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*October 2003*

The man pressed his hands together, rubbing them excitedly. He'd waited so long for the moment that would be coming up so soon - far too long. He smiled at the woman in the room with him.

"That excited, huh?"

"Oh, you don't know the half of it, babe," he replied. He could hardly wait to go out there and carry out the little plan they had devised together. It was their intent to destroy... And when all was said and done, he would relish every last bit of it, every last moment.

"I'll be waitingright back here for you - watching," the woman assured him, a smile coming to her face.

"I know you will," he replied. He wished he had more time back here, because if he had, he would have jumped her. "And when I get back here... Well, you *know* what I'm gonna do to you."

She squealed, her eyes lighting up like twin lanterns. He excited her like no other man ever could.

"That sounds marvelous... Good luck out there!"

The man winked at the woman.

"It'll all work like a charm. Hey," he continued, half-shrugging, his arrogance completely lost on him, "it always *did*."

*

"Welcome to the Highlight Reel!"

The fans' reaction to Chris Jericho was mixed, as the blond man was a heel, although he'd long been a crowd favorite regardless.

"My guest at this time is a woman who's gone through a lot in the last year and a half. Quite frankly, she's been through hell and back... but she recently returned, and she's my guest tonight! Please welcome... Liiiita!"

The fans' cheers were nearly deafening as Amy bounded her way out from the back. She smiled and gestured to the crowd, acknowledging all the people who truly appreciated her. It felt so unbelievably good. She ran down the ramp and slid into the ring under the bottom rope. In spite of his character on RAW, Chris couldn't help the small smile that came to him as the redhead perched on one of the turnbuckles to acknowledge the fans.

Finally, she climbed down and faced Jericho, the music stopping. The blond man raised the microphone back to his lips.

"Well, Lita, that was quite a welcome all these Jerichoholics gave you!"

This time, there was a mixture of cheers and boos - boos due to Chris' Jerichoholics comment. The man ignored them as he focused his attention solely on the redhead. He started to speak again, to pose some questions, when something suddenly startled them both - another wrestler's theme music.

Amy whipped her head in the direction of the entry ramp, confusion consuming her - among a myriad of other emotions swirling inside of her.

And then, sure enough, he made his way down the ramp and to the ring.

Even Chris seemed astonished. His face donned a frown as he stared at the other man in surprise.

"What are *you* doing here? You're supposed to be on SmackDown... and you're interrupting my show, Junior!"

"Now, Jericho... I'm here for one reason and one reason only... Lita." Matt Hardy turned his gaze back to the shocked redhead. "I know I messed up," he went on. "But I've come to realize I can't live without you. I even switched here to RAW just for *you*." Matt put his right hand out toward her.

Amy laughed sarcastically, but it was short-lived as she grew angry.

"Oh, yeah?" she muttered. Matt could hear her, but the crowd couldn't because she didn't have a microphone. "Oh, so Torrie dumped you?" One corner of her mouth arched up into a sneer.

"I'm done with her... I'm done with *all* other women - except for you." The dark-haired man suddenly lowered to one knee and took hold of the redhead's hand - but Amy snatched it away, disgusted.

"Aww, c'mon... Have a heart."

The diva began shouting at him, in no way interested. Matt was beginning to get irritated, but he wouldn't let it show and instead opted to continue what he was doing. "Lita..."

All of a sudden, they were all surprised as a blur of blond and black appeared as Adam rushed out and slid into the ring. The tall blond man grabbed the Hardy, who leapt to his feet.

The crowd went wild, although confusion lingered due to the fact that Edge was still on the SmackDown roster and still out recovering from his neck injury.

Adam stood toe-to-toe with Matt, his green eyes filled with fury as he growled out some menacing words to the other man.

The redhead and Jericho stood off to the side and merely watched, neither really knowing what to expect. Amy bit her lip, nervous. Adam was not cleared for action yet, so she was terrified of the idea of him getting into a brawl - especially with Matt Hardy. She couldn't be sure exactly what it was, but the dark-haired man uttered something to her boyfriend - and then, in a flash, Adam punched Matt squarely in the mouth. Amy felt about ready to scream, but before the elder Hardy could do anything, the blond man rushed to her, grabbed her hand and hurried her out of the ring.

As they backed up the ramp to the back, hand-in-hand, the redheaded diva was relieved - Matt was not making any attempt to go after them. All she could think was thank goodness for small favors.