"Damnit, where the hell are they?" Christian paced around the room. "We have a match! In 10 minutes! To defend the belts!"

"They'll be here." Lydia replied calmly, looking up from the magazine in front of her and frowning. "If your going to pace around do you think you can carry Lucilla while you do it? If she goes to sleep, hopefully Jason will too and I can watch the rest of the show in peace."

"Oh yeah, cause they've got you run off your feet right now." replied Christian, raising an eyebrow and looking at his children playing happily on the floor. "What the hell are you doing anyway?"

"Creative outlet for intense feelings of negativity, thereby releasing my resentment and jealousy by a method that is completely harmless to myself and those around me." replied Lydia, handing him the magazine. He took one look at it and started laughing. "I know you hate the Spice Girls babe, but this is a bit much."

"You can never hate the Spice Girls enough." A laughing voice joined in as Stephanie stuck her head through the door. "Just letting you guys know that your up next.. where the hell are Edge and Teg?"

"Probably still shagging like the newlyweds they are." Lydia reached for her magazine. "Can I have that back please? I haven't finished doing Baby Spice's hair."

"How the hell can you be so calm about this?" Christian asked resuming his pacing, this time with his daughter on his shoulders. Stephanie looked at them in shock. "What do you mean they're not here? Your defense is up next! If he doesn't get here soon it'll be a handicap match!"

"Honey, I have total faith in you."

"Well that's all very nice, but you won't be helping me defend the belts! And don't smirk at me like that, under NO circumstances are you going anywhere near that ring while those damned DX members are in there." Christian ranted, adding as an afterthought. "No offense Steph."

"None taken." She shrugged as Lydia answered. "It's Jesse. He's not gonna hurt me and he's not gonna let X-Punk hurt me. It'll probably more to your advantage to have me out there than Edge. I'll go find a suitably sexy outfit."

She jumped up and headed out the door as Christian and Stephanie stared at each other, horrified. "She wouldn't? Would she?"

"She would." confirmed Christian looking thoroughly miserable with this new turn of events. "I think she would any way."

"Who would what? If we're talking about Lyd, the answer is yes, she would." Integra wandered casually through the door. "What's she doing?"

"Where the hell is your husband?" snapped Christian, ignoring the question. Teg raised an eyebrow. "Oh it's nice to see you too my dear brother in law. And yes, we had a wonderful - "

Lydia burst into the room melodramatically. "Okay, he's out there, he's in his ring outfit, I really don't care if he's ready to go or not, get out there and kick the Punk's ass, don't hurt Jess anymore than absolutely necessary, bring the belts back with you, give me Lucilla, hey baby doll after the match I'm gonna kill your Uncle Edge, are you ready to become a widow already Teg, speaking of which did you have a fun weekend?"

The other three gaped at her. Lydia looked back at them, then pushed Christian towards the door. "Match! Now! Win!"

Still amazed by his girlfriends speech, Christian shook his head then headed out of the room to join his older brother. "Has she ever kissed the Blarney Stone by any chance? More than once?"

"Personally I think she could swallow the freakin thing." was the muttered reply from Christian. Stephanie and Integra started laughing as Lydia looked somewhat abashed. "He's gonna pay for that one."

"I'm sure he will." Integra nodded. "But please don't tell us about it Okay?"

"Speaking of which, how many times did you two actually get out of bed over the weekend?" Lyd grinned smuttily. Stephanie clapped her hands over her ears. "Please don't answer that!"

"It was my honeymoon!" Integra looked at her best friend in disbelief. "Do you actually think I'm going to -"

"Shush! Jesse! Mic!" Lydia interrupted, settling down on the couch and putting Lucilla back on the floor as Jason stood up unsteadily. Integra held her arms out to him. "Did you miss your Auntie Teg?"

