

She walked closer to the water and watched those waves rush closer and closer to her. Slipping her shoes off she allowed the water to rush up over her toes, felt the pull as the water rushed back out to sea and for the first time since Hunter had taken her from Lita’s house in Sanford, NC, she smiled.

**

Epilogue

**

It was a bright sunny afternoon, one of the warmest days they had had yet and it was on this day that the McMahon family had put aside all there differences to huddle together for the first time in a long time to farewell one of there own.

Others had gathered also, Christian and Trish stood hand in hand, Rob stood next to them with his arm wrapped gently around Lita’s shoulders, other wrestlers young and old from both Smack Down and Raw had all gathered on this day to pay there respects.

All except one - Hunter Hurst Helmsley.

It had been a week since any of them had seen him and over two weeks since a journal dating back to before there wedding, written in Stephanie’s hand had been found in a secret compartment of her travel bag. And within its latter pages she had described in graphic detail her life as Mrs Stephanie McMahon Helmsley. And over 3 weeks since any of them had last seen Stephanie herself.

Chris didn’t know how long he stood there staring at the plaque that had been unveiled in memory of the youngest McMahon when after a 6 day long search by sea and air had failed to find her body. A pair of shoes identified as belonging to Stephanie was the only item recovered.

He had refused to believe it at first, his mind telling him that it couldn’t be her, it couldn’t be Stephanie, but as the days wore on and still no sign of her alive or otherwise he had had no choice but to accept that she was really gone, at least in body.

One by one family and friends departed, yet still he stayed rooted to the spot until he was the only one who remained and only then did he speak.

“I’m sorry Steph,” he said brokenly. “I’m sorry you felt ‘this’ the only option left for you. I’m sorry for how I treated you before I got to know you, I’m sorry for all the names I ever called you, for condemning you merely because you were a McMahon. But there’s one thing I’m not sorry for, Steph, I’m not sorry for loving you, for falling in love with you.”

He fell to his knees his fingers running over the words that were etched into the stone.

**Stephanie Marie Helmsley – Here in spirit**

“And deep down,” he continued. “I think you loved me too… even though you never said it.”

Placing his fingers to his lips then back to her name etched into the stone he got to his feet and slowly made his way to where Lita and Rob waited by the car.

A lone figure stepped out from there hiding place and watched as the car drove off before taking the place Chris had vacated in front of the memorial.

A lock of long brown hair slipped free from the hat that held it in place before a hastily lifted hand tucked it back inside.

“She does love you Chris,” the figure whispered in the now empty cemetery. “She does and always will love you.”

**

End – Just Another Statistic

**

AN: I know some readers may not like how I ended this, but to me this fic has never been a happy one and so ending it how I did just seemed to fit. Thankyou all for your continued support, feedback, patience and tears whilst writing this one. PK

Back to Paulena's page