* * * * * *
Ashlee’s eyes flutter open and she blinks rapidly. She tries to stretch her arms out, but realizes that they’re tied down. Oh no… What the hell happened last night? Last thing I remember is being pushed toward the bed and.. oh no. Please God, don’t tell me he did.. Her face pales. Just then, she hears a loud bang followed by Joey cursing. The bathroom door opens and he steps out. She closes her eyes quickly, pretending she’s still asleep.
“Stupid door…” Joey mutters. He looks at Ashlee, who seems to be sleeping peacefully. He grins, thinking about what he did last night. He sits down next to her and runs his fingers through her hair.
“You look so sweet and innocent right now… I hate to spoil it, but…” He leans down and kisses her, causing her to jump. Her eyes fly open and she glares at him.
“Well, if it isn’t my sleeping beauty!” He says cheerfully.
“Joey,” she growls. “What the hell did you do to me last night?”
He chuckles. “What do you think I did? I did what I’ve been wanting to do ever since I laid eyes on you.”
She glares at him, not saying a word. He laughs. “What? I enjoyed it, and I’m sure you would’ve too, had you been up.” He scratches his chin thoughtfully. “Ooh.. I got an idea. Seeing as how you’re up now…” his voice trails off.
She shakes her head. “NO! Joey, please no..” she begs.
He grins and nods. “Uh huh. C’mon, you’ll thank me later, I’m certain.”
She shakes her head some more. “No Joey, I won’t! Please, I’m begging you! Don’t do this!” He shakes his head now. “As much as it hurts me to see you beg like this, I’m sorry, but I just can’t help myself..” And with that, he proceeds to kiss her, silencing her cries of protest.
* * * * * *
“Are you ready?” DX comes out, angry expressions on their faces. Triple H immediately grabs a mic and addresses Shane.
“Shane, you lied to us. We won that damn match, but you held back on that agreement. So, tonight, I’m challenging you to a no-holds-barred match. No – wait…” He looks around at his DX buddies. “Better yet, we’ll do it this way. Any member of DX can have at any member of your Ministry. Whichever.. ‘team’ wins the most matches, gets Ash. And this time, there’s no backing out on the deal, got it?”
Hunter waits for Shane’s response, and he doesn’t have to wait long. The Corporate Ministry’s theme starts up and Shane comes out, along with Mark, Edge, Christian, Rodney, Pete, and of course, Joey, who has a death grip on Ashlee. She has a very upset expression spread on her face, while he’s grinning like a maniac. He keeps whispering in her ear, which upsets her more and more.
“Okay, Triple H, I accept your match, but I’d like to add a stipulation to it. Any of your D-Generation friends cannot, and I repeat, cannot interfere.”
Hunter nods his agreement. He hands the mic over to Gunn.
“Well, let’s see here.. who’s ass do I want to kick tonight?” He stops for a moment to think. “Oh, I know! Edge, how’re ya doing buddy? Got any plans for tonight?” Edge looks up at Gunn, shaking his head. “Great!” Gunn says. “Because, if ya couldn’t tell by now, I’m challenging your ass!” He hands the mic to X-Pac, and ‘Pac wastes no time in issuing his challenge.
“Joey, Joey, you look so happy right now. Look at you, grinning like a fool; grinning lke someone who got what they wanted last night, am I right?” He asks.
“You’re damn right!” Joey shouts back, squeezing Ashlee tighter.
“We-ell, I hate to spoil your happiness by beating the crap out of you tonight, but I just have to. You understand, don’t ya?”
Joey nods. “If you say so, but I’m sure it’s going to be the other way around!”
X-Pac smirks smugly then tosses the mic to Road Dogg. “Let’s lookie here, which one of these gentlemen will be the lucky winner tonight? Oh, I know.." ” Dogg pauses momentarily before continuing. “Chrissy boy, Christian. He’s the lucky winner who’ll be visiting the Dogg House tonight!”
“Fine. We’ll see you fellas later tonight.”
Shane says, leading the CM to the back. Ashlee watches DX as she
gets pulled to the back, hoping that they’ll win.
* * * * *
By the end of the night, it was on the side of the Corporate Ministry. Sure, Hunter had defeated Shane after knocking him out with the bell, but Edge defeated Billy Gunn after nailing him with a mock Fameasser, and Christian defeated the Road Dogg. The next match was the final one; X-Pac vs. Joey. Meanwhile, backstage, Joey was preparing for his match, sitting on a bench in the Mean Street Posse’s locker room, with Ashlee sitting right next to him.
