Part 1

Lita rubbed at the tight muscles of her shoulders, rolling her neck in hopes of getting it to loosen up even a little bit. She had a long ride ahead of her and sore shoulders and neck wouldn't make the trip any easier. Giving up with a small sigh, she stuffed the rest of her clothes back in her large duffel bag, not bothering to fold them. Instead balling them up and deciding to worry about it later, she tugged at the zipper till it gave way and closed the overstuffed bag. She pulled on her shoes, placing one foot on the bench to tie it.

A knock sounded at the door and she called over her shoulder, "Come in."

"Hey."

The redhead rolled her eyes at the sound of the familiar male voice, not bothering to even look in his direction. She really did not want to talk to him right now. "What do you want?"

He quickly surveyed his surroundings with his head stuck through the door. It seemed to be empty. "You alone?"

"Yep."

He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him before crossing it to sit on the bench next to her bag. "Leaving early?"

"Does it matter to you?" she asked sharply, causing him to frown.

"You're mad."

"Yeah," she answered quickly, switching her footing to tie the other shoe. "Little bit."

He ran a hand over his face, sighing to himself. This scene, unfortunately, was nothing new. "What did I do now?"

She tucked her hair behind her, shooting him a poignant look, meeting his eyes for the first time. "Please," she huffed.

"What?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. He wasn't going to bring it up, just in case he was wrong and she was mad about something else completely. That was very much a possibility, it certainly wouldn't be the first time. He learned from past mistakes to let her say what was wrong before volunteering his idea of what could've upset her, often times it led to her than being at him for two reasons.

"It's more like what you didn't do and you know it."

He frowned, he was right. She was mad about that. "What did you want me to do Lita?" he asked, trying not to roll his eyes. That would only piss her off more and Lita being pissed off was never a good thing for him. Never had been.

"Oh I don't know." Sarcasm tinged her every word. "Say something. Stand up for me because you knew damn well that I couldn't without major consequences. Be a man."

"Taking shots at my manhood now because I didn't say something to them? That's mature."

"What's real mature is letting Triple H and that smarmy little bastard Randy Orton treat me like some two dollar whore."

"They're not that bad, Lita. And to be fair, they only offered one dollar." He smirked, jerking away when Lita swatted his shoulder.

"You're an asshole."

He smiled with a nod, seeing that his grin only irritated her more. "And you still love me."

"Yeah well I don't have much of a choice in that matter, now do I?"

"Nope. That's the beauty of it all. You're stuck with me and there's no two ways about it."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it," she grumbled.

"You like it," he aggravated. "If we didn't fight all the time we'd have nothing to talk about and where's the fun in that?"

"I'm serious though," her features sobered again, changing from angry to hurt, and maybe a little disappointed. "You could have said something to them tonight. Hunter basically told me to get naked or leave, and you seem to think that was ok. They can't be allowed to treat people like that and get away with it."

"I know," he agreed, "But what did you want me to do? If I would have said or done anything it would have jeopardized everything I've worked for since coming here."

"What if Triple H would've tried something? Then what?"

"Lita if I thought for one second that either of them were even thinking about laying a hand on you I would've stepped in and...and more than likely broke every one of their fingers. You know that. But I can't do that just because...Everytime someone hurts your feelings or embarrasses you I can't come into save you. Not only would that be bad for me, but you'd hate it anyhow. We'd be having an argument about you being all grown up and not needing me to take care of things for you instead of this one we're having now."

"I would not."

He sent her a dark knowing look. "Yes you would. You'd be all 'I don't need you to fight my battles, I can handle things myself' blah blah blah."

"Ok," she crossed her arms over her chest, "First off, I don't talk all whiny like that. And second...well there is no second but I don't talk like that."

"So you see," he pointed, "You know I'm right. I can't win with you Li. Never been able to."

She grabbed her keys off the bench, ignoring this last comment and hiked her bag up to her shoulder. "Are you done harassing me or am I free to go?"

"Like you would listen to me if I told you not to go anyway."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm so done with this conversation."

"Hey Li," he stopped her when she went to leave, turning back toward him. That mischievous spark that she hated was back in his eyes and she knew she wasn't going to like whatever he had to say. "You want me to put in a good with Hunter for ya? Tell 'em you like that sort of thing and he should give you call?." Her eyes narrowed and his smirk only widened. "Or maybe with Randy...you have a thing for younger guys that I never found out about?"

