Disclaimer: I own nothing, but my ideas. Everything else is the WWE's.

Author Notes: This is probably my last chapter on this. It's been such fun to write and I hope it's been as much fun to read. My reviewers have really rocked so thank you guys, all of you. Special thanks go to Elane whose review sparked inspired and motivated me to find an ending – thank you! And, Manda, as always this is for you.

Hunter's Smile

Christy didn't think twice. She dove towards Batista and ripped Ashley from his loosening grip. Seconds later he was shoved to the floor by a large familiar man with an imposing mismatched stare and shaved head. Pausing to check the girls were ok, the man pulled Batista to his feet by the collar of his now-rumpled suit. Christy tugged Ashley towards the bar with a single-minded determination

"Lita!" Christy yelled to get her friend's distracted attention.

There was smashed glass everywhere around the bar. Billy was fighting off one of Hunter's men as Torrie had a stiletto-heeled shoe in hand and ready to aim at the man beating up her husband. Lita, who was shielding Stacy as best she could armed with a bottle in each hand, glanced up sharply. Relief showed visibly on her face at the sight of both the girls safe.

"You want to come this side?" she called.

Ashley shook her head and Christy quickly pulled the gag from her friend's mouth. Ashley grimaced and swallowed as Christy began working on her roped hands.

"Thanks but I'm going to help here," Ashley replied, her voice scratchy.

"Ash, there's a lot of big guys out there. You could pretty badly beaten," cautioned Christy.

"I can fight, I've been working out and training with Trish," Ashley said confidently. "Besides, I can't just sit and do nothing!"

"I know, I'm coming with you. I can finally use the moves you taught me, Lita," answered Christy with a grin, taking Ashley's nearest hand and squeezing it. "We can fight together, girlfriend."

"Good luck," replied Lita seriously. "And keep the boys safe!"

As the pair plunged back into the crowds, Billy, having finally managed to knock his attacker out with an impressive kick, boosted Torrie over the counter. Stacy helped her stand and Torrie immediately linked arms with her fellow dancer with a shaky smile.

"Stay there, Tor. I'm helping the others," Billy told her.

"Billy!" Torrie called desperately but he'd already disappeared.

"He'll be ok," murmured Stacy, her own worry showing in her eyes.

"Take a bottle, Tor," instructed Lita briskly. "I'm not too far gone that I can't fight. All those judo classes are gonna turn out to be worth the money."

Bubba and D-Von were enjoying themselves. They smashed their way through black t-shirted troublemakers with an ease and glee that disturbed their opponents. Edge, an almost glowing white streak amongst the darkness with Chris close behind him, laughed as he passed by. D-Von threw one into a group who were advancing on him and turned in time to see another one with a knife going for Bubba. Without a thought, he threw himself into the target and pulled the blade away.

"How you doin', Bubba?" he called over his shoulder, his fists working over the man's face.

"Best fun I've had all month," Bubba replied, elbowing a guy in the head.

There was a loud gruff yell and then Jacqueline stormed into view, her muscles tensed and her eyes blazing. There'd never been a more beautiful sight in D-Von's eyes as she lashed out at the men several sizes bigger than her, a broken bottle in one hand and just a fist in the other. The APA would be proud. She just kept on moving, even when they swarmed at her. A lady who didn't need protecting.

Christian, meanwhile, found himself back to back with Tyson, recognising the elaborate tattoo that wrapped around his friend's shoulder and down his arm.

"Glad you made it," he called, ducking a strong fist and aiming a kick lower. "We have a serious asshole problem here. There's too many of them."

"So I see," replied Tyson dryly.

"You bring Kane?"

"He's here."

Tyson was always to the point. Christian grinned, breaking away to take on a knot of men that were surrounding a blur of frenzied movement that had to be his boyfriend. Jeff always did seem to think he could do this alone and it looked like he was paying for it.

As Matt fought his way out of strong grips and stronger fists, he kept his eyes open for any sign of Hunter. The man was a snake and could very easily launch a surprise attack when it was least expected. He glanced back at the bar in time to see Stacy smash a bottle over a man's head and Lita launch an impressive judo throw on another. He knew he didn't have to worry about the girls. A yell brought his attention to close by and he spotted, to his immense surprise, Trish beating the hell out of one of the attackers. Bubba had told him once he'd been teaching Trish how to defend herself and that she went to some sort of class with Lita. But seeing her, well she looked damn impressive.

Christy was throwing skinny fists left and right, Lita's patient teachings suddenly flowing through her head. Ashley attacked ragefully, her heavy combat boots crunching anyone who got under her feet. The large man was still working over Batista with the sort of single-minded focus that was more than a little scary. Scott seemed to have recovered and was easily cutting a swathe through the crowds. Maybe they could get out of this with only bruised heads and aching limbs?

"Hello, Stace."

Stacy turned her head to see Andrew smiling that horrible smile at her from the other side of the counter. Lita turned at the same time and scowled.

