Hunter stirred slightly as the warm blanket tightened itself around him a little more, and then snapped awake as he realized there was a body curled up against him under the blanket. For second he couldn't figure out why Lita would be sleeping on his lap, then it all came flooding back, in a tidal wave of memories and images.

Looking down at the sleeping redhead, Hunter was stunned by how fragile and vulnerable she looked. He'd always thought of Lita as being tough as nails, always ready to fight and never ready to back down. To see her looking so helpless was a shock to the system, but nothing compared to the shock Hunter got when an annoyed sounding voice shouted, "What the hell is going on?"

Lita woke at the sound of the voice, much to Hunter's unaccountable irritation. She didn't open her eyes, but her body, previously relaxed, grew tense. After a few seconds, Lita buried her head in Hunter's chest and murmured "Tell him to go away."

"Go away." Hunter said, automatically obeying Lita, without actually expecting the other man to go away.

"What are you doing Lita?" The voice repeated insistently, glaring at up Hunter from the back yard. "And what the hell are you doing?"

"He's being my pillow." Muttered Lita without opening her eyes.

"Lita… I heard…"

"Everyone's heard." She replied opening her eyes and looking down into concerned blue ones. "News travels fast right? It's been a fun filled 24 hours that's for sure Matt and X-Pac sold us out, Jeff and Chyna are in RTC custody, Austin's dead and Stephanie's pregnant. Congratulations by the way."

"You got Stephanie pregnant?" shouted Hunter. "Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"Well shit Hunter, thanks for the support." Chris replied sarcastically. "I can understand why you'd be unimpressed, but I had hoped for at least a little bit of congratulations."

"You have no idea what you've done do you?" The older man shook his head as he stood up. "You're a fucking idiot! You swore to me you would take care of her remember? I told you that if you hurt her, I would kill you. I'm going to hold you to that and I swear to god Jericho, when I get down from this roof -"

"Why are you so mad about this Helmsley?" yelled Chris, interrupting him. "It's got nothing to do with you. She's not your wife anymore. "

"I know that! She's not yours either! That's the problem!" Hunter sighed as the look of realization crossed Jericho's face. "Exactly."

Something occurred to Lita. She stood up, either not hearing or ignoring Hunter's slight noise of protest. "Chris… when did you get back?"

"About 5 minutes ago. Why?"

"Have you spoken to anyone since you called us last night?" She asked urgently. Chris shook his head. "Other than Linda and Stephanie, no. Why?"

"Oh fuck." Swore Hunter. "Go inside. Call Linda and tell her to get the fuck outta there."

"What's going on?"

"Just do it!" shouted Hunter. "Now!"

"Hey Lita, do Jeff and Matt know that you spent the night out on the roof with him?"

Without a word, Lita turned and stalked off, climbing in through the window to the room. Chris looked very confused. "Helmsley… wanna tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Matt turned on us. Their meeting with Foley last night was an ambush. Richards has Jeff."

"Oh my god." Chris ran a hand through his hair. "I'm… this is.. I just… oh lord."

"Yeah it's like that." Hunter felt pity for the shell-shocked younger man. Chris sighed, looking absolutely miserable. "She must hate me."

"No. Lita's just hurting too much right now. She doesn't want to be around people." As he spoke, Hunter again felt oddly pleased that Lita had let him see her vulnerable side. He doubted it was a side that she showed freely to anyone. Jericho looked up in surprise. "Then why were you with her?"

"Because I understand what she's going through. When we met with Lesner and Heyman last night, they said they'd trade X-Pac for Chyna. She agreed immediately of course, you know what she's like." Hunter felt his chest constrict as he thought about what had happened the previous night. "So they took Chyna. X-Pac left with them."

"So X-Pac turned?" Chris asked in shock. "I'll kill the fucker!"

"You and others." Hunter suddenly realised how much time had passed since Jericho arrived. "Get inside. Call Stephanie. Tell her to get out of there. Matt knows…"

Jericho started, then ran inside. Hunter shook his head and climbed back in the window, into an empty bedroom. To his surprise, Bradshaw was sitting on the bed, waiting for him. "Don't start. I just got bawled out by Jericho, so I'm really not in the mood."