"You're such a jerk."

He laughed, loving the classic Lita reaction he received. She always had been the most fun, and the easiest, to aggravate. "The best part is there's nothing you can do about that."

"That's where you're wrong," she answered. "You know what I'm going to do about it Dave?" The redhead challenged, meeting the eyes of the much larger man with no fear.

"What's that?" he smirked, resisting the urge to chuckle at her defiant stance, he knew that would only piss her off more.

She turned on her heel and moved toward the door, Dave following close behind her as she stepped into the hallway. "I'm telling Mom."

Batista rolled his eyes as the redhead stomped away from him, her bag slung over her shoulder. He watched as she dug into the side pocket, searching for something. When he realized that it wasn't her keys, she already had those in her other hand, he quickly pulled his small cell phone from his pants pocket, dialing quickly to beat her to the punch. "Hey Mom, it's me Dave. Yeah I miss you too. Listen if Lita calls don't believe a word she says ok? She's mad at me. Yes, again," he paused as he listened to his mother, watching Lita make her way to the exit. "Mom..Ma..." he tried to interrupt, giving up with a sigh. "Why is it always my fault?"

And he wondered where his sister got it from.

Part 2

"Hey man. Where you been?"

Batista turned at the sound of the voice approaching, trying not to roll his eyes at the sight of the blond man. He didn't want to put up with him right now, it was because of Triple H that he was in such a shitty mood in the first place. Or more accurately, the fallout of The Game's actions that somehow ended with the blame resting on Dave's shoulders.

"Thought you said you'd be right behind us when we left the arena?"

Dave forced his features to look compliant; it would do no good to piss of Hunter � or to let Hunter know that he was more than a little pissed at him. "I got a little turned around after I left the arena. Turned right when I should've gone left, one of those things."

Triple H eyed the other man for a moment, and Dave was afraid that he saw through his lie, then nodded. "After awhile each town starts looking like the last."

The dark-haired man nodded, not saying anything as he turned back to the counter, happy that Hunter didn't question him further. Resting an elbow on the cool marble, he awaited the key to his hotel room, watching the young woman's fingers dance over the keyboard on the other side of the desk.

"You gonna tell me what was up with you tonight?"

Batista closed his eyes, drawing his lips tight, wishing that Hunter would've just walked away and left him alone. He wasn't happy with the way the former Champion had treated his sister earlier � not that Hunter had any clue that Lita was in fact his baby sister � got a verbal lashing from the redhead after Raw and another from his mother not long after that. He really didn't want to play twenty questions and dance around the truth right then, he was far too tired and really not in the mood. Biting back a sigh, he glanced over his shoulder to find Hunter standing in the same spot, staring at him expectantly. He'd have to play along. "What are you talking about?"

"Tonight..." Hunter paused as Dave accepted his room key from the young desk clerk, watching the girl blush when Dave smiled down at her with a thank you. He fell into step next to the big man as he made his way across the lobby to the elevator banks. "You were pissed about something."

"I don't know what you mean," Batista replied evenly, pressing the up button, watching it light beneath his touch and stepped back waiting for the car to arrive.

"You said maybe two words all night." The doors dinged as they opened, both men stepping inside. Dave hit the number to his floor, holding back a curse when Hunter didn't follow suit, hoping the blond would get off on a different level cutting their time together short.

"Just concentrating on getting back in the swing of things," he answered. "It's been awhile since I've been on the road."

"And?"

"And what?" he furrowed his brows, turning his head to meet Hunter's expectant gaze.

"Don't bullshit me Dave." The irritation in Hunter's voice didn't go unnoticed by the dark-haired man. It didn't surprise him, Triple H wasn't exactly known for his patience. "If you got something on your mind you need to spill it now because I need you�we need you, Evolution as whole...we need you on top of your game. You need to be 100% in this, if your mentality is off any little bit you're going to fuck this up for me --- us."

Batista set his jaw tight, his lips forming a tight line as he listened to Hunter's tirade. He'd spent the last twenty years threatening and wanting to beat the hell out of any guy that looked at Lita the wrong way, and there was a time or two when he'd gone after one of those little boys for hurting his sister or saying the wrong thing to her. Triple H had done exactly that tonight � offering the redhead a dollar to dance for him � and there wasn't a damn thing Dave could do about it. Not without losing his place in the once again fully formed stable of Evolution, without risking his career.

