* * * * *
Once again, D-Generation X are the first ones out, but this time, there’s an extra person there. For the first time in over a week, Ashlee comes out smiling. She walks alongside Hunter, leading the rest of DX to the ring. Once inside, Hunter grabs a mic.
“As you can see, we have a special guest with us tonight. We won her from the Corporate Ministry Monday night, or rather won her free-“
The Corporate Ministry’s music cuts Hunter off in mid sentence. Joey and Shane make their way out.
“Won her?” Joey questions angrily. “More like stole her.”
Hunter grins. “Stole? Are you implying that DX went into the Mean Street Posse’s lockerroom, uncuffed Ashlee from those godawful handcuffs, and left you and Shane-O a little note? Nah, we wouldn’t do such a thing!” His grin grows wider.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Now, you better give her back before you regret it.” Joey warns. DX laughs at him, along with Ashlee. She sighs happily, but can’t shake the feeling that Joey’s got something up his sleeve.
“Listen, uh, Joey, your threats don’t scare any of us. In fact, I bet I can do this-“ Hunter walks over and gives Ashlee a quick kiss. “-and you wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it.”
“That’s the last straw!” Joey shouts. He drops the mic and heads toward the ring. Hunter drops his mic as well and him and the rest of DX line up in the ring. Ashlee watches from behind, standing over by a ringpost.
Joey makes it up to the ring. He stops for a moment, hesitating. DX yells down at him and dare him to get into the ring. Joey growls and just about jumps in when Edge, Christian, Rodney, Pete and Mark run in from the audience and attack DX from behind. Shane runs down the ramp and jumps in with Joey. Joey runs straight for Hunter and doesn’t notice Ashlee slip outside the ring and quietly crawl around to the side of it. As soon as she makes it to the front of the ring by the ramp, she jumps to her feet and takes off. She runs backstage and keeps running until she reaches DX’s lockerroom. She swings the door open and searches the room quickly for her coat. She spots it and grabs it, pulling her keys out of her pocket. She slips the coat on and then quietly tiptoes out of the room. She walks silently toward the parking lot, trying her best not to draw attention to herself. When she makes it to the entrance of the parking lot, she breaks into a run. She reaches her car a minute later and fumbles with her keys, trying to steady her shaking hand. After taking a deep breath, she finally calms down enough to slide the key into the lock. She opens the door and quickly gets inside. As soon as she’s in, she locks the door. She immediately starts the car up and squeals out of the parking lot.
* * * * * *
10 minutes later, she makes it to her hotel room. Luckily for her, her room’s only on the second floor. She pauses for a moment in front of the elevator. She shakes the idea away of taking the elevator after remembering the last time she was in one. She runs up the stairs and makes a mad dash for her door. She quickly unlocks it and steps inside. She shuts the door behind her and double checks to make sure it’s locked. She runs over to the side of the bed and sits on the floor. She hugs her knees and rocks back and forth.
“What am I gonna do? They got Andrew first, now DX. It’ll only be a matter of time before they get me again. What in the hell am I gonna do?”
She suddenly gets an idea. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her cell phone. She remembers that Andrew’s at home, healing a few broken bones. She dials his number and on the 6th ring, he answers.
“Hello?” he asks sleepily.
“Oh, Andrew, did I wake you?”
“As a matter of fact, ya did. Who is this?”
“It’s Ash.”
“Ash?! How are you? You okay?”
“I-I could lie to you and say I’m fine, b-but I can’t. I’m scared, Andrew. I’m afraid that they’re gonna get me and I’ll never be able to escape. First they got you and t-then tonight, DX.” She stutters tearfully.
“Ash, don’t worry. They won’t get you.” He says soothingly. “Where are you right now?”
“In my hotel room. As soon as they started to attack DX, I chickened out and ran. I got here as fast as I could.”
“Did they see you get away?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Good. Do they know what hotel you’re staying at?”
“Of course not!”
“Okay, listen. I’m gonna go call Al Snow and tell him to go over there and check up on you. Was he booked for a match tonight?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Alright. I’m gonna hang up now and call him. Then, when I’m done talking to him, I’ll call you right back, okay?”
“O-Okay, but hurry, please?”
“I will.” He hangs up. Ashlee hangs up too and drops the phone onto the bed. She takes her coat off and drops it next to the phone. She stands up and walks into the bathroom.
“Okay. Calm down. Andrew’s right. They are not going to get you. Just calm down.” She reassures herself.
She puts the cold water on and splashes it against her face to calm her nerves. She grabs a nearby towel and dries herself off then shuts the water and light off. She walks over to the bed and sits on the edge of it.
