____________________________________________
Edge winced at the feel of the fresh stitches that had just been put on his forehead, his eyes closing at the sensation of the dull headache he felt in the center of his forehead. At the same time, he was acutely aware of the small, graceful hands touching him, gentle all the while.
Lita gazed up at him with concern, her lovely brow furrowed as she eyed him tenderly.
"I'm so sorry this happened to you, Edge." She shook her head, guilt coursing through her. "God, I'm sorry."
He turned his green eyes on her as he hopped off the examining table, his hands gently grabbing hers.
"This is not your fault, Lita... You have *nothing* to apologize for," he insisted. He moved his hands from hers to slowly wrap his arms around her waist, his gaze fixed on her pretty face. Neither of them even reacted when the trainer, followed by the Dudleys and Jeff, slipped from the room and that they were suddenly alone.
"But it *is*," the redhead stubbornly protested, and the blond man merely smiled as he gazed down into her eyes. He couldn't help himself; she was so adorable. "If it wasn't for *me*, you wouldn't have been in all this mess. I mean, you were standing up for *me*. That's why it's my-"
Lita's words were suddenly cut off as Edge dipped his head, capturing her lips in a hard and searing kiss. She seemed startled for the tiniest of split seconds, but instantly, her arms went up and around his neck as she responded in kind. She kissed him back deeply, the breath knocked out of her as she felt his warm tongue slide into her mouth, tangling with her own. She tangled her hands into his long blond hair, holding him more closely against her, and he pressed his body flush up to hers.
When the kiss was finally broken, the redheaded diva pulled back just enough to gaze up into the tall Canadian's handsome, smiling face.
"E-Edge...?"
He cocked his head, and her gaze trailed for a second or two up to the bandage on his forehead before returning to his emerald depths.
"You don't know how long I've been wanting to do that," he admitted.
Lita bit her lip gently as she gazed up at him. A small smile came to her face.
"Yeah? Well, I'm glad you did it."
"So am I," he quipped. He suddenly realized they were alone in the room. "Hey, what happened to everyone?"
The redhead turned to glance around their surroundings, then shook her head.
"I don't know. Why don't we find out what's going on?"
She reached out for him, and Edge grabbed her small hand, a smile returning to his face as they exited the room and went out into the hallway. That was when they realized, further down the way, near gorilla position, the Dudleys, Jeff Hardy leading the way, seemed to be dragging a very unhappy Eric Bischoff in the direction of the arena.
Exchanging glances with the diva, the blond man nodded, and they followed the group.
"What's going on?"
Lita turned around to meet Trish's glance, the little blonde's face full of questions as she walked alongside them. She'd taken the time to shower and change into her street clothes, something Lita hadn't even gotten to do yet, as she'd been with Edge as he'd been getting stitched up. Instead, the redhead donned a mid-thigh length terrycloth robe over her muddy bra and panty-clad body.
"We're not exactly sure," Edge told her as they continued to gorilla and past the curtain, "but the Dudleys and Jeff have Bischoff, and we're following them out there to get a closer look."
"Ooh," the tiny blonde exclaimed, her face lighting up at the prospect, "I can hardly wait to see what happens!"
They made their way out to the entry ramp, to the delight of thousands of screaming fans, their gazes traveling in an instant to the ring. Bubba had the General Manager by the hair as he'd done to countless divas before him, the man protesting with shouts and yells. D'Von and Jeff were sliding a table into the ring.
Trish let out a squeal of delight, and she broke into a run down the ramp to the ring, much to Lita's surprise. What was the little blonde thinking? Well, she decided that if Bischoff somehow managed to get free from Bubba Ray, the Canadian diva still had three men to protect her. She felt fully confident that the Dudleys were not going to change their mind to wanting to put *her* through the table instead of their lovely GM.
They watched intently as Trish rushed into the ring, and she bounded right up to the younger Hardy brother, who opened his arms to her. The blonde instantly put herself in his embrace, and as Lita and Edge watched, the pair kissed sweetly, and the fans in the crowded arena instantly reacted to it.
Just as the precise moment that D'Von had hoisted Bischoff into Bubba's arms for a powerbomb off the top turnbuckle, music suddenly blared throughout the arena, and Edge and Lita turned their heads in shock to see the WWE C.E.O., Linda McMahon, suddenly appear. The woman held a microphone in her hand and gave them a warm smile as she came to stand just to Lita's right.
"Eric... I have documents directly from the Board of Directors," the McMahon matriarch announced, and the GM's head turned in shock just enough to catch a glimpse of the C.E.O. "And I have a little announcement for you. They have declared you incompetent due to your constant unreasonable behavior. Therefore, you have been stripped of your responsibilities and are no longer General Manager!"
A happy smile and a gasp came from Lita as she looked directly into Edge's green eyes. This was certainly interesting news, and she was pleased with this development, to say the least.
"My daughter, Stephanie McMahon, will take on the responsibility of being the sole General Manager for the WWE. That is all," Linda went on. She spun on her heel, and that was when Bubba Ray slammed Bischoff down, straight through the wood. Trish pulled Jeff's face to hers once again, kissing him softly.
"Well, what d'you know?" Edge said, his arm encircling the waist of the lovely redhead by his side. "All's well that ends well."
She nodded, her hazel eyes lighting up as she locked them on his gaze.
"I'll say..."
The tall blond man pulled her close, pressing a sweet kiss on her lips to the delight of the crowd.
// End //