4510.26.10 EDIT changed Ellie's WWE contract from a three-year to a two-year. this is going to be crucial in the Vindictive Angels sequel.
Sorry for the massive delay on updates. I've been dealing with a lot lately, trying to get myself situated for the jump to college and whatnot. Thanks for sticking with me!
Warnings: THE END! Brace yourself for some fluff towards the end. Mild violence and language.
Disclaimers: I don't own nor am I in any way affiliated/associated with TNA or WWE. I own Ellie and this story, however.
Note: there will be a moment of weirdness between Ellie and someone she worked with during her WWE days. There's a lot of ambiguous tension between them that's hinted at but not explained. You will find out what happened between them in VA's prequel.
Note II: yes! There will be a prequel (called "Demonic Angels"). It'll be about Ellie and how she got her wrestling start and her experiences in the WWE. Keep an eye out for it, don't forget to read/review!
Reviews and Critique: yes please!
Enjoy!
Epilogue
Soon after leaving TNA, Ellie flew back to WWE headquarters in Connecticut. The chairman, Vince McMahon, wasn't too happy about her back-and-forth between the companies, even though she argued that she was only gone for less than a year. Just the mere fact that Ellie had ever been associated with TNA, WWE's arch-rival, somewhat put her on Vince's bad side. And yet, she had no regrets. She knew what she was getting herself into when she transferred to TNA, what she would have to face when she returned to WWE. The memories and experiences gained from her time in TNA was well worth being put in the dog house.
It was late April 2009. The creative team was finalizing lists for the Superstar Draft that was supposed to take place within the next week or so. Her timing made it slightly more difficult when deciding which brand she was to be placed on. They didn't know whether to put her on a brand and then draft her, or to just put her somewhere after the draft was over. Vince, Ellie, and the General Managers all got together on a non-taping day and collaborated on an idea. They all mutually decided to make her return independent of the draft. The first idea that was formulated was to send her back to Raw, the brand she had been on when she left the WWE. Raw's popularity and high ratings, they said, might be able to help her re-debut and establish herself as a Diva again. Ellie declined, saying that she wanted to experience something new. Smackdown was brought up, and again she declined. She had experience with Smackdown during her initial WWE days that was less than pleasant, and decided that she didn't want to go through that again.
Turns out her only remaining option was to go to ECW. Conveniently, that's where Christian was. She didn't know if she turned down Raw and Smackdown on purpose or not, if she unconciously elected to go to ECW just because he was there. She didn't know, but she was pretty sure it was because she wanted to try something new. Christian just happened to be on ECW.
ECW recently aquired the GM services of former Diva Tiffany. ECW's previous GM, Teddy Long, had been sent to Smackdown. After Ellie's decision was made, the meeting was adjourned. Ellie was told to rest up for the week and then fly out to the new arena the following Tuesday for ECW tapings. She herself wasn't going to be on TV, but she had to be backstage to meet with Tiffany to discuss her new contract.
Headquarters was unfamiliar. She had only been here a handful of times. There was no one she recognized—it wasn't like she could expect wrestlers to be seen wandering around WWE headquarters when they had no business there. But still, being here in this umfamiliar environment and this unfamiliar state brought back the memories. And for a moment, she wondered if she should go to Smackdown.
Back at her hotel, she reconsidered. She had brought out her laptop and was currently surfing WWE's website. From observing the active rosters of each of the three brands, it was quickly obvious that ECW had the fewest number of Divas, given that it was WWE's smallest and least-watched show. But she had a reputation as Lina Lavigne of bringing a lot of flavor to the party, and figured that she could help to spice up ECW and change the way people looked at the Divas division. Though achieving that singlehandedly was a difficult feat to accomplish. Since there were so few Divas on ECW, they rarely got an in-ring action, and were often seen as valets for Superstars. She figured that she could help the Divas division gain more TV time by adding to the number of active Divas. After all, not fighting was her least favorite thing to do.
She watched TNA that week. Nothing really seemed to change that much. The Beautiful People came down to the ring and revealed that Ellie had left. Despite what happened the previous week, they claimed that Ellie had left because she was afraid of them. Taylor and Roxxi made a point of reminding them that Ellie was the one that scored the win for their team. The Beautiful People remained defiant, but they bailed when Roxxi and Taylor jumped in to the ring and tried to start a fight. Ellie kept her IM status as "Online" almost constantly after that.