"What a sucky day," she says out loud. "Totally exhausting, too." She yawns and lays her head down on the pillow and holds her phone in her hand. She starts to drift off when the phone rings. She jumps up and clicks it on.
"Andrew???"
"I forgot to ask one thing."
"What's that?"
"What hotel are you staying at what room number? We can't have Al going to every hotel and every room, now can we?"
She laughs. "That's technically two things, Andrew. Anyway, it's the uh, Hampton Hotel, and the room number is 204."
"Okay, thanks." He hangs up.
She sighs and drops the phone and sits back down on the bed. "Hurry, Al..." she pleads before laying back down and falling asleep.
* * * * *
She tosses and turns in her sleep, her dreams filled with thoughts of the Ministry coming to her room, knocking on the door and...
"Knock, knock!"
She sits up quickly, gasping. "W-Who's there?!" She asks hesitantly.
"It's Al. Andrew sent me over, remember?"
"Oh, thank God!" She jumps up and swings the door open. Al looks at her from the hall, his brow furrowed with worry. "How are ya feeling?"
"I-I'm feeling a little better." She peeks her head out into the hall and looks left, then right. "Come in, Al."
He nods and steps inside. She shuts the door quickly. He turns around and eyes her worriedly.
"You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, just had a terrible nightmare though."
"Ministry?"
"You know it." She replies bitterly.
He nods grimly. "Those bastards. Listen, Ash, how long have you been here for?"
"At the Hotel? Um... I think about, maybe 45 minutes, an hour?"
"And there's been no sign of the Ministry?"
She nods. "Right, no sign."
"Ahh, good. See, I don't think you have anything to worry about. If they were that hellbent on getting you back, I'm sure they would've been here by now." Al says.
Ashlee bits her lip thoughtfully. "Yeah, you're right, I suppose."
He nods a little. "So, you'll be fine here by yourself, right?"
She smiles slightly. "Yeah, I should be. I guess I just needed to see a friendly face."
"Great!" He exclaims, returning the smile. "I mean, I would stay, but I've gotta get back to my Hotel. I'm sharing the room with Mick, and I cannot trust the guy!"
She laughs. "I understand." She reopens the door. "Shoo, Al! Before Mick gets into your stuff!"
"He probably already has! I'll come by first thing tomorrow, okay?"
"Sure. Bye Al!" He leaves her room, waving. She shakes her head lightly and shuts the door.
* * * * *
Al walks down the stairs, humming loudly. He skips the last couple of steps on the staircase and heads towards the exit. As he walks toward his car, a dark green van passes him. He watches it go by, his curiosity rising. Where have I seen that van before? It seem so familiar... He stops and thinks for a moment. He shakes his head after a few minutes, realizing that Mick is still alone. Crazy nut! I gotta get back to the room! He jogs the rest of the way to his car.
* * * * *
Up in Ashlee's room, she's laying back down on her bed, ready to get her much needed rest. She just about drifts off when there's a knock on her door again.
"Now who is it?!" She jumps up from her bed and pulls the door open. The minute she sees the person at the door, she immediately goes to slam it shut.
Joey puts his foot in the doorway to keep it open. He pushes it opens and shakes his head at her.
"Ashlee, honey, you could've hurt me!" he says, stepping into the room.
She backs up. "H-How did you find me? I-I was so sure you wouldn't be able to track me down..."
He grins. "Easy. After we beat DX until they begged for mercy, we went backstage to search for you. Lucky for us, we have excellent timing. We over one Mr. Al Snow on the phone. Normally, we'd ignore anything to do with him, but he said your sweet name and we just had to listen in. As it turns out, he was getting the information on where you were staying. We just followed him here." He walks closer to her, causing her to back up some more. "Now, let's go. This will be the last time you ever escape from me!"
"No!" I'm not going back with you, EVER! Just leave me alone!" She backs up to the other side of the bed.
Joey dives at her, landing on the bed. She dodges out of the way and runs for the door. She runs out into the hallway and straight into Mark and Shane. Raising her head slowly, she looks up at Mark.
"Just where do you think you're going?" He growls.
"I was just.. leaving?" She spins around but Joey steps out of the room and blocks her path.
"I told you sweetie, you are not leaving me anymore." In one quick movement, he pins her arms in front of her and pushes her against the wall.
"I don't want to get mean now, but you are just being too disobedient. The next stunt you pull, there will be a consequence." He explains, his voice eerily soft. "And I don't think Al's gonna be happy with the idea of being beat until he passes out."