MAN OF HER DREAMS?

SUNDAY NIGHT HEAT, FEBRUARY 18TH, 2001

"Mmm, Jeff," Angel murmured as the last slivers of sleep evaporated away. Her eyelids fluttered open and she met with the sight of someone else’s eyes staring back at her.

"Jeff?" she asked, disoriented.

"Wrong answer. Although I, too, enjoy the wonders of hair dye from time to time."

"Lita!" Angel cried, pulling herself up so that she was sitting. "Do you often watch me sleep?"

"No, but then you don’t often wake me up by screaming the name of one of my best friends, so I think I’m justified."

"What?" Angel asked, puzzled.

"Let me give you a demonstration. Oh, Jeff! Yes, Jeff! More, Jeff!"

Angel held up her hand. "Okay, I got it. But I never did that."

Lita grinned suggestively. "You did too."

Angel shook her head. "Impossible."

"Okay," Lita said thoughtfully. "Why don’t you tell me what you dreamed last night?"

"What I…I don’t remember. There was something about…" She suddenly went pale.

"See, I told you. No kidding, I thought he was in here with you but when I checked, sadly, you were alone."

"Is that so surprising?" Angel snapped. "I mean, Tim and me haven’t broken up."

"Does Tim know you dream about other men?"

"Li, it was a dream. It doesn’t mean anything. Actually, what it means is that me and Jeff are spending too much time together."

"No, it means you want to spend even more time together," Lita replied, accentuating the last word with a raise of her eyebrows.

"I’m serious, Lita," Angel insisted. "It happens a lot. In my last year of high school I was doing really bad in economics so I got this tutor, Boyd was his name. He was this big time skinny know-it-all with bad skin who often forgot to shave, and not in a good way. It’s not that I hated him, apathy was more the name of the game. So, anyway, one night he was the leading man in my dream. I was mortified."

"So, what happened?" Lita asked. "Did you and Boydo get the hook up?"

Angel shook her head. "No. I made it to my exam, got an ‘A’ and never saw him again, and never dreamed about him either. To say I have no regrets would be an understatement."

"And yet you remember him well enough to tell this story."

Angel shrugged. "Do you forget the stars of your sex dreams?"

"I don’t have to dream," Lita said matter-of-factly. "I have Matt."

"And I have Tim," Angel added. "Why does everyone think me and Jeff are going at it?"

"I know you’re not," Lita told her. "But have you ever thought that the time you spend making excuses would be better spent making out?"

Angel stared at her expressionlessly. "Pass me the phone."

Lita grabbed it for her. "Why, are you going to call Jeff? ‘Cause he’s right next door, you could just go wake him up."

"No," Angel replied evenly, finger poised over the keypad. "I’m going to call Tim."

Lita sighed. "Well, I hope you intend paying for that call."

"Prepaid calling card," Angel replied as her call connected. "Hello, Tim?" she asked, breaking into a smile. "Yeah, it’s me. How are you? I miss you too, baby. I know, yeah, it’s good, but I wish you were here. Yes, I really do…"

Lita rolled her eyes and got to her feet. That tone absolutely sickened her. She was sure glad she and Matt weren’t like that.

"Give Tim my love," she called over her shoulder as she headed for the door.

* * * *

"Who is it?" Matt slurred as he opened the door.

Lita pushed him inside, kicked the door closed and kissed him passionately.

When they broke apart, Matt just stared at her and blinked. "I don’t know what that was about," he said finally. "But I sure liked it."

Lita grinned at him and pulled him in for another kiss. "I had some inspiration this morning."

"You did?" Matt asked, looking her up and down in the dim light from his bedside lamp. "I see you’ve started wearing pajamas again."

Lita shrugged. "I kind of have to now Angel’s around. Besides, I can’t walk around naked all the time. That’d make me the Kat," she finished, just as Matt said, "Yeah, ‘cause then you’d be the Kat." They grinned at each other for a while.

"So, what was the inspiration?"

Lita smiled. "I have a secret. And it’s all for Jeffy!" She spun around to see his motionless body still lying in bed.

