| �What the hell is going on here?� Hunter demanded as he watched Austin drag Lita towards Jericho�s quarters. He hadn�t wanted to watch the inspection itself, he honestly was only there because Steph was. �Kid�s been relieved of her command. She went for Matt Hardy�s throat and Regal ordered her contained. �Contained?� �Matt set me up!� Lita yelled before Austin�s hand covered her mouth. She bit down as hard as she could causing Austin to leave her go for a second. She ran to Hunter. �They set me up to fail a test. Now I�m being tried for gross incompetence. You�ve gotta do something!� She finished as Austin grabbed her tighter than before. �HUNTER, PLEASE!� Hunter watched Austin drag the girl off. Then he headed for Matt�s room. �So you understand Matt, what you did was necessary,� Shane was explaining to the older Hardy. �When you told us about Lita�s little infatuation with Edge�well, that was the last straw. Romance between captain and crew is always frowned upon out here.� Matt nodded in hesitant agreement. �What�s going to happen to her?� �She won�t be in deep trouble, the case will never fly in court. She�ll just be repositioned some where they can keep an eye on her.� �What about command of this ship?� �Regal�s going to run things until we decide that,� Shane assured him. �Thank you so much for your help Matt. Couldn�t have done it without you.� He left Matt alone with his thoughts. Before Matt could even begin to think, his brother entered the room. �Did you set her up? Were you that angry with her that you set her up?� Jeff demanded from his brother. Matt nodded slowly. �Then fuck you Matt,� Jeff said before leaving him again. Hoping to get some privacy, Matt ran his hand down over his eyes and groaned. He�d only done what had to be� Before that thought could finish, Hunter was in his room and had him pinned to the wall. �WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER?� Matt gasped for air in the older man�s tight grip. �Shane asked me to help get her fired.� Hunter picked Matt clean up off the ground and slammed him into his small coffee table. �You listen to me. That kid was good. Now she�s screwed all because you felt threatened.� �Like you�ve never done anything similar.� Matt accused. �I seem to remember someone dumping Chyna right before she flew a level 19.� Hunter tightened his grip. �And you�re saying I was right?� �No. I�m saying that you�re trying to substitute Lita for Chyna in order to not repeat your mistakes. And that you�ve in the process become infatuated with the bitch. Well, she�s a whore. She was sleeping with me, in all likelihood she was fucking Jericho, and now she�s moved on to Edge. So you�d just be another in a long line of pretty boys she�s used once and discarded.� Hunter let go of Matt�s throat. �She didn�t fuck Jericho. The only woman fucking Jericho was my wife.� �Why�d you let it happen?� �I just didn�t care enough about the marriage to stop it. It was a set up, the whole thing. We both knew it from the start. And now she�s moved onto that Hurricane kid. I don�t really know that it bothers me.� Matt took his chances at sitting up. �Lita grounded me. She kept me from flying. Then I find her in there with Edge�she�d moved on so quickly.� �Did you ever think Edge was consoling her over losing Jericho?� �WHY DIDN�T SHE COME TO ME?� Matt demanded. �Because from what I�ve seen and heard you�ve been an asshole to her because she did her job. Not the person she�d want to see in an emergency.� Hunter sighed and left the room. After a second, he stuck his head back in. �Oh and Matt, I�m not infatuated with her.� Matt just looked at him. �I�m in love with her.� �Well, Commissioner, I can understand why you had to do that to Lita,� Trish batted her eyelashes. �She�s always seemed like a loose cannon to me.� Before Regal could comment, Tori burst into the sick bay again. �You wanna talk loose, let�s talk loose. I�ve slept around in my day, granted. But never for power or prestige and never with someone as gross as the boys you�ve fucked.� �That�s kind of strange to hear coming from X-Pac�s former fuck toy!� Trish shot back, ignoring Regal and Shane. �You don�t get it, do you? This whole thing reeks of a set up! I mean, for all we know, these guys killed Jericho.� There was a long, uncomfortable pause. Trish suddenly smiled. �And who do you think was the woman on the inside?� Tori backed off in shock. �You�re shitting me.� �Nope. I told them every little plan, every little conversation, EVERYTHING. And they promised me a cushy office job back at the main base.� �You killed Jericho?