She needed to tell them "thanks" again.
.xXx.
No one in the WWE knew she was coming back. Most people in TNA didn't even know she left until the Beautifl People blabbed it on that week's Impact. She figured that if anyone here watched TNA, then they might be able to figure out that Ellie was returning. But she doubted it. Not that it bothered her, though. Returning on a low note always made for a much more surprising return.
It was a week later, on a Tuesday. ECW and Smackdown tapings were going to take place today. Last night, Raw hosted the three-hour draft, and many Superstars and Divas got moved around from brand to brand. Christian stayed on ECW. In a way, she was glad.
"How are you doing today?"
She was in Tiffany's office. It took her some time to get used to the WWE backstage configuration again, and took her even longer to find the office. She blew her surprise return by asking people for directions. She figured she still had a chance to make an impact, though.
"Pretty well," Ellie replied. "How did you get roped in to this GM thing?"
"I've been interning for Teddy for a while, up until he went to Smackdown," Tiffany replied. "I actually kind of like it, being a GM."
"Don't you miss in-ring competition?"
"A little, yes," she admitted. "I might go back to it somewhere along down the road. But right now, I'm comfortable where I am."
They were sitting on couches opposite each other. It wasn't so much of an office as it was a lounge room, really. WWE wasn't able to establish actuall offices since they were constantly on tour. TNA did all their tapings in Orlando, which made it easier to create an on-screen corporate feel. This was definitely going to take some re-getting used to.
"It's good to have you back," Tiffany said, smiling. "I'm sure the fans will be pleased."
"It's good to be back," Ellie said. "Still getting used to being a Diva again, though. Not sure why, I really wasn't even gone for that long."
"It's completely understandable. How was TNA?"
Ellie laughed softly. "Unreal."
"Well, I'm glad you had fun, but now we have to get down to business," Tiffany said. "Do you have your file?"
"Yeah, hang on," Ellie replied. She pulled her duffle bag closer to the couch and got her file out of it. "It's mostly my WWE stuff, but has a little TNA in it." She handed it to Tiffany.
Tiffany started shuffling through it, nodding slightly to herself. "Okay, this'll do it." She looked up. "I figure we can start you out with something small, in regards to contracts. Looks like we had you on a five-year contract last time, and you left after three. TNA also had you on a five-year, and you left after eight months. Maybe you don't like five-years?"
Ellie forced a laugh.
"I still want to sign you to a multi-year contract though, unless you'd rather be paid per appearance."
"I think multi-year would make for a more stable income."
"So I was thinking something small, like a two-year?" Tiffany suggested. "You would signed to ECW exclusively and paid steadily even when you're not making appearances. In regards to pay-per-views, you would be paid per appearance. You'll be able to work for other independent promotions if you choose, though your appearances will be slightly limited. Your contract also states that you have to attend house shows when called for. House show appearances are included in your weekly pay."
"That sounds…pretty good," Ellie said. All of the business and straightforwardness almost made this seem unappealing. But considering the short amount of time Tiffany's been general manager, Ellie had to admit that she was pretty good at it. Though if that was a good thing or a bad thing, she wasn't quite sure.
"Will you be taking on your old WWE name?"
"Oh, you mean Lina Lavigne?" Ellie said. "I—maybe…well, I don't know. What about my TNA name? Ellie Blackwood?"
"Well, I'm looking through your file, and it looks like TNA did to you what WWE did to Chyna," Tiffany said.
Ellie scrutinized her. "What do you mean?"
"It seems now that the name Ellie Blackwood is a trademarked TNA name."
There was a heavy pause.
"They trademarked my name?"
"They have the right to do that," Tiffany said. "I don't know exactly what happened while you were in TNA, but my guess is that you were such a popular Superstar that after you left, they copyrighted your name so they could continue to make money off of it. WWE did the same thing to Chyna in 2001."
As she recalled, Chyna got around the issue by having her name legally changed to Chyna. Ellie couldn't say that she was as attatched to her old name as that.
"So if you still want to be Ellie Blackwood, you'll have to to back to TNA," Tifanny continued. "If you don't want to be Lina Lavigne anymore, feel free to pick a new ring name for yourself if you choose. Just keep in mind that Lina is how the fans remember you. I'm sure they'd rather see her again more than someone else."