"He’s sleeping," Matt shrugged. "You know Jeff – he could sleep through an earthquake."

Lita nodded. "I’ll just have to wake him up then, ‘cause this is good."

"Your funeral," Matt told her as she jumped on Jeff’s bed.

"Jeff, wake up. I have something to tell you."

"Argh!" Jeff groaned. "Lita, piss off!" He tried to slap her away but she wasn’t budging.

"Trust me, Jeff. You want to hear this."

"I want to hear silence," Jeff muttered, burying his head under his pillow.

"Come on, Jeff," Lita insisted, grabbing at the pillow. "If you don’t wake up I can’t tell you the secret."

"How old are you, thirteen?" Jeff’s muffled but highly annoyed voice issued from under the pillow.

"Suit yourself," Lita shrugged, getting off him. "I’ll tell Matt instead." She pushed Matt up against the door and whispered in his ear as Jeff removed the pillow just enough so that he could watch them with one eye.

Matt broke into a grin. "Really?" he chuckled. "That is good!"

Jeff threw the pillow across the room and sat up. "Alright! I’m awake. Now, what is it?"

"You had your chance," Lita scolded him.

"Aw, forget it," Jeff sighed, flopping back onto the bed and covering his eyes with one arm.

"Lita, just put the poor guy out of his misery," Matt advised.

Lita stepped back over to Jeff and crouched down by his head. "Last night," she whispered. "You were the man of Angel’s dreams. And from what I was hearing you were very, very good."

Jeff removed his arm and looked at her, puzzled. "Angel’s having dirty dreams about me?"

Lita nodded slowly.

Jeff broke into a smile, then eyed her skeptically. "How do you know it was me?"

"You want a demonstration?" Lita asked, before giving a repeat performance of what she’d said to Angel earlier.

Matt shuffled his feet. "You know, in some bizarre way that actually turns me on."

Lita spun to face him. "That’s because you love your brother a little too much."

Jeff rolled over and buried his face in the mattress. "It’s just a damn dream. It doesn’t mean anything."

"Not true," Matt called out. "While she’s dreaming of you, she’s not dreaming of Ben."

"It’s Tim," Lita informed them.

"As the Rock would say, it doesn’t matter what his name is!" Matt cried. "But trust me, Jeff, being Angel’s dream stud is not going to hurt your chances one bit."

Jeff, who was still lying face down, broke into a deep sigh. "I’ll believe it when I see it."

* * * *

"Good morning, guys," Angel said cheerfully as she entered the gym. "Are we ready to go?" She’d spoken to Tim until the very last minute before heading to training and she now felt fantastic.

"Sure," Al Snow replied. "Let’s start with some stretches, then you can go for a run on the treadmill."

Angel nodded, checking out Al’s new shirt. "Commissioner Snow?" she asked. "You’re serious about this whole commissioner thing?"

Al grinned as Blackman shook his head, exasperated. "I sure am. As Mick said, it’s the perfect way to get back at Vince. But that reminds me, I have a whole sack of buttons for you to hand out."

"No problem," Angel told him. "I’ll keep them on my desk when I’m waiting for valet clients."

"Speaking of which, how’s the petition going?"

Angel shrugged. "I still only have you, Lita, Jeff and Matt. But I’m not too worried yet. I’m having lunch with the Hollys before Heat so hopefully that’s three more."

Al nodded. "Any clients tonight, yet?"

Angel shook her head. "Not yet, but the Hollys might have a match so we’ll see. Now, shush, I’ve gotta run."

Angel did her usual five miles on the treadmill, then some weights. Blackman took her for weapons, then it was time for ring work with Al.

"We’ll start off with some hip tosses today," Al suggested. He ran at her and she tried to turn him, sending him flying forward onto his stomach.

"Dammit!" she cried, realizing she’d done it wrong.

"That was a drop toe hold," Al told her.

"I know that," Angel sighed. "Try it again."

After several more failed hip tosses, Angel had had enough. "Can’t I try some moonsaults?"

"Okay, just a few. I know you can land those."

Angel performed three moonsaults, two of which she landed perfectly. On the second of them she completely missed Al, but still landed it without hurting herself.

