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Stacy Keibler ran her hand through her hair as she sat quietly in the women's locker room, her mind about a million miles away as she was consumed by thoughts of a certain other blonde.

"Stacy?"

The leggy young diva looked up at the sound of Lita's voice and offered her friend a tiny, weak smile.

The redhead sat down on the small black leather loveseat beside the younger woman.  "What's wrong?"

Stacy pointed to the TV monitor positioned several feet ahead of where they were seated.

Lita followed her friend's forefinger and gaze to the screen, where Torrie Wilson and Nidia were in the squared circle in the middle of their contest.

"It seems so unfair that Torrie always gets pushed over Nidia and Dawn Marie," the tall blonde said, a hint of sadness in her voice.  "I mean, Nidia trained and won on Tough Enough!  And Dawn's pretty good - certainly better than Torrie.  If any one of us," she continued, meaning the divas who were either new at actual wrestling or those who didn't really know how - such as herself - "has the potential to become as good as you, Molly, Jackie, Trish, Ivory or Jazz, it's Dawn."

"I know what you mean," Lita said, and she sighed.  "I also know how you feel.  Just imagine how Dawn Marie and Nidia feel..."

"Oh, I know..."  Stacy glanced around the room, as some of the other divas were still present.  She leaned toward the redhead and reduced her voice to a whisper. "The other day, I got to the arena early for the house show and found Dawn alone in the locker room - crying."

Lita's hazel eyes filled with concern for her brunette friend.  "You did?"  She wondered about that and about why Dawn Marie hadn't gone to her to talk.  They'd been close friends since their ECW days, which dated back four years earlier.  Normally, when something was troubling her, the brunette would seek her out.

Stacy nodded.  "I asked her what was wrong, and she said she was tired of the way the company has been handling her character.  She said she came here to wrestle, not to be forced to compete with anyone else in a skin contest - especially not with a woman whose biggest priority in life is baring her T&A for the world to see..."

The redhead arched a brow and nodded knowingly.  That did sound like something Dawn Marie would say, although the brunette was far to nice to ever verbalize it to Torrie herself - or to Vince McMahon or anyone else in charge.

"I don't understand it..." Stacy was saying, her brown eyes again focused on the TV screen.  She shook her head.  "Just a couple of years ago, she was always saying she would never, ever pose for Playboy, and yet she did."  She sighed and looked back at the redhead, her expression sad.  "She used to be different...I considered her my best friend back in WCW - she made me feel welcome when no one else really would.  She just changed so much," the blonde said miserably.

Or maybe she never 'changed' at all, Lita thought.  Maybe she was always the shallow, cold person she is, but you were just too kind and trusting to see it.  Truthfully, the redhead had never really been particularly fond of Torrie Wilson.  She'd always thought there was such an obvious superficiality to the platinum blonde, one that lay beneath the surface of a very thin veneer.  Stacy, on the other hand, was very young and had such an innocence about her.  The leggy blonde was the type of person who saw the good in everyone, no matter what.

Aloud, the redheaded woman said, "Well, that sometimes happens, Stace - at least where some people are concerned."  As Lita saw it, Torrie had never really been all that warm toward her or any of the other divas, for that matter - but she'd gotten worse ever since the whole Playboy thing had begun back in February.  The only diva she was really friendly toward was Stephanie, but that was really more kissing ass than anything else, because, after all, the brunette was the boss' daughter.

"I know..." Stacy said softly.  "It...well, usually I don't let it bother me, but sometimes I find myself longing for the days when we were close."

"I understand..."  Lita placed a comforting hand on the other woman's shoulder, and then shifted her gaze to the monitor.  "Ouch!" she cried as they witnessed the frightful Tornado DDT Torrie executed on Nidia.  Jeez, the blonde diva could really hurt someone - because, to the redhead's trained eye, she'd done the maneuver very sloppily and even carelessly.  Nidia would be lucky not to be injured.

"I just wonder when they're going to put me in a match against her?" Stacy murmured.  "And knowing my luck, I'd probably end up with a broken neck."  She wrinkled her nose in distaste and horror.

Lita eyed Torrie Wilson on the TV screen, wondering the exact same thing about herself.  On top of that, she couldn't help but wonder about something from a little earlier...

When she and Stacy had been talking at vanity, Torrie had been standing by them, also in front of the mirror.  She hadn't contributed to or interfered in Stacy's and her conversation, but the redhead swore she'd detected something odd and unsettling in her silence.

At the time, she'd kind of just pushed it to the back of her mind, but now, after her discussion with Stacy, she knew she'd been correct in her suspicions.

Torrie had been trying very hard at not displaying hostility toward the other divas on her face - but she'd failed miserably.