"Shush!" repeated Lyd, turning up the monitor in time to hear Jesse saying "And if you’re not down with that -"

Integra and Lydia shrieked in unison and even Stephanie flinched and covered her eyes as Jesse hit Christian over the head with the mic. Lydia jumped off her seat and started yelling at the TV. "Jesse you horrid, horrid man! You are gonna be in SO much trouble when you get back here, you mongrel! Oh, I’m gonna kill that little rat bastard! Yeah, go on ref restart the match! Can you stop laughing at me please?"

"I'm sorry." Integra apologized, not looking sorry at all. Stephanie hid a grin, not wanting to incur the wrath of Lydia. "I've gotta go guys. I'll catch you later?"

"See ya Steph." Her friends replied in unison. Letting herself out, Steph headed for the DX dressing room, there was something she wanted to talk to Hunter about. As she walked the halls, her mind wandered. Chris had been less than civil to her at Edge and Integra's wedding. Actually she'd barely seen him since the reception. He'd said that they needed to talk and Stephanie agreed whole heartedly. It was time to tell the whole story. After all, what did she have to lose?

Suddenly, a hand went over her mouth and an arm around her waist and she was lifted off her feet. Trying to scream, Stephanie struggled against the figure holding her, but he just tightened his grip on her, carrying her into what looked like an old store room. Still holding her against him as she tried to get free, her assailant propped a chair under the door handle, then whispered in her ear. "If you don't stop wiggling like that then I won't be responsible for the consequences. Now will you calm down so I put you down now?"

Stephanie nodded and she was set down on the floor. Instantly she turned around and hit him in on the chest. "Goddamnit Chris! What the hell are you playing at?"

"Playing? Oh yeah, I forgot, it's all just a game to you isn't it Princess? The whole world's a stage and your the heroine or the villianess, depending on what suits your purposes." Jericho snapped in reply, grabbing her by the wrists. Stephanie looked at her former lover in confusion and a little fear. "Chris what the hell are you talking about?"

"Have you forgotten already?" He hissed. "Tell me Princess what the hell give you the right to play around with people's lives? What gives you the right to completely tear someone apart?"

"You’re scaring me." She whispered, trying to wrench free. Chris laughed bitterly. "I doubt you've ever been truly scared Stephanie. You've never known true fear or the despair and grief that goes with it."

"Oh and I suppose you have?" Steph challenged. Chris's face lost its anger and suddenly he looked completely helpless. "I've known fear so strong that any other emotion was completely obliterated. I've existed in a state of complete and utter panic for days. I've been pushed to the brink of insanity by fear."

"What on Earth could scare you so badly?" Stephanie asked gently, her anger dissipating in the face of the emotion in his voice.

"We're not here to discuss me."

"Then what are we here to discuss?" Steph asked with a frown. Chris's eyes narrowed and his face became hard. "When did you stop loving and trusting me?"

"What the fu-" Stephanie didn't know how to react. Was he serious? How should she answer? She didn't know especially considering she didn't know if she ever had stopped loving or trusting him. "Chris, what's going on?"

"We were only a couple for 6 months. We'd only known each other for five months before that. That's not even a year together. Even so, I felt like we were meant to be together, that it wasn't just a co incidence that I was out on the balcony that day you got stopped by the pimp and Modina."

Modina. Stephanie hadn't thought about the hooker who had once been her friend in over three years. She'd been so consumed by the loss of her relationship with Chris, then grief for her daughter, that most of the people she'd known or met while living with Chris had been completely forgotten. Modina, Neesya, who else? Vanessa had been forgotten about until she showed up as Test's guest in late 1998, then gotten a job in security through Shane. Oh god - The Jericho family. With a shudder, Stephanie remembered Louisa's words. If you hurt my baby brother, I will kill you. You'll never be safe from me Princess. So don't hurt him and we're good. Got it?/

Chris watched Stephanie with a small smile, instinctively knowing what she was thinking about. "How's memory lane Princess?"

"Not a place I want to spend a lot of time." She replied sharply, disturbed by the calculating look on his face. He smiled widely. "Too bad. Because tomorrow, you, me and the Four Musketeers are catching a plane and taking a tour round the old neighborhood. And you and I are going to have a long overdue chat."