Too Late

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Stacy Keibler ran and ran - possibly faster than she'd ever run in her entire life.

As she turned a corridor of the nearly deserted arena hallway, she cursed herself for having worn heels - albeit low ones. Right about now, she could sure use a pair of tennis shoes.

The tall blonde was relieved at least that she was slim and so made for running. Had she been any bigger, chances were good that she would be unable to outrun her pursuers...

"You won't get away with this, you little bitch!"

The shout issued from several yards behind her, from an irate Test. The big blond Canadian and his new best buddy, Scott Steiner, had been in the midst of harassing her for the umpteenth time as the trio were congregated in the two men's locker room - going over their script for tomorrow night's RAW, no less. The guys made it a regular habit and even pasttime to hit on her, although Stacy had let them know time and again that she didn't have the slightest interest in either of them. Normally, the two jerks had enough brains to keep the sexual harassment strictly verbal - until tonight...

The three of them had been talking and going over their scripts - Stacy reluctantly - when Scott had become bold or stupid enough to put his hands on her... Well, *more* than just his hands - the bastard had grabbed her and forced a kiss on her lips, then had smacked her ass afterward. In response, the leggy blonde had kneed him in the groin. Test had then yelled and tried to grab her as well, but somehow, she'd managed to squirm just out of his reach. *That* was when she had run...

"You'll be sorry, bitch!" This time, it was Steiner's voice that called out to her. She supposed his balls had recovered enough from her knee smashing into them for him to join Test in the chase.

Stacy kept running, cursing herself now also because she hadn't left the arena with someone else a half hour ago. She should have known better than to stay. Lita, one of her best friends, had even offered to wait for her, but she'd told the redhead to just go on ahead...

...How *stupid* she'd been. She should have thought twice about staying here with two assholes who verbally harassed her on a regular basis. God, she felt so young and naive for not having suspected one or both of them might be capable of something physical...

"You can't hide, Stacy!" Steiner's voice taunted, and the diva slipped and nearly lost her footing as her right shoe suddenly slid over some coffee someone had spilled. She managed, somehow, to keep herself upright and turned the corridor...

...Running smack into Test...

Gasping loudly, her brown eyes wide with fright, the tall young woman shoved away from the Canadian, but it was no use. The big blond man caught her easily by the left wrist, squeezing hard enough to cause tears of pain to spring to her eyes.

Damn it... The bastard must have taken a shortcut to get to her - he must have gone the opposite way. And because the arena was dome- shaped, that path had taken him straight to her.

Stacy let out a shriek that was part-determination to free herself, part-fear and part-rage. She had just enough presence in mind to swing out with her free right hand - slapping Test across the face - *hard*.

She didn't even allow herself the privilege of enjoying her small victory as the man's grip loosened and she managed to free herself. Instead, she took off in a mad sprint the rest of the way down the hall.

In a moment, she was at an exit, shoving the door as forcefully as she could manage. Test was muttering a string of curses from behind her. She'd left all her stuff behind, but she didn't care. If she couldn't send for her belongings - which were still in the divas' locker room - she could always replace them. Her safety came first.

She nearly cried out in relief as she raced through the parking lot and spotted two familiar figures just entering a rental car. Oh, God... What if they didn't see her and took off?

"Wait! Wait!" she shouted, waving her arms frantically, desperate for the car's occupants to spot her. Sure enough, the driver noticed her and sat there rather than driving away.

"Stacy? What's wrong?" Frantic green eyes and a pair of confused blue ones scanned her.

"Help me! They're after me, Edge!"

The tall blond man didn't waste a second.

"Get in, Stacy - *now*..."

The diva did as she was told, and as she did so, Christian turned to eye her from the passenger's seat. He took note of the leggy blonde's obvious fright and wondered what in hell had happened - and who the 'they' that were after her were.  
 
 

Part 2

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