______________________________________________________
A feeling of extreme satisfaction overtook him as he returned to gorilla position. He'd done it, exactly what he'd set out to do going into Backlash. He'd done what most probably thought the impossible - Edge had defeated Kane.
The tall blond man glanced down at the red cast on his broken left hand. He'd used it in the match when referee Earl Hebner had briefly scurried from the ring. Screw Eric Bischoff and his so-called 'stipulations.' The official hadn't seen a damn thing, so he was in the clear.
At the moment, Edge wasn't concerned with the repercussions - or possible repercussions - he would most likely face tomorrow night on RAW. Instead, a certain someone - a certain *diva* was on his mind, and he had to make sure she was all right.
He didn't have to go very far. The women's locker room was a mere few feet away as he continued strolling down the arena hallway. He held his breath as he knocked on the door, his anticipation great. Since his return from his lengthy neck injury, he hadn't really seen the diva much - something he regretted. But he wasn't sure how she would feel...
A pair of surprised brown eyes peered out at him, and he managed a smile.
"Hey, Victoria... How... Are you okay?"
The raven-haired Women's champion was holding a bag of ice against the back of her head.
"Yeah, I'll survive," she replied. "It's gonna take a lot more than a sneak attack by 'Baldy' and her little puppet to keep *me* down..."
Edge blinked and ran a nervous hand through his long golden hair.
"Speaking of which - is Lita around?"
"Yup," Victoria said, turning toward the interior of the room, "she's in here... Come on in." She held the door open more widely for him.
The blond man tentatively entered the locker room, his gaze instantly falling on the redhead. He also took note of the fact that she, Victorial and Lilian Garcia were the only divas still present. His guess was that Trish Stratus was now sharing a locker room with her latest squeeze - his own brother Christian - and that Molly Holly and Gail Kim had fled the arena after their earlier attack on the two other divas.
"Edge..." Lita looked up from where she was sitting, a bag of ice identical to Victoria's in her hand as she moved it from the back of her neck.
The Women's champion eyed the two questioningly, her gaze meeting with that of Lilian's. The blonde ring announcer eyed them as though she held some knowledge the raven-haired woman didn't, then motioned to her with a turn of her head. Victoria got the message, and as the Canadian man steadily approached the redhead, the two women quietly slipped from the room.
"Edge..." Lita repeated as she gazed up at him. He thought he could detect something akin to wariness suddenly veil her hazel eyes. "... what are you doing here?"
The blond man flinched. He certainly hadn't been expecting that kind of reaction from her. Her expression and body language, much like her speech, seemed to grow icier by the moment. He ran his good hand through his hair, clearing his throat as he spoke again.
"I... err... I saw what happened earlier after your match - with Molly and Gail. It looked like they banged you up pretty good there, and-" Edge paused as he craned his neck to try to get a glance at her own surgically-repaired bodypart. "-are you all right, Lita?"
"I'm just fine," she replied, her jaw clenching in her evident displeasure. She rose from her seat on the loveseat and tossed the icepack aside. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to finish up in here and get back to the hotel."
The Canadian stared at her, his heart nearly sinking as he absorbed her very obvious dismissal. She didn't want anything to do with him. He couldn't say he was totally surprised, though. But he'd hoped...
Reluctantly, Edge nodded.
"All right... I'll... I'll see you around, okay?" He lowered his green gaze to the floor, sad as he looked back at her face. Her facial expression hadn't changed. Then, without another word more, he turned and left.
When Lita was alone in the room, she let out a sigh, her eyes closing tightly. The moment she'd just endured with Edge had been so painful... In fact, she felt as though she might break down and burst into tears.
She didn't know how she was going to handle having him as part of the RAW roster.
At least when he'd been on SmackDown, it had been easier for her to deal with things,
to *live*... She was going to have to get used to this. Like it or not, she was going
to have to get used to her ex-fiance - the man who'd broken her heart - being on the
same show as her...