"What do you want from me Hunter?" He asked, not bothering to hide his growing annoyance at the barrage of questions and accusations thrown his way. "I did my part tonight. I fought in my match against Goldberg and I made sure that any progress his ankle had made was shot to hell. He's as bad off now as he was three weeks ago when I broke it the first time. So what's the problem?"

"This is the problem," Hunter shot back. "Your attitude. Your demeanor. You've been an ass all night and I swear Dave if you mess up my plans in anyway I'll make your life a living hell."

Batista had a thousand words on the tip of his tongue, but bit it instead of letting the fly. He held Hunter's gaze, intensity soaring in both men, until the door's dinged and opened to the floor. He hoisted his bag up onto his shoulder, stepped out, and turned right, glad to see Hunter go left. Dave had never been good at keeping his cool, especially when it came to those that messed with Lita, and it took everything bit of strength not to go after the former Champion in the elevator. He couldn't do that, he couldn't lay a hand on Triple H without losing everything.

"Hey Hunter." He called out to him, stopping and turning back, waiting for the other man to do the same. He couldn't touch him, but that didn't mean he didn't know that Hunter was intimidated by him. He saw the split second of alarm in The Game's eyes just moments before, it was short but it was there before he quickly covered it.

Triple H turned around, his cocky snarl taking place on his face. "Yeah?"

"What you said to Lita tonight..." He trailed off for a moment, letting Hunter try to cover the confusion at the woman's name. Dave knew that Hunter had no idea about their relationship, he probably thought the two had never spoken. There was no way for him to know that they'd grown up just down the hall from one another and had enough information on each other's past endeavors to blackmail the hell out of one another. He couldn't physically make Hunter pay for treating his sister that way, but he could let him know he wasn't happy about it.

"What about it?"

Batista set his jaw tight and took a breath, willing his anger down and forcing himself not to go down there and hit the older man. "Don't let it happen again." His tone should've left no room for argument, and with anyone else, there wouldn't have been. But Hunter always had like to push his luck.

"What's it to you?"

"Don't worry about," the dark-haired man breathed, "But don't think you can talk to her that way again."

Triple H narrowed his eyes, standing now about fifteen feet from him through confused eyes. He'd never heard Dave mention the redhead before, he didn't recall ever seeing the two together. A smirk overtook his lips, a possibility suddenly dawning on him. "What's going on Dave? You hitting that?"

Batista's features crinkled and a shiver ran up his spine. "What? Oh god no. You couldn't be more wrong. Just stay the hell away from her."

Hunter's grin widened and he crossed his arms over his chest. "You've got me intrigued now. If you're sleeping with the chick that's cool, I've always wondered what she'd be like in bed. Probably a wild one, right?"

Batista let the bag slip from his shoulder to the floor, nostrils flaring. It only took him a few long strides to be within reaching distance of Hunter, and when he got there he balled his fists into the blond's blue dress shirt, slamming him against the nearby wall. Their faces were inches apart, both of their breaths shallow � Dave's due to anger, Hunter's do to surprise. He'd had no time to react and before he even realized he had moved, Batista had him pinned to the wall.

"Don't you ever," he ground out through clenched teeth. "Don't you ever talk or even think about her like that again. You got that?" He kept his eyes glued to The Game's, slowly releasing his fingers from the material of his shirt and stepping back. Hunter, for the first time in as long as he could remember, was caught completely off guard. He stood silent as Dave turned his back to him, walking back over and picking up his bag.

"I don't know what the fuck your problem is," he called after the larger man, "But you better straighten it out real fast Dave. I've made you in this company and that can just as easily be reversed. I think you've forgotten that."

Batista pulled the strap onto his shoulder, adjusting the bag as he stood up straight again, shooting a dark look in Hunter's direction. "I haven't forgotten. And don't you forget this. If you fuck with her Hunter, I swear to God I'll kill you. And I won't feel bad about it. We've got a good thing with Evolution, and deny it if you want, but you can't win that belt back from Goldberg without me. You know that and I know that. Leave Lita alone and we won't have a problem. It's as simple as that." Holding his gaze on the veteran for a moment longer, he turned and walked away. He pulled the keycard from his pocket, inserted it in the lock and quickly made his way into the room. It had only been a few doors down and he could still feel the weight of Hunter's stare as he stepped inside. He threw his bag roughly into the chair in the corner and flopped down on the bed, his feet on the floor, he laid back as he ran his hands over his face. What he'd just done wasn't smart � no one threatened the likes of Triple H and got away with it. Now Batista lay there, wondering how big of a mistake he may have made, and praying that the retribution didn't involve Lita in anyway. But he knew, in the world of Triple H, he'd probably just put a bullseye on her back.

