"Baby, please -"

"No! No way! I'm not going to do it." Test looked at Stephanie with a mixture of anger and confusion. "It's hit and run Steph! It's a chargeable offence! All the title shots mean nothing if I'm sitting in a jail cell!"

"You won't get caught. You'll have complete back up. Nobody will know it's you." Stephanie explained calmly. Test looked at her closely. "Who's idea is this? Rocky? Taker? Kane? Big Show? Helmsley?"

Stephanie tried to keep her face neutral and failed miserably. Test stared at her in a rage. "Helmsley? You want me to help him?"

"It's... it's not like that." Stephanie stammered. He was furious. "Then what is it like? What the hell does he know about you that I don't?"

"It's something from a long time ago." She answered slowly, not looking at him. She wasn't ready to tell Test about Christina... or Daisy as she was now called. It would've killed Chris if he found out that Test had known before he did. ~And God knows I've caused him enough pain this year.~

Test seemed to read her mind. "It's something to do with him isn't it? Why can't you tell me?"

"Damnit, will you just trust me!" shouted Stephanie. "I'm not going through this with you again! That part of my life is over and done with! How would you feel if I kept asking about your friendship with Vanessa?"

"It's not the same!"

"Yes it is! Why can't you trust me?"

"I do!"

"Well you have a damned funny way of showing it!" Stephanie threw her bag over her shoulder. Test jumped to his feet. "Don't walk out me."

"Why the hell not?" Her voice was cold and Test winced as though she'd struck him. "Because I need you... because you mean so much to me that I don't know what I'd do without you."

She dropped her bag and hugged him tightly, needing something real to hold onto in this unreal situation. As her fiancee kissed her, it occurred to her that in private, the word love was never used by either of them.

~~~

Hunter sighed and checked his watch. 15 minutes and still no word from Stephanie. ~She'd better come through.~ he thought impatiently as Jesse and X-Pac joined him.

"Where the hell have you two been?" He snapped, glad to have someone to take his frustration out on. Jesse held up his hands. "Ran into Lydia."

"Lydia?" Hunter frowned. "Christain's woman?"

"Call her that and she'll kill you." laughed X-Pac. "She was one of the writers for a few months then there was a big thing about her being biased towards her man and his brother and her friends and so on."

"Yeah, she wrote that thing between me n Jericho at Summerslam..." Jesse shook his head and laughed. "Lugubrious... and she's also responsible for the whole 'Wizard of Oz' thing Al Snow was going on about."

"Oh about Big Show quoting Judy Garland being a sign of the Apocalypse?" Hunter started laughing. "Yeah I remember her now."

"Well she's rather unforgettable." X-Pac said with a frown. "So where's the happy couple?"

"You tell me and we'll both know." Helmsley's good humour vanished. "Jess, better tell our back up to be ready in five."

"On to it." Jesse vanished around a corner. Hunter smirked at X-Pac. "It's show time."

~~~

Stephanie watched the monitor in relief and shock as the car's headlights flashed. ~Oh my god.. he did it.~ Then the reality of what had happened sunk it. ~Oh my god... he did it.~ Test caught her eye and shook his head slightly in disgust. The look made her feel ill for a minute, before she shrugged it off. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. It was only seconds later that she realised she hadn't done what she was meant to do and the ill feeling returned. This was not going to be good.

"I have to go out there." Shane stood up. Test shook his head. "No point. Vince is already out there. What more can you do?"

"I'm going with him." Stephanie started to follow her brother out the door. Shane hugged her quickly. "It's ok Steph. Austin will be ok. If it was who I think it was, then we'll get them. Nothing is gonna cast a shadow on your big day ok?"

Test looked around and shrugged, asking the empty room, "Why do I bother?" before following the McMahon siblings.

Out in the parking lot was pure chaos. Stephanie could only watch in disbelief at was going on. It was like a bad dream. Then Hunter showed up and started arguing with Vince.

"Jesus Vince that's hit and run!" He exclaimed indignantly. Stephanie almost applauded his innocent act as Test moved over to where Vince and Shane were to give back up as DX - minus Billy - faced off against Vince, Shane and Test.

Absently, she noticed Austin's baseball cap on the ground and knelt down to pick it up. Standing up straight, she glanced at the men, who were still arguing. For a brief second, she made eye contact with Hunter and she shivered at the cold look in his eyes. With a smirk, he mouthed 'You still owe me princess. Later.' before stalking off.

Back in the locker room, Stephanie tried to keep calm. It didn't help that Test kept talking about 'The monster who would do such a thing' and 'What kind of person would do that to another?' It was enough to make her feel even sicker than she already was.

Steph jumped as Hunter, Jesse and X-Pac barged in. Lydia could defend the Outlaws all she wanted, but as far as Stephanie was concerned, they were part of DX and therefore assholes. As Hunter asked about the main event, Steph couldn't stop from nervously watching him, then flicking her eyes over to Test to see if he'd noticed. He hadn't. Typical.

"And sorry about your nose there tough guy." Hunter snickered, gesturing at Test who clenched his jaw. Thankfully, they left then, and the men resumed their conversation, leaving Stephanie to pace nervously. During the exchange between Hunter and Shane, X-Pac had mouthed a message. 'Room 893, 2 am.' Stephanie had nodded to show she understood - after all, she'd failed on her part of the deal and still owed him for the information about Christina/Daisy. With a shudder, she wondered what he would demand from her now.

~~~

Stephanie looked at the clock. 1.48 am. Time to go. Carefully, she disentangled herself from Test's embrace and slipped out of the room. Luckily everyone - with one or two exceptions of course - had been too stunned and shocked by the Austin incident to consider going out. Room 893. Nervously, she knocked lightly on the door. It swung open instantly then shut again almost before she was through it.

"I guess you know why I asked you to meet me here." Hunter settled into an armchair and motioned for Stephanie to do the same. She crossed her arms and remained standing. "We had a deal. I didn't hold up my end, I owe you."

"You do." He nodded in agreement. "Now you can either do me a small favour, and we call it quits, but no more info on your kid. Or I can help you with more information, probably a visit, perhaps even legal action. You just have to do one thing."

"And what would that be?" Stephanie asked cynically. Hunter smiled. Not his usual sarcastic grin of late, but a genuine smile of good humour. "Marry me."