Ellie smiled slightly. "I have nothing against Lina. I guess if the fans want, then the fans get."
"Awesome," Tiffany said. "If you'll just sign this…"
She handed a clipboard to her. Attatched to the board was Ellie's new contract. She stared at it for a few seconds, not really reading it, but trying to absorb it all in again. She took the pen that was clipped on to the board, and then signed on the dotted line on the bottom. She signed it as Lina Lavigne. The signature looked strange, given that she hadn't had reason to use it lately. She grimmaced.
"And you're officially a Diva again," Tiffany said. "How does it feel?"
Ellie sighed. "Weird. Yet, familiar."
"I'll have a match for you next week, so you're free to go for today."
"But I can still hang around, right?"
"Hmm? Oh, of course! You're an ECW employee now, roam around all you want," Tiffany said. "ECW tapings are currently taking place, so stay hidden from the cameras, otherwise your return next week won't be much of a surprise."
"But it would be a surprise this week," Ellie pointed out. Tiffany looked apprehensive.
"I can direct you to the Divas' lockerroom if you need to put your things somewhere," she said.
"No, I think I saw it on my way over. Thanks though," Ellie replied.
"Of course," she said. "Listen, I have to kick you out now. I'm due in the ring soon. Need to present a championship contract and whatnot."
"Oh, no problem."
"Great, I'll see you next week then."
"Next week."
Tiffany grabbed another clipboard with the ECW Championship contract on it before the two of them exited the room. Tiffany took off towards the ring in something of a rush, leaving Ellie alone by herself in almost unfamiliar territory. She wanted to put her duffle bag down somewhere and doubted she still had a dressing room. She used to be relatively big-name and popular during her WWE days. Being forced to resort to the general Divas' lockerroom seemed like a bit of a downgrade.
She was walking down the hallway of backstage WWE. It reminded her so much of her first day in TNA, it hadn't occurred to her before how much she would miss everyone there. AJ, Roxxi, Taylor…
Sting…
She had told Sting that she might return to TNA once her WWE contract was over, but had she meant it? She certainly missed TNA, but the frequent back-and-forth between the rival companies might put her on the bad side of both Jim and Vince. TNA was nice, but she didn't know if she wanted to risk her career over it. It would probably be best to stay in WWE for the full two years and then see where things went from there.
There were many familiar faces, and lots of new stars. She remembered all of the familiar ones. The new ones she recognized from watching WWE programing. They seemed to aknowledge her for the most part. Some didn't recognize her, and thus glanced at her as she passed them. Others did recognize her, and stared at her with incredulity.
"I thought she was gone…" one wrestler whispered to another. Ellie barely caught it. It made her smile a little.
She wasn't paying much attention to the people around her. Most of them seemed to be in a rush for ECW tapings, or just arriving for Smackdown ones. There would be time to socialize later.
"Lina? Lina, is that you?"
Or…maybe not.
It took her a few seconds to realize that whoever spoke was talking to her. Apparently she still wasn't used to that name. She turned around, confused at first, but the confusion quickly dissipated. Standing behind her were two smiling identical twins.
Ellie paused, hunching her eyebrows. "Brie?"
"No, I'm Nikki. That's Brie," she said. "What are you doing here? I thought you left."
"I did. But now I'm back and I'm here to stay."
"Well it's great to see you again," said Brie. "What brand?"
"ECW, it looks like," Ellie replied.
"Oh, I wish we could stick around to hang with you," said Brie, "but the draft was last night. We're going to Raw. We're all still here because the draft doesn't go into effect until next week."
"I thought you liked TNA. That's what everyone said," Nikki said. "So how come you're here? Did you come back for Christian?"
Ellie almost cringed, yet couldn't help but smile. She figured that the Bella Twins had been in on her friendship with Christian from watching her on TNA.
It's finally coming back to bite me in the butt, is it?
"No, as a matter of fact, I didn't," Ellie stated.
The twins grinned at each other and shrugged. "If you say so. See you later, Lina." They smirked a little and then passed her by. Ellie was a bit confused. She shrugged it off after a few seconds and started towards the lockerrooms again.