"You like her." It was an observation, not a question. Slowly, Hunter nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

She needs some happiness in her life. There's been too much pain already. Add to it and I will hand you over to Richards myself." Bradshaw stated firmly. Hunter nodded again. "Duly noted. Mind if I ask -"

"HUNTER!" Tori came bursting into the room, looking frantic. "Jericho's been trying Linda and Steph for the last five minutes. Nothing."

"Maybe they're asleep." Suggested Bradshaw. Tori shook his head. "Answering machine. It's never turned off. I mean, never."

Hunter felt his blood run cold. He knew as well as Tori did that Linda and Stephanie never turned their answering machine off. "This can only mean one thing."

He and Tori looked at each other, feeling each other's fear. "Richards got them."

~~~~

Hunter appeared in the lounge room, where everyone was sitting around eating breakfast. "I need a car."

"Take my HumVee." Offered Mother Jayne sleepily. "Rob can drive."

"Thanks." Hunter replied. He looked towards Mother Lilly. "Weapons?"

"Knock yourself out." She replied with a shrug. "Just try not to get brains or blood on them."

"Anyone else going with them?" asked Mother Scatts, correctly assuming that Tori and Chris would go with Hunter and Rob. Rock stood up. "I'm going. There needs a couple of people there who aren't as emotionally involved as these three."

"Will the five of us fit in the HumVee? Asked Rob in concern. Mother Jayne nodded. "Yeah. It'll be tight, but -"

"I don't care." Tori said firmly. "And I think I safely say that none of the others do either."

"We don't." Rocky stretched as he stood up. "10 minutes to wake up properly then we're leaving."

"Who put him in charge?" muttered Tori. Rob raised an eyebrow. "He's the closest thing to a good leader we've got left. No offense Helmsley."

"None taken. Has anyone told the rest of the guys?" He asked, referring to DX. Mother Angel nodded. "They know. Billy sends his congratulations for being able to think clearly beyond 'I'm gonna kill that fucker.' Shawn just nodded."

"I've given them a couple of sedatives, along with Jackie and Hurricane. " reported Mother Jayne. She paused. "Rob, if I give you some basic medical stuff, will you be able to -"

She trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. Her body guard nodded. She smiled at him affectionately. "Scratch my HumVee and you'll need a new job."

"You wouldn't fire me." Retorted Rob with a grin. "Nobody else makes your coffee the way you like it. Where'd you get the HumVee anyway?"

"Same place Lilly gets her weapons."

Hunter noticed Lita, standing uncertainly in the doorway. Quietly he moved over to her. She looked up at him and smiled shakily. "What's happening?"

Quickly, he explained. She nodded. "I hope everything's okay." She bit her lip and looked up at Hunter uncertainly. "Can you do something for me?"

'Anything' thought Hunter. 'Name it. I'll do it.' Aloud, he replied "What's up?"

"If when you get there... and everything isn't okay… can you make sure Chris doesn't see anything more than he has to? I know you don't like him and I know he was an asshole earlier, but I don't think he could handle it and the Mothers Club have enough basket cases on their hands as it is." Lita looked away, as though she was worried she'd been asking too much. Hunter gently turned her face back towards his. "I promise. Jericho will not see anything he doesn't need to see. "

"Thank you." She whispered.

"C'mon guys." RVD shouted. "All aboard."

Hunter turned to leave, but Lita grabbed him by the wrist. "Be careful."

Without thinking about what he was doing, he leaned down and kissed her tenderly on the lips, before brushing a strand of hair off her face. "I will."

"C'mon lover boy!" yelled Tori gleefully. "Time to go rescue the damsel in distress."

With an almost shy smile, Hunter left, heading out to the garage with the others. Lita made her way back to her room, ignoring those who called out to her. She sat on the bed, trying to clear her mind, but her thoughts always came back to the same thing.

Hunter. And how right it had felt in his arms last night. And the way he'd kissed her. Lita opened her eyes and too her surprise, found she was smiling. "Wow."