“I want you to remember Ash, when I’m in that ring in a little while, and I’m beating X-Pac to the point of unconsciousness, that I’m doing it for you, because I love you.” Joey coos, placing his arm around her. She stiffens up the moment he touches her.
“And, after the match, when we get back to my room, we can have some more fun like we did this morning…” he adds.
“God, I beg you, please take my life right now.” Ashlee mutters to herself.
“What was that honey?” Joey asks, resting his head on her shoulder.
She sighs. “Nothing of interest to you.”
“Everything you do is of interest to me,” he murmurs, placing a hand on her chin, making her eyes meet his. He leans forward and lightly places his lips on hers.
“I don’t know if I can wait until tonight..” He says, biting his lip thoughtfully.
Ashlee shakes her head. “No Joey. That’s quite alright.” She checks her watch. “You’ve got a match in 5 minutes.” She pushes him away.
He frowns. “You’re right, but you wait until
tonight, baby. I can’t wait.” He stands up and stretches.
“Time to kick X-Punk’s grass smoking ass. But, before I go…” He reaches
into his gym bag and pulls out something that makes Ashlee’s heart sink.
A pair of handcuffs. He handcuffs her to the bench and kisses her
on the forehead before leaving the lockerroom and pulling the door shut.
* * * * * *
The Mean Street Posse’s music starts up and Joey makes his way out, a smirk on his face. He walks down to the ring, taking his time. His opponent is already in the ring, waiting impatiently for him. “This is for you, baby,” Joey says before getting into the ring.
X-Pac immediately kicks him in the ribs, knocking him into the mat. He grabs Joey by his ponytail and pulls him to his feet. He then whips Joey into the ropes, and when Joey bounces off of the, he nails him with a Spinning Heel Kick. Joey hits the mat, silently cursing himself. He pulls himself up and grabs X-Pac by the hair and tosses him into the corner viciously. He sits X-Pac up on the top turnbuckle and suplexes him, knocking the wind out of the both of them. The two of them gasp for air as the ref starts his count of 10. Joey gets to his feet first, shortly following by X-Pac. X-Pac leaps at Joey, hoping to knock him down. Instead, Joey catches him then slams him into the mat. He then drags X-Pac into the corner and prepares to do a mock Bronco Buster. He charges at X-Pac, but X-Pac moves out of the way just in time and Joey connects harshly with the buckle. Joey falls down, holding himself, teary-eyed. X-Pac stands above him, grinning.
“Awww, did ya hurt little Joey and friends?” He laughs. Joey growls and gets to his knees before X-Pac kicks him back into the corner and lands the Bronco Buster. After a minute of Bronco Busting, X-Pac stops and jumps off. Joey gasps for breath while trying to make it back to his feet. X-Pac helps Joey to his feet when a voice distracts him. “Hey, X-Punk, why don’t you turn around and have a look at this?”
X-Pac and the ref turn around to see Shane McMahon
standing at the end of the ramp, smirking. Joey uses this as an opportunity
to low blow X-Pac and pin him. He gets the 1,2,3, and quickly slides
out of the ring. Shane runs down the ramp and helps Joey up and leads
him hurriedly to the back.
* * * * * *
Shane and Joey make it to the MSP’s dressing room a couple of minutes later, cheering loudly. Joey opens the door and looks inside, expecting to see Ashlee, but what he sees instead both upset and angers him.
Ashlee’s gone. The handcuffs are still attached to the bench, but the one cuff that was around Ashlee’s wrist is opened and unlocked. He stares at the bench, noticing a note taped to it. He runs over to the piece of paper and reads it, cursing loudly after he finishes.
“What’s it say?” Shane asks, eyeing the room. Joey crumples it up and throws it at him, then sits down and puts his head in his hands.
Shane catches it and opens it. He read it aloud.
‘Hey, Jackasses! We knew you’d try something when we won, so we decided to get our prize early. Oh, Joey, don’t worry about Ash. She’s safe and secure with us. She’s happy now, and according to her, you always said you wanted to see her happy, so no complaining, got it?’
It was signed by DX. Shane sighs and crumples it back up. He goes over and sits next to Joey. “What are you gonna do?”
Joey looks at Shane, fire in his eyes.
“I’m gonna get my Ashlee back, that’s what.” He replies, standing up and leaving Shane in the room alone.