"You can't have her, Andrew," she warned, grabbing a couple more bottles.

"You can't stop me, Lita," he replied.

"We all can," cut in Torrie, her shoe still clutched in her hand and anger in her eyes. "She's not yours to take."

Before Andrew could say anything else, a bottle smashed against his skull. His expression was surprised for the briefest moment before he slid to the floor. He didn't speak again; he was out cold. Lita whooped and held Stacy close.

"Nice shot, Stace," she commended her friend, one eye still on the fight spread out in front of them. "He'll be out for hours."

Stacy gave a real smile and picked up another bottle.

As Ashley staggered back from a hard kick, she suddenly thought she saw Hunter's smile. A cold feeling tingled down her spine. What was he planning? He wasn't going to use her to get to other innocent people. Randy had been right about how dangerous Hunter was and she was forever grateful to him for filling her in on what Hunter and Club Raw were really about.

There was a flash of familiar white teeth and Hunter lunged. Distracted, Ashley felt herself knocked to the floor. But no manicured hand grabbed her and there was no triumphant smile. Instead, a piercing shriek filled the air and Ashley scrambled to her feet in time to see Hunter gripping Christy's pale arm. Christy was tearing at his suit and kicking furiously at him with all her might, but Hunter's grip was strong and he was dragging her towards the door. As Ashley looked around wildly for some help, there was the unmistakable click of a gun.

Randy Orton, all in black and a focused face, appeared beside Hunter with a gun aimed at the man's temple. Christy had sagged to the floor, her arm still in Hunter's vice-like grip, and her expression open and shocked.

"Everyone stop!" Randy yelled loudly and commanding. "Everyone stop right now!"

The room descended into silence and Ashley crawled to the bar where she found Trish who hugged her tightly. Everyone's eyes were on the three figures near the door. Randy's focus was completely on Hunter.

"You let her go," Randy said quietly with steel in his voice.

"No, you're going to let us go," retorted Hunter, having pulled himself together from his former protégé's surprise appearance. "You know what'll happen if you hurt me? Do you remember who I'm married to? McMahon'll put you away for life and you'll wish you were the one who'd been shot."

"I'm not playing games with you, Hunter. You're all alone here," Randy allowed a small smile to cross his face. "Look around. All of your muscle's all gone. It's only and me now."

Hunter looked around, a scowl slowly replacing his smirk as he took in his situation. At least half of his men were injured or lying dazed on the floor. Batista had been dumped beside the bar where Andrew was still outcold and both Scott and the man who was Kane watched over them. Hunter's gaze came back to Randy, the younger man's eyes without fear and his hands completely steady.

"You're willing to commit murder for a lapdancer?" Hunter asked, disgust and disbelief coating his words.

"She wasn't that until she met you," shot back Randy. "Just like all the others. You destroy people's lives, Hunter."

"You helped me build Club Raw. You helped create our vision. What does that make you?"

"Stupid and naïve," shot back Randy. "I looked up to you, Hunter, I idolised you. But all you wanted was to tie me to Raw so that you could control me. I'm no one's puppet."

"You knew exactly what Club Raw was all about. You were there when contract signings were done and business meetings were held. Your hands are as dirty as mine. It's all business, Orton. I'm just making money. I provide a service, people come to me for a certain need, and I fulfil it."

Christy felt Hunter's grip loosening on her arm and looked up at Randy. He looked so tense, everything trained on Hunter. He couldn't afford to spare her a glance in case Hunter tried something and she couldn't pull away in case Hunter used it to his advantage. She had to wait until the right time.

"You like controlling people, Hunter. I've seen you do it. You almost did it to me before I got smart and got out of your business," Randy reminded him. "Why shouldn't I take this chance to pay you back for all the lives you've permanently warped for your own gain?"

Hunter glared back at him, rage burning in his eyes. There was no way for him to move without the threat of Randy shooting him. The silence was thick and tense, everyone caught up in what was taking place in front of them. Then Ashley spoke up, surprisingly steady and casual.

"I have a friend, Kristal Marshall, who's an investigative reporter for the Express. If it gets out that you got held at gunpoint by Randy, a young strong business competitor who used to work for you, it could really hurt your reputation. Maybe even your marriage if they heard about all your deals."

"My friend Maria works for the local Channel 6 News," added Christy catching Ashley's train of thought instantly. "She'd probably want to cover this story too."

"If any of this gets out, none of you will survive the night," Hunter snarled, his grip tightening on Christy's arm.

"But the message would be out," pointed out Matt. "And you're the one being held at gunpoint so your threats aren't going to work."

Christy looked at Randy, begging him with her eyes not to do anything stupid. If he made the wrong move, more than one person in the bar could end up badly injured or dead. Then Randy slowly took a step backwards, the gun no longer pressing against Hunter's temple. Hunter visibly relaxed, his recognisable swagger reappearing in his posture. Christy felt a little bit of hope trickle away.