Part 3

"I got good news boys." Ric Flair entered Evolution's locker room, running a hand through his white blond hair, a smile on his face.

Triple H took a seat on the arm of the black leather couch, not far from the youngest member of Evolution. "You got me out of my match tonight?" he asked, looking at Flair expectantly.

"Not exactly," the older man said, hurrying to explain when Hunter sent him a very unhappy look.

"Natche I told you I was in no shape to wrestle tonight."

"I know I know," Ric held up his hands, signaling to the Champion remain calm, he wasn't finished yet. "Austin said you had to wrestle tonight, there's nothing Eric can do about that."

"I thought you said you had good news?"

"Like we learned before, while he can't change Austin's decision, he can add to it." Flair explained. "Instead of you in a single's match tonight, we got the four of us � the four best looking guys in this company I might add � teaming up. And from the sound of things, there won't be much work to do."

"Awesome Ric," Orton stood from his position on the couch, crossing the room to slap hands with Flair. "Who we wrestling?"

"This is the good part," Flair rubbed his hands together. "We got Goldberg, who's in real bad shape thanks to our boy here." He motioned over his shoulder to the silent Batista sitting in the far corner of the room. "Teaming with Shawn Michaels who we all know has to be feeling some pain. He's wrestling full time again but he ain't what he used to be, no matter what he may claim."

"We got a four on two handicap match?" Randy's smirk grew, delighting in the odds. "Ric you are the man."

"Not four on two," the Nature Boy corrected, "But it might as well be."

"Who else they got?" Hunter wanted to know, not liking that Ric wasn't coming right out and saying who Bill and Shawn's partners would be later that night. The older man didn't look worried about it and that, and only that, made him at least a little at ease.

Flair's grin grew more smarmy and smug that it had been. "It seems that Lita and Stacy pissed off the boss. Again."

Dave rose from his chair at the first mention of Lita's name, not happy with the news that Randy and Flair seemed to have loved.

Randy's laugh broke out in a loud burst, clasping his hand on Flair's shoulder. "Seriously?" he managed to ask between breaths. "Those chicks are their partners."

"See Champ?" Flair turned toward the former Champion. "I told you I'd take care of things. We go out there, kick their asses Evolution style and they're done. 1,2, 3. Just like that."

"And there's always the bonus of getting next to Lita and that fine ass Stacy. Little handchecking never hurt anyone, right?" He nudged the older man with his elbow. "As long as Lita don't try nothing they won't even be a factor."

Batista took a step forward, straightening up at Randy's comment. Hunter shot a quick look to the large man, catching his eye for a moment before turning to Flair. "I don't like it."

"What's not to like?" Randy boasted, "The four of us against two cripples and two chicks. It's an easy win. Those two are hurt and the girls can't wrestle..."

"Lita lands moves on the guys all the time," Batista spoke for the first time, his voice remarkably even. "It's never safe to count her out." Lita had been in many matches with men in the past, or got involved in matches she wasn't apart of, especially when she was with the Hardy Boyz. Dave always watched nervously when his sister was at ringside, knowing that she wouldn't stay out of the action. She never could stay out of anything. Though he'd be lying if he didn't admit there was a part of him that was proud to see her take down men twice her size over and over again. Lita was never one to do anything and not go all out. She gave 100% no matter what she was doing, 110% when it came to wrestling.

"Don't worry." Sometimes Randy's cockiness really annoyed the hell out of Dave. "If she gets involved she'll get what's coming to her."

"No." Hunter's voice was stern and sure, the word spat in a hurry when he saw Dave take a step toward Randy. It only took Hunter a second to recognize that look on his face � the same one he'd seen in the hallway of the hotel just days before. "We don't touch her. Leave the girls out of it."

"What?" Randy asked, as if the thought of not laying his hands on a woman had never occurred to him and was completely absurd. "If one of those bitches tries touching me out there you can be damn sure I'm not letting her get away with it."

Triple H stood, adjusting his black suit jacket, his eyes locked on the youngest man in the room. "I said no. There's nothing on the line tonight, there's no need to get them involved."