"Oh by the way, Lina," said Brie. She turned around. "If you were wondering where he is, which I'm sure you're not, he's in the ring with Jack." She turned back around and the two of them disappeared down the hall. Ellie looked wary.
Jack? Jack Swagger? she thought. That can't be good.
She quickly found the lockerrooms. There were no actual lockers; the room was small with a continuous narrow table going around three of the walls. The other Divas' bags were on top of and underneath the table. Ellie cleared off a spot and threw her bags down. It probably wasn't a big deal that the luggage tag on her duffle bag was still blank, but by the same token, it was also probably a good idea to put a name to her things. After a little searching, she found a Sharpie. She quickly wrote "Lina Lavigne" on the tag.
The name still felt strange.
She exited the lockerroom with the intent of making her way towards the ring. She technically wasn't supposed to be appearing on television until next week, and WWE didn't do the live-circuit TV thing right outside the wrestler's entrance like TNA did. But if anything, she figured she could sit there and wait for Christian. It would be a nice surprise, she figured.
"Now, which way did Tiffany go?" she mused. "I left her office, and we went separate ways…So the ring must be down the other way."
She turned around and started walking, but almost collided with a taller man in her haste. She started to quickly apologize, aiming to sidestep him and continue on, but froze when she looked up and saw who it was. Suddenly, getting to the ring was the least of her worries.
John Morrison was still recovering from the collision, brushing hair out of his face. He fixed his eyes on her and cocked his head. He seemed surprised to see her, and frankly, she was surprised he would be seen without The Miz tailing him.
"Lina?" he said, taking off his rhinestone studded sunglasses as if to look at her better. "No, my eyes do not deceive me. Lina, lookin' good. What uh…what are you doing here?" He leaned against the wall.
Back during her initial WWE days, she had been on Raw with John Morrison. A lot of unpleasentness happened. She was uncomfortable and quickly becoming anxious, but decided to humor him.
"Same reason you're here, I'm sure."
"Well not for long, if you're talking about wrestling in ECW," John said, leaning up against the wall. "I got drafted to Smackdown."
She laughed once. "Well, I hope you have more fun on Smackdown than I did." She paused, looking around. "So, uh…where's Miz? I didn't think either of you would be seen without the other."
"Miz is going to Raw," John answered. "But honestly? I could care less about what happens to him."
"Uh oh, I'm not going to ask," she said. "Oh, plus? I just saw Nikki and Brie back there, again without you two hanging on their arms. A lot's changed since I last watched WWE, hasn't it?"
"Depends on when you stopped watching," he answered, simply. "And you know what? I don't need them either. If they'd rather spend their time hanging around Colons with bad hair instead of with me, that's their loss." He threw open his jacket a little.
"And what a terrible loss it is," Ellie said, starting to scootch around him. "Primo and Carlito Colón must be so unhappy right now." She laughed. "Well, it was nice seeing you again, John, but I really should be going. But have fun in Smackd—."
He threw his hand out against the wall in front of her, effectively cutting her off. "Where you goin'? I thought you'd want to stay and catch up."
"Woah, okay, no," she said. "After what you did to me on Raw, you really think I'd want to catch up with you?"
"Hey, all I know is that back then, you hated Edge more than you hated me, and you made amends with him."
"Yes, and look what happened. That's just every reason not to do it again, and especially not with you," Ellie said. "Been there, done that, life goes on, you know?" John looked like he was going to say something, but she cut him off. "Listen, I'm kind of in a hurry—."
"Which is?"
"Well, Christian's in the ring with Swagger, so—."
"Christian?" He paused and scrunched his face, like he was surprised that she would be going after him.
"It's not what you think," she said, hastily.
"It's nothing life-threatening, if that's what you're worried about," John replied, ignoring her last sentence. "It's just an ECW Championship contract signing."
Christian's the challenger? I didn't know that…she thought.
"You know, that's actually just as bad," she said. "And oh, hey, it seems that you're blocking my path to the ring."
"We have a lot of catching up to do," he said. "I want to make up for what I did to you on Raw a few years back."
She flinched. But what could she do? He was blocking her only path to the ring and was bent on keeping her from reaching Christian. With any luck, Jack and Christian were only trash talking each other right now. but she knew that it wouldn't stay that way for very much longer. She knew what they both were like. Swagger was the current ECW champion, and was very posessive and defensive of his title. Christian was arrogant and conceited. There was no way that this wasn't going to end in fistcuffs.