� Tori asked. �Oh, heavens no,� Regal inserted. �We simply sent him away for awhile. And you�ll be joining him very soon.� Tori ran. She heard footsteps come after her as she tried to get to Jericho�s old room. She had to tell Lita� Shane tackled her from behind, driving her right shoulder into the ground as he took her down. Tori screeched in pain, grabbing for her shoulder as Shane stood up again. �Well, Dr. Stratus,� Shane smirked, �looks like she�ll need to be treated.� �That�s gotta be painful, injuring that shoulder again,� Trish gave an evil little smile. �I�d better give her something to knock her out.� Tori felt a needle enter the back of her neck, then there was nothing. �She said it herself,� Stephanie told Hurricane. �She admitted it should have been her.� �Stephanie,� Helms tried to steady his voice to reassure her. �But, she said it. In all this I never thought that maybe, just maybe, she�s been blaming herself for his death. I never even stopped to consider that she was beating herself up with guilt. I�ve been too busy feeling sorry for myself to realize that she�s going through just as much as I am. And now�Matt betraying her, being locked up. I can�t even�.� Shane stroked her hair. �It�s going to be okay Steph,� he whispered. �But it won�t. I could have stopped them from locking her up. I should have stopped them. She wasn�t to blame. I am a horrible person.� �No you�re not. You�re just hurting.� �That�s no excuse. No excuse at all�I�m horrible� Hurricane reached down and tilted Stephanie�s chin up so he could look into her eyes. � You are beautiful. And smart. And strong. Intriguing. I couldn�t use enough words to describe you.� He hesitated only a second before leaning in and kissing her. To his surprise, she kissed back. Maybe it was only because she needed someone that night. Maybe it was so she could for a few hours forget what had happened. Maybe she needed someone so she could pretend he was Jericho. But for whatever the reason, Stephanie McMahon Helmsley slept with Shane Helms that night. Lita was sitting on Jericho�s bed the next morning when she heard the door to his quarters slide open. She stood, hoping it was someone there to get her out. Instead it was Matt. �How are doing?� He asked. �Is this my punishment Matt? Is this what I get for being better than you and for trying to protect the lives of the crew?� �You got too good Red.� �Don�t call me Red ever again. What was the point in all of this? Did you prove what you wanted to, that you�re the dominant one in our relationship?� �You�re not being fair,� �I�M NOT BEING FAIR?� Lita finally exclaimed. �I�m not the one who punished you for a stupid reason! You almost killed Edge, that�s why you were punished.� �And you did kill Jericho. That�s why you�re being punished.� Lita sat back down on the bed. �Leave now, before I have to add first degree murder to my list of charges.� Matt looked at her. �You�re not in that much trouble. Shane says the case will never hold up in court, you�ll just be reassigned.� �Matt, get out of here, now.� �Commissioner, can we talk?� Regal recognized Jackie�s voice and didn�t even turn around for fear of what he�d see. �Commissioner, the only I hate more than someone telling me not to drink and smoke is when someone doesn�t listen to what I�m saying. So turn around and face me, or I�ll MAKE YOU.� Regal turned, slowly. �Yes Miss Jacqueline?� �Look, in the past two days I have put up with some serious shit. One captain is dead, the second one was set up by her boyfriend and is being held against her will. Now my best friend on this ship is missing and you�re either gonna tell me where she is or I�m gonna give you an even better reason to court marshal me!� �Your best friend?� �Tori you stupid asshole.� �Haven�t seen Miss Tori since she went to talk to Trish about a shoulder injury.� Jackie looked skeptical. �She voluntarily went to see Trish about an injury?� �It was a very bad injury. Her shoulder I believe.� Jackie still looked unsure. �You�re telling me, she went to a woman she didn�t even trust enough to make cereal without burning it to treat a severely injured shoulder?� �It must have been very sore.� �Listen Red, there�s something going on here, and I don�t like it. Only problem is, I can�t get any proof from out here.� From the other side of the door, Lita whispered back to Jackie. �Not much I can do in here.� �What are you talking about? You have the main system access in there.� �I can�t access it without Jericho�s password.� �Well, it�s Jericho. Think about it. I�ve gotta go.� Lita heard Jackie run away. When she was alone, she sat down at Chris�s computer and turned it on. The password prompt appeared. �Here goes nothing.