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The young woman's eyes widened in terror as she stared up at the crazed monster. The huge man had just made quick work of her tag team partner for the night, Val Venis, as the Canadian had placed himself in front of her in a valiant effort to protect her.
And now, she was left completely alone in the ring, cowering in one corner in the turnbuckles as Kane fixed his strange, scary eyes on her.
Lita's heart seemed to nearly stop its beating as she spotted Matt Hardy still standing at the foot of the entry ramp. He was the only one left in sight, as Gail Kim had fled and Val had been decimated. There seemed to be an odd look in her ex-boyfriend's dark brown eyes, and he stood and stared toward the ring, as though transfixed.
"Matt!!" she screamed, so thoroughly frightened that it didn't even register in her mind that they were enemies now. After that last time he'd broken her heart and had broken up with her, they had definitely not ended on good terms.
The diva continued to cower in the corner of the ring, her eyes now squeezed shut. It was almost as though she thought that if she didn't look, nothing would touch or hurt her - not even Kane.
Then, slowly, her eyes opened again as she heard cheers suddenly issuing from the fans in the crowd. Someone was punching Kane! Matt had decided to help her after all.
But then, as she scrambled away and to another corner, Lita saw that she was wrong. It was not Matt who'd run into the ring to save her after all...
... It was Edge.
Broken hand and all, the blond man pummeled the big red monster, his teeth clenched in his fury. Kane went down, flat on his back, and the Canadian was on him in an instant, fists flying into the huge man's face.
Lita's eyes were wide as she stayed huddled in her corner, one hand pressed to her chest. Her breath was coming in hard and fast as she realized, with startling clarity, that Edge had spared her the agony of becoming Kane's 'sacrifice.'
The tall blond man suddenly bounced off the ropes, spearing the big man down to the canvas and beating the hell out of him all over again. His upper hand was short-lived, however, as the monster was much too strong - and enraged after Edge had won their Backlash match the night before thanks to a shot to the head with the blond man's casted left hand. Kane overpowered his nemesis with his greater strength, then slapped a huge hand to Edge's throat.
Lita held her breath in horror as she witnessed the chokeslam taking place mere feet from her. Although the redhead was relieved that *she* hadn't been the recipient of it, she felt awful that her tall blond savior had been brutalized. In fact, she felt responsible for it... And she felt downright guilty.
With Edge taken care of, Kane squeezed his eyes shut, his huge arms raising and then dropping swiftly. The redhead nearly jumped out of her skin as the fire started, the flames raging up out of the four ring posts.
She held her hands over her ears against the nearly deafening noise, eyes darting from the retreating monster to Edge's crumpled form. She crawled over to the blond man, concern flooding through her as she gazed down at him.
"Edge..." She pressed a hand gently against his cheek, knowing full well he probably couldn't hear her. Damn it, he'd run out here to rescue her and risked himself - and he still had a Tag Team title shot with Chris Benoit against Ric Flair and Batista coming up. If he and Chris lost the match because of this... because of *her*...
Lita swallowed hard as several referees finally ran into the ring to assist to the fallen hero. The officials tried to hold her back at first, but she refused them, pushing her way to the tall blond Canadian.
As he got to his feet, Edge seemed almost uncertain as to where he was, his green eyes squeezing shut in a grimace as pain shot through his body. He forced it all down, however, as he caught the gaze of the woman he'd run out to save. Lita's expression looked a combination of fear, uncertainty, worry, and several other emotions as she neared him. She made a slight motion to him, and he understood, then allowed himself to lean on her for some support.
He could hear her speaking his name softly, her voice tinged with
concern as they made their way up the ramp to the back. She
obviously had questions for him, and he intended to answer every one
of them. He just needed to get his bearings first.