But then again…the wrestler's entrance wasn't the only way to get to the ring.
"Some other time, John, but I really have to go," she said with a smile. With that being said, she turned on foot and sprinted down the opposite direction as John looked on, slightly confused and offended. How had she not remembered this sooner? There was always more than one way to the ring.
She soon came across an interview set. There was a live-circuit TV set up against the wall, which she was rather surprised to see. Teddy Long was standing in front of it, watching the contract signing. She quickly jogged over to him.
"Teddy! What's going on?" she asked.
"Lina, what a pleasant surprise," Teddy replied. "I didn't think we were going to see you again until next week."
"Well, it just so happens I decided to stick around a little bit longer," Ellie said. "So what's up?"
"Nothing too exciting," he answered. "But to be honest? I'm kind of hoping it'll stay that way."
"I hear you," she agreed.
Christian and Jack were sitting at a table that had been placed inside the ring. Tiffany had since presented the ECW Championship contract to them and explained the terms. The two men had signed it wordlessly and were now glaring at each other while the contract sat on the table between them. Briefly, Christian glanced at the ECW title belt, propped upright by the edge of the table. Tiffany took the contract and exited the ring.
Christian was unusually silent, staring intently at Jack with his hands folded together in front of him. Jack was just as confused as Ellie was, and decided to take it upon himself to end the silence. He picked up a microphone and began to condescend him, asking him why he wasn't talking. No smart remarks, no lame jokes, why he's not taking shots at him…
"I think I should go," Ellie said, as she started to jog away.
"Oh, um…okay," Teddy said. "See you next week, then."
Christian was silent for a while. Then without taking his eyes off of Jack, he reached over and picked up a microphone. He said that he was focused on the match. He said it would be too easy to make fun of Jack's lisp or his dumb haircut, and that he would rather concentrate on the match and focus on winning the ECW title at the Backlash pay-per-view.
"Woah! Did you see that?" asked Josh Matthews. "Jack Swagger just threw the ECW title belt right into the face of Christian!"
Christian furiously threw the belt aside and stood up. Jack stood up also, tossing his chair away, as Christian came around the table, looking to start some hell. Unfortunately for him, it so turns out that Jack was taller, heavier, and ready.
"Oh I knew this wasn't going to end well. those two just can't get along, can they?" asked Matt Striker.
"Oh no! Jack Swagger with a gutwrench powerbomb on Christian, right through the table!" cried Josh Matthews.
"Wait a minute… who's that? Someone just jumped out of the crowd!"
"Is it a fan? A crazed Peep?"
Jack was distracted, delivering a few choice words to Christian's motionless body. He smiled to the camera and the fans booed. The jeering suddenly turned to a deafening roar, and Jack smiled even more broadly, thinking the fans were cheering him.
"Is that…what? I think it is! Yes! It's Lina Lavigne! Lina Lavigne has returned!"
"She's climbing up the outside of the ring! What is she doing?"
The fans were still cheering. Apprehensive and confused, Jack looked towards the entrance ramp, half-expecting someone like Tommy Dreamer to be rushing down to Christian's aid. He saw no one, so he turned back around…
And spotted Ellie.
"OH MY GOD! Missile dropkick from Lina Lavigne, right to the face of the ECW champion!"
"What on earth is she doing here?"
"After a near year-long absense, the Demonic Angel has finally returned, and she is back with a bang! What a treat for ECW!"
Ellie was standing now. Jack had since rolled out of the ring and was stumbling towards the ramp, clutching his face angrily. She stared at him for a few terse seconds, and mouthed some words of warning to him. She looked around the ring and spotted the ECW title belt amongst the wreckage. She picked it up and stared at it, grinning. She looked up at the retreating Jack Swagger before pointing to Christian and held the belt up in the air.
Jack glared at her with smouldering eyes and shook his head slowly.
She dropped the belt and knelt down by Christian. He was starting to move again. She grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him up off the shattered table, cradling him in her arms. She looked back up at Swagger, who stood on the stage, fumed for a minute, and then left the arena. She watched him go.
The broadcasters were still talking about her, commentating on her surprise return and what just happened. She didn't hear any of it. But then…
"Ellie?"