� LIONHEART ACCESS DENIED. The words were accompanied by little dancing pictures of Jericho flipping her the bird. �Dammit. This could take awhile.� �Matt?� After having been abused enough in the past two days, Matt was ready to not answer Edge. Then, remembering that Edge could take a torture soul turn at any time and recalling the damage he�d done to his own brother Christian, he wisely decided to turn around. �Yes?� �I can stand you almost killing me. I could put up with you acting like an asshole towards Lita. But this�this is just�� �Look, I�ve heard it enough from everyone. Every single person on our crew is ready to kill me.� �Oh, I�m not ready to kill you Matt. Killing you wouldn�t answer anything.� �Really? And sleeping with my girlfriend would?� �WHAT?� Edge looked at Matt like he was some kind of moron. �I have never slept with Lita.� �But you would.� �Yes, I�d have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not wanna sleep with her. You have a sexy girlfriend, other guys wanting to sleep with her comes with the territory.� �I saw you with her the day after Jericho died. You were hugging her and rubbing her back.� �Because she�s my friend and she just went through a very rough time. Between fighting with you and the inspection and losing Chris she was having a rough time. I wanted to console her. That�s what friends do.� �Well, you�re a very very good friend then.� Edge turned his head a bit, then smiled at Matt. �Matt, like I said, I�m not going to kill you.� He suddenly grabbed Matt by the collar of his uniform. �I can do worse things if I keep you alive for them.� STEPHANIE. ACCESS DENIED. �Hunter?� Hunter looked at Stephanie and knew something was going on. �There�s something I have to admit to you.� �You slept with Jericho for�oh roughly two or three years, and now you�re sleeping with the Helms kid.� Stephanie blinked. �Yes.� �I knew.� �Oh, okay then. I guess there�s not really that much more to talk about.� �Yes there is.� DIRTY SLUT. ACCESS DENIED. ASS-CLOWN. ACCESS DENIED. Lita was about ready to give up figuring out Jericho�s code. There were just too many possibilities� DIRTY SKEEZY DISGUSTING BRUTAL BOTTOM FEEDING TRASH BAG HO. CONNECTING. Lita let out a loud �WHOOP!� as she watched the main interface appear on screen. Then, something caught her eye. A small icon reading �RED� under it. She double clicked. A video of Jericho appeared on the screen. �Red, if you�re watching this right now, it means I�m gone. And if I haven�t erased it yet�well, that means you�ve got your work cut out for you. �For the past several months I�ve been getting ultimatums from the Alliance that if we don�t join of our own free will, they�ll make us join. I told them each time we�d fight them to the last, and each time they told me the same thing. So, I was aware that we were in danger out here. I also knew they had a plant, so I couldn�t mention anything to you. �Lita, I made you my second because I want you to keep us out of Heyman�s Alliance. Shane, Regal, they both want us in. Steph�s not involved, she�s been alerting me of situations for months. But it stands that you have to watch the crew. I have confidence in you. If it looks like I�m dead, trust me, I�m very much alive, and they have me. Stop them Red, before it�s too late.� The video stopped. Lita gasped at what had just been presented to her. She closed the video and opened the file of every security camera on board. She opened the files for the sick bay and started fast forwarding. She watched and listened in horror as Trish, Shane, and Regal admitted everything to Tori. Lita began quickly opening and closing camera files, watching the chase. When the tape ended, Lita ran for the door. �Open!� she ordered. �Voice not recognized.� �Dammit! Regal removed my voice from the files!� Lita slumped against the door. �Open,� she heard from the outside. �Limited Access. State name.� �Stephanie McMahon Helmsley.� Lita stood up and watched Stephanie enter the room. �Look, I don�t like you much Lita, that�s no secret. But no matter how long I keep blaming you for Jericho�s death, it won�t bring him back�� �But,� Lita tried to break in. �Let me finish. Now, I just struck a deal to get you your ship back. If you want it. It may take some time.� �Steph, we don�t have time. The Alliance has Jericho. Somehow they captured him when his ship was destroyed.� Stephanie looked at her. �Are you sure?� �Come over here,� Lita led her to the computer and replayed the fight in the sick bay. Stephanie inhaled deeply. �That�s it. We take down Regal. Now.� �That�s right.� Hunter answered from the doorway. Let�s go.� |