"Hunter," Flair started, his voice just as surprised but not nearly as angry as Randy's had been. "You know as well as I do that those girls � or at least Lita � is going to get involved whether we want her to or not."

"So let her," he shrugged, casting a quick glance at Batista. "Don't let her your pin your ass, but if you're in the ring with her you make her tag out. Those girls didn't want this match. Bischoff more than likely put them in it to punish them, you said that yourself."

"Since when do you care about what they want?"

"I don't Randy," Hunter answered after a moment's hesitation. "But Eric's expecting us to go after them for the easy win, right?"

"Probably but I don't see how that means ---"

The blond man held up a hand, silencing him. "That little bastard Bischoff has pissed me off a lot lately. I won't give him the satisfaction."

"Whatever man," Randy grumbled, looking almost pissed off and disappointed. "I don't get it but whatever." Orton may be young but he wasn't stupid, and questioning Triple H anymore than he already had would only serve to piss the older man off. Being on Hunter's bad side was not a good place to be. "I'm hungry," he declared, effectively changing the subject but still sounding annoyed. "Going to get some food, anybody else?"

"I'll go with you, I haven't ate yet." Flair joined him, moving toward the door.

"I'm behind ya too," Hunter added as the men filed out the door. He paused, his hand on the handle, flicking a glance over his shoulder to Batista. The two men held each others stern gaze, a silent share of understanding passing between them. Batista only nodded his head � a silent thanks � watching as Hunter turned and excited the room with the others.

When the door closed behind him, Dave let out a frustrated growl, running his hands over his face and through his dark hair. He didn't like this, not one bit. Sure Hunter had told the others not to touch the girls � that was more than Dave expected in the first place � but it didn't mean that it was safe for Lita to be out there with six very strong, very big men. Reaching in the pocket of his black pants, he pulled out his cell phone, flipping it open and quickly dialing. Bringing it to his ear, he waited until she was answered.

"Oh let me guess," his sister's voice answered, her tone mockingly sour. "Why do I keeping pissing Eric off, I should know better than this by now, this isn't good and�hmm�what did I forget?" She paused, pretending to be thinking. "Oh yeah, don't do anything stupid in the match tonight."

"Lita..." His voice was mixed with warning and worry.

"Dave I know," she insisted, and he could almost hear her roll her eyes.

"Don't do anything tonight. Don't tag in, don't interfere, nothing. You'll be ok if you do that."

"I'm not throwing the match Dave," she huffed, insulted that he thought she would ever do such a thing.

"I'm not telling you to throw the match, I'm just...Listen, I can promise you that nothing will happen if you're not the legal person in the match. They're not going to go after if you just for being there. Stay out of the action and it'll be fine. Stacy too."

There was a moment of silence and he hoped that, for once in her life, she was contemplating listening to what he was telling her. "What did you do?" she asked, her tone suspicious.

"I didn't *do* anything. Hunter and I, uh, came to an understanding, you could say."

"What did you do?" She asked again, this time her words were much more demanding. "Did you say something to him? About last week?" She paused and then a small gasp escaped her lips. "Did you tell him?"

"No," Dave shook his head even though she couldn't see him. "I didn't tell him that you're the reason I'll probably gray early." He ignored the slight scoff on the other end of the line. "I may have suggested that he stay far far away from you from now on."

"May have suggested?" She repeated his words in a knowing tone. "You threatened him didn't you?" He heard an irritated sigh before she continued. "You're asking for trouble, you know that right?"

"Hey last week you practically yelled at me for not saying something to him about the way he talked to you and now that I did you're telling me it was wrong?" He rolled his eyes. "See what I mean when I say I can't win?"

"Forget it," she dismissed. "I'll see you later tonight."

"Just be careful. Don't do anything stupid � like you'd normally do."

"It'll be fine Dave. You seem to forget that I've wrestled a match or two before, I'm not exactly a rookie anymore."

"I know you're not but Hunter---"

"Has been the opposition before. It's not the first time I'll be standing across the ring from him. Besides, you just said you had an understanding with him so don't worry about it. I'll be fine," she stressed that last sentence.

"I'm just looking out for you, Li."

"You're being overprotective."

"You're my little sister, that's what I'm supposed to do."

"I'll talk to you later. Oh and Dave?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck in your match," she joked. "You guys are gonna need it."

Before he could respond he heard the line click dead, a dial tone following shortly after. He flipped the phone shut, shaking his head. Sometimes that girl was more trouble than she realized.