She was startled. How long had it been since someone addressed her by her TNA name? She was just starting to get used to her old name again, and to hear her TNA name in the WWE was nothing short of strange-feeling. She glanced down at Christian. His eyes were slightly open now.
She smiled. "Surprised?" she inquired.
"Understatement of the century."
She smirked, brushing some wood shrapnel off of his shirt. "Okay, now, we've got to get you backstage. Some people should be here soon, don't know why they're not already. I know wood tables aren't as bad as glass ones, but I still want to get you—."
"You came back."
She paused, taken slightly aback. He sounded a little frail.
"Huh? Of course I did," she stated. "I even told you I would."
"I know…" he said, quietly. "I just didn't know when."
She was silent.
A trainer soon arrived in the ring and knelt down by Christian. Ellie quickly stood up and got out of the way as more help arrived. They cleared bits of the table off of him and helped him out of the ring. Ellie lingered around inside the ring as Christian was helped to the back. The WWE arenas were so much bigger than the TNA Impact Zone. There were tens of thousands of fans in attendance right now cheering for her, screaming her name, and chanting "Welcome back."
It was so familiar, yet strange.
She shook hands with and high fived the ringside fans on her way out of the arena. There were more people backstage who were also surprised to see her back. From asking around, she found that Christian had been taken to the green room.
Wherever that is…
She asked around some more and eventually found her way. She opened the door and peered inside. There were a few tables set up against the near wall covered in random bits of food and beverages. A couple chairs were scattered around, and in one corner was a tall potted plant. Next to the plant was a couch. Lying on the couch was Christian.
"You're looking well," she said, smirking.
Christian looked towards her and his face brightened. "Hey, Elle. Pull up a chair."
She grabbed a chair and set it up next to the couch. "So how are you doing?"
"You know, my head hurts more than anything else."
"Really?"
"After that Glass Table Incident, wooden tables really don't bother me so much anymore," he said. He slid his arms back on the couch and sat up. "So you finally came back, huh? Took you long enough."
"Hey, be glad I'm here at all," she said, smiling.
"Couldn't have come back sooner like I told you to. You just had to fight Sting, you had to fight the Beautiful People and you had to tag team with Roxxi. You had to fight Kurt, and you had to be the hero, again."
"Oh, you saw that?" she questioned. "Well, I didn't have to be the hero. It just seemed better than the alternative."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah. AJ with one leg in a cast versus AJ with no legs in a cast? Hmm, I think I'll opt for the latter. Plus you know, no one else was helping him, so I did."
"Did it remind you of me?"
She knew he was just making fun of her, hinting back to the times when she felt that she had to save him from TNA's antagonizers. But just as she was about to humor him, she paused to think. She couldn't quite remember what had happened after she saved AJ on account of being so delirious, but he told her that as he was carrying her out of the Impact Zone, she told him that she missed Christian. Then she didn't say anything else after that.
Ellie looked back to Christian. "Yeah, a little."
He nodded slightly. From the look on his face, it didn't seem like he could tell if her answer was truthful or not. So he changed the subject. "So what are you doing here, anyway? Today's Tuesday."
"Yeah. It is."
"You know, Raw's on Monday, in case you forgot."
She laughed slightly. "Well obviously I'm not going back to Raw, now am I?"
"So you're here for what, ECW? Smackdown?"
"Okay, seriously? I'm on ECW now."
He paused, pointing at her open-mouthed as if he was going to say something. She raised her eyebrows, amused.
"Yes?"
"Come on, Elle, you gotta stop stalking me."
They were both smiling now. "Excuse me?"
"Couple years ago, I was on Raw, right?"
"Yes…"
"Then you came to Raw."
"So I could intern for Jeff Hardy who happened to be on Raw at the time."
"And then I went to TNA, and few years later, so did you."
"A few years!" she said. "Plus, I went to TNA to beat up Angelina and Velvet, not to meet you."
"And now, here we are in ECW, together again."
"Okay, you told me that you wanted to spice up the ECW brand because they 'needed a Canadian' or something. I just didn't want to go back to Raw or Smackdown because I had unpleasent experiences there. I figured I could come to ECW and start fresh."
"Because you know, if you hang around with me, then nothing bad will ever happen to you," he said, grinning.