"You think you’re ready to try a senton bomb?" Al asked after the third.

Angel shook her head. "I would, but I value my neck and back a little too much."

From another area of the room came an evil laugh. Angel looked up to discover that it belonged to Chris Benoit. She scowled at him and he smirked back, neither of them willing to break eye contact.

"…Angel?" Al Snow’s voice finally reached her ears.

"Hmm?" she asked, spinning around.

"Suplexes?" Al asked again.

Angel nodded, regaining her concentration. "Can we try some belly to backs, because I think if I twist my body at the right moment, I can theoretically pull off a modified hurricanrana head scissors type thing."

Al nodded. "Let’s try it, then."

First suplex – bam – Angel’s back hit the canvas. Second – bam – she hit the deck again. Third – bam. Fourth – bam. Fifth, sixth, seventh – bam, bam, bam.

"I think that’s enough of those for today," Al told her after the seventh, which had also taken a lot out of him. "We’ll try again some other time."

Angel nodded, dejected and sore. "Yeah, I don’t think I can take anymore today."

Benoit had found the whole thing very amusing.

Angel turned to glare at him. "Do you have a problem?"

Benoit shook his head slowly. "I’m simply checking out your form."

"This is a private training session," Al Snow informed him, stepping up beside Angel.

"And the gym is open for use by all hotel patrons," Benoit shot back.

Al rolled his eyes. "Try to ignore him. Belly to bellys now?"

Angel shook her head. "Clotheslines and takedowns. I need to work on my rope skills."

"Okay, but try to mix it up a bit. Never get predictable or you’re gone."

Angel nodded. "Let’s go."

She and Al flew into the ropes on opposite edges of the ring. Angel had a lot of trouble with the turn and by the time she got to the middle, Al went straight through her with a clothesline. She jumped straight back to her feet.

"Go again!" she cried.

Al stopped in the middle. "And, go."

Again they flew, but this time Angel hit the ropes with some speed and was first back. She stopped still and, as Al flew at her, grabbed him and used his own momentum to carry them into a DDT.

"Better!" Al cried, rubbing his chin for a second. "Go again."

This time, Angel planned to duck through his legs and pull him down for a powerbomb, but he caught her and began to lift her for the back body drop. Somehow she got her legs around and brought him down for the hurricanrana.

"Man," Al muttered, taking a second to clear his head. "I’m going to have to stop going easy on you."

Angel grinned, breathing heavily. "Two more?" she suggested.

Al nodded. "Let’s go."

When they met, Al again bent over to raise her for the back body drop, but Angel flew high off the ropes, right over him, then spun him into a rollup.

Al pushed her off easily. "Great," he said. "Now, if you can keep me there we might have something."

Angel grinned. "Last one. And go."

She was trying for a flying clothesline, something the Rock performed perfectly, night after night, but something she herself was terrible at. Unfortunately, this time it was Al’s turn to duck. She flew right over to him, right through the ropes and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Shit!" she cried as Al leaped out after her.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, believe it or not, only my pride is injured." She heard a sound and looked up to see Benoit giving her a slow, sarcastic clap.

"Very impressive," he told her.

Angel narrowed her eyes at him, but Al spun her around to face him instead.

"Circumstances being what they are, do you want to call it a day?"

Angel shook her head. "One more thing. Go lie in the ring like I’m about to give you a moonsault."

Al nodded and climbed into the ring. Angel followed him, then turned to Benoit and thrust her hands into the air. Still glaring at him, she climbed the ropes, then turned around. Giving Benoit one last scowl, she spread her arms and began to fall in a copy of his flying headbutt. But while she hadn’t been paying attention, Al had gotten to his feet and caught her mid-flight. He spun her around his head into a devastating powerslam, which knocked the wind right out of her.

"That’s the lesson for today," Al said, standing over her. "I don’t care who’s standing at ringside, wanting to intimidate you. Never, ever take your eyes off your opponent."

Angel sat up and looked for Benoit again.

"Now, that’s some good advice," he smirked, before turning and finally exiting, leaving Angel a painful, exhausted, angry mess.