"Comment notwithstanding, I'm not stalking you. Promise."
"I obligatorily believe you."
"Is that a real word?"
"It is now. Plus, what scared you away from Raw and Smackdown? One, I thought you liked Raw. Two, I honestly thought that you'd go to Smackdown, where Jeff is now, so you could be with him again."
"Granted, I do miss Jeff. But I just couldn't go back to Smackdown."
"No?"
"No…Mostly because Edge is there."
"Oh, what do you have against Edge?"
"Nothing too bad. It's just that we used to date, so seeing him again would be kind of awkward, I guess."
They were both silent. She coughed once.
"You know, maybe I have a piece of table in my ears or something, but for a second there it sounded like you said that you and Edge dated."
"Must be one hell of a piece of table."
"You're serious, then. When was this?"
"Well, after you left, obviously. I guess more accurately, I should say that Edge and I had an affair."
Christian was silent for another few seconds as he gaped at her wordlessly. She raised her eyebrows innocently.
"You…dated Edge, while he was married to Vickie Guererro."
"Technically, they were only dating at that time. But yes."
"Wow. Okay. And here I thought you were the good one."
"Oh no. I'm bad to the bone."
"I never really saw that side of you in TNA."
"Well I never really got a chance to show it while you were there."
"Uh huh. So what happened?"
"Well I broke up with him, eventually. There were a lot of factors leading up to it. I won't go into detail. But very soon after, Vickie found out, and boy, she really let me have it. First she tried to have me fired, but the Board of Directors wouldn't approve it. So then she used her General Manager powers to move me to Smackdown and torture me in-ring until Edge made her stop."
"And then you went to TNA?"
"Not immediately after, but pretty soon after that, yeah. I would hate for them to think I ran away, but the opportunity seemed right for me to go to TNA at the time. That's all. But since it was so unpleasent, when I came back to the WWE, I actually requested not to go to Smackdown (because Edge is there), or Raw (because Vickie is there). So that just left ECW."
"Not in a good place with Edge anymore?"
"I have nothing against Edge and vice versa. I just think it would be best if we didn't interact very much anymore."
Christian shook his head. "I dunno, it's just weird to me. I mean, Edge and I used to be best friends. We grew up together, won seven tag team championships together…"
"I don't see how that would bother you. Plus, there's a very good reason for my being on ECW."
"Oh? What's that?"
"I figure I can hang around and pick on Swagger." She smiled. "Want to help?"
"Even though I'm already so much more ahead of you? Oh what the hell. I'm in."
"Oh good," she said. "Listen, I should go before Vince suddenly shows up and yells at me for showing up before my scheduled debut and pulling a crazy ass move like kicking Swagger in the head or something."
"You seem so sure of what's going to happen. Have you done this before?"
She smirked and stood up. "See you next week, Christian."
"Take it easy, Elle," he replied.
He laid himself back down on the couch as she got up, placed the chair back in its original spot, and then left. She paused by the doorway to take one more look at him. She smiled aside to herself and wondered half-seriously why she bothered herself with him.
"Huh. It is you."
When she turned around, Jeff Hardy was propped up against the wall next to the door with his arms crossed. She smiled innocently as she closed the door, but otherwise didn't say anything. It seemed like he was expecting her to, so she raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"You don't seem surprised to see me," he said.
"I've been running in to people all day," she answered. "Are you surprised to see me?"
"I guess? Hell, Lina, I don't know," Jeff said. "I don't think anyone really knew you were coming back until you just suddenly popped in today."
"You mean when I kicked Swagger in the face?" she asked, still smiling.
"Yeah, see I didn't really get a good look at that, but I thought she looked like you," he said. "I just thought I was crazy or something, like 'That can't be Lina…she left almost a year ago.' But look at us now, huh?"
"Yeah…" she said. "How are things with you and Matt?"
"Oh Jesus, Lina. We're fighting at Backlash," he sighed. "But you know what? I can't wait."
"Oh my goodness, Jeff, that's kind of hard to hear," she said. "I hope you two will be done with this soon."
"Me too."
They were silent for a while.
"You still on Smackdown?" she asked finally.
"Yeah," he replied. "I managed to avoid getting drafted. I like it on Smackdown, really. What about you?"
"ECW for me," she said.
"Good choice, ECW's a good place," Jeff said. "But you seem pretty much attached to Christian's butt, so I'm guessing there's no chance I could get you to come to Smackdown?"
"I'm offended, really," she said. "I'm not going to go back to Smackdown."
"And I know why," he said, grinning. She was pretty sure he was referring to Edge. "All right, I won't push it if I know I can't convince you. But as long as you're back in WWE, I'm glad."
She raised an eyebrow. "Why so?"
"You look better in red than you do in blue," he whispered. "I'll see you around."
She didn't watch him leave. She was still slightly offended by both of his comments. She didn't think that she was that attached to Christian. And what about him making fun of her ring outfits? Under her Demonic Angel gimmick, she was dressed primarily in red. But after she became the Ice Angel upon her transfer to TNA, she changed her main color to blue. And to be honest, she had never really given much thought to which color she looked better in. Who knew that Jeff would be the one to enlighten her?
She shook her head and started to head back to her hotel. She needed time to soak in the day's events.
.xXx.
She was right in that Vince yelled at her for messing up the schedule and kicking Swagger in the face. But it created an interesting challenge for the WWE bookers. Ellie had suddenly interjected herself into the Christian/Swagger feud, while she was planning to valet for Christian. With so few Divas in ECW, and most of them were valets themselves, Ellie had ultimately decided that valeting was her only choice. But that didn't mean that she couldn't still compete inside the ring.
The next week, Ellie made her official ECW in-ring debut. Ellie, fighting under the name Lina Lavigne, teamed up with Christian to defeat Jack Swagger and his tag team partner Alicia Fox. Christian ended up pinning Swagger after Ellie took out Alicia, who was trying to interfere.
She was there at the Backlash Pay-Per-View when Christian won the ECW Championship from Swagger. She was there with him every week on ECW when he came out to the ring to flaunt it and defend it successfully against challengers like Swagger, Tommy Dreamer, or the newly arrived Yoshi Tatsu.
The feeling of being in the WWE again sank in more quickly after that, and over a relatively short period of time, she once again became used to being called Lina. Every now and then, Christian would slip and call her Ellie. She didn't much care.
And she still watched TNA. So much changed after she left. At their Lockdown Pay-Per-View, Angelina Love dethroned Awesome Kong and became the new Knockout's Champion, and Mick Foley defeated Sting in a match for the World Heavyweight title. At the end of the month, Roxxi left the company and went to wrestle for SHIMMER and other indy promos. Victoria, Raven, and Shane Douglas arrived and wreaked havoc, while Daffney took a violent heel turn and attacked Taylor. The Frontline became the Originals again before Booker T also left the company and the Mafia broke up. Lots of other people arrived, even more left, and some were replaced.
Watching TNA was even weirder than being in WWE again. Maybe it was because so much was happening at once, or maybe it was because she wasn't in there being a part of the action like she had gotten so used to doing.
"A lot's changing," Christian said. "Do you miss it?"
She thought about this. "Of course."
"You gonna go back?"
She looked downwards and smiled. "When the time is right. Right now, I'm enjoying myself here."
Both things she said were true. She constantly kept up with TNA, and continued to valet for Christian. Through the months, she got a couple more offers to move to Smackdown or Raw, and she refused them all. Working with Christian wasn't the most enjoyable thing to do at some times, but she was still glad for the opportunity.
Just like how she was glad for the opportunity to wrestle for TNA.
She wanted to go back. But only the circumstances could determine when. But in the meantime, she was perfectly comfortable in ECW.
So who was she to rush things?
TNA could wait.
End Epilogue
End "Vindictive Angels"
It's funny how the story seemed to write itself once I got more towards the end. I guess I should expect stuff like that to happen when I'm writing about an ongoing TV show. For instance, I like Taylor Wilde, but never intended for her to be in the Knockout's tag team match at the end. Madison Rayne just showed up one day and made a very compelling argument.
Note: "And for a moment, she wondered if she should go to Smackdown." This was because Jeff is on Smackdown, and she's pretty close to him.
Note II: the ending "TNA could wait" line wasn't really a foreshadow for the sequel. It may or may not have something to do with TNA. We'll see how it goes.
I've really enjoyed writing this. Thanks so much for sticking with me! It's been great. Keep an eye open for the prequel!
Reviews, please!