"I knew you didn't have the balls to finish the job, Orton," Hunter began.

Before he could finish his sentence, Randy lowered the aim of his gun and fired at Hunter's foot. Everyone jumped, especially Hunter whose complexion paled dramatically, and the room was suddenly galvanised into action again. Christy pulled herself free from Hunter's faded grip and scrambled away from his fallen figure. Randy smashed Hunter around the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him outcold. Batista leapt to his feet but only got a few steps away before Kane hauled him back. Disregarding the chaos exploding around him, Edge stormed over to Randy in fury.

"You shot him! I can't believe even you were that stupid, Orton! Do you even know much trouble you've gotten us all into by doing that?" Edge's lip was curled and his fingers were scrunched into fists. "I know he's an asshole, but he's the Mayor's son-in-law! We're all going to jail or we're getting sued!"

"Relax, big guy. He's fine," Randy replied smoothly, gesturing to the now-crumpled figure.

Sure enough, there was no blood on the floor but there was however a rather large hole and wood splinters scattered everywhere. Randy hadn't hit Hunter's foot; he'd hit the floor instead.

"You were lucky you missed," retorted Edge after a short pause and visibly relaxing. "It was a stupid risk to take, something seriously bad could have happened."

"I wasn't aiming for his foot, I was just going to scare him."

Randy was unruffled by Edge's anger and turned as Christy launched herself at him. She clung to him tightly, suddenly feeling very drained.

"Randy, you really scared me!" she hissed. "I didn't know what you were going to do!"

"Did you doubt I had a plan? Christy, I'm surprised at you!" Randy teased lightly, releasing her from the hug as Ashley arrived at their side. "Good to see you're alright, Ashley."

"All thanks to you, right?" Ashley guessed with a smile. "Thanks for helping out."

"My pleasure, I'm always available to help the ladies in distress," Randy's expression became serious. "Listen, did you two mean it? About having friends in the news business?"

"Sure do," answered Christy, her arm still around Randy's waist. "Maria was part of the Raw Diva Search but she went back to broadcast journalism afterwards. We're work-out buddies."

"And Kristal's been working for the Express paper for years. I know she'd help us out," added Ashley.

"That's good to know because I think they can help us out with our situation…"

Christian shook hands with Tyson solemnly. His friend was as stoic as ever but allowed a small smile to transform his face. He always did enjoy a good fight.

"Thanks, man. Couldn't have done it without you," Christian confided. "And thanks for bringing Kane along."

"No problem, just give us a little more warning next time, There's a lot of guys who want to beat the shit of Hunter," replied Tyson. "What do you want us to do with these guys?"

The floor was heaped with black-clad figures, mostly unconscious. Bubba, D-Von and Jackie were keeping a stern eye on them whilst Kane remained behind a sitting Batista, ready to strike if the Evolution member tried anything again. As Matt and Chris began clearing up the mounds of broken glass that were strewn everywhere behind the bar, Lita clambered over the bar top and made her way over to Kane. The silent man, arms crossed across his broad chest, looked down at her with an expression that softened slightly.

"Thank you, Kane," Lita managed a tired smile. "You did us a huge favour tonight, I think we can say that you've repaid your debt to me."

"I would have come anyway," Kane replied quietly.

Lita nodded and patted his nearest arm. Matt appeared behind her, snaking a thankful arm around her waist and felt her sag against him. She was finally letting go, everyone was. Stacy had thrown herself into Scott's arms and the pair were talking quietly whilst Torrie had joined Billy and Jeff. They were all safe now and they were all tired.

"So what do we do with Hunter?" called Chris into the quietening room, nodding towards the unconscious figure in the expensive suit. "It's not like we can get him locked up."

"No, but we can turn him over to the police anyway. For him, being arrested is humiliation enough," replied Randy confidently.

"Especially if we get Maria and Kristal to cover the story," added Christy. "It'll be all over the news tomorrow morning and Hunter's reputation will suffer."

"I think we can drop Batista in with him, for the company," suggested Christian with a grin at the silent stony-faced man. "Tyson, you and Kane don't mind taking them to the station, do you?"

"That's no problem at all," Tyson's grin was disconcerting.

"As for the rest of the trash?" Jackie nudged one of the out cold men with her foot for emphasis. "I say we throw them out onto the street, they're making the club look untidy."

"No, we take them to the station too," Scott's tone prevented any argument. "They can provide evidence against Andrew. I'll take him there."

"So we'll take the rest, right?" asked D-Von. "We've got enough room in the trucks."

"Sounds like we've got a convoy," laughed Bubba, slipping an arm around Trish. "Whoever's on duty at the station's gonna love us."

"I'll come with you to give a statement. I'm pretty sure Hunter will try and get something pinned on me when he wakes up," sighed Randy, his confident attitude slipping a little for the first time since he'd entered the bar.

Slowly the black figures were encouraged and carried outside into the various assigned vehicles and were taken to the station. Jeff slid back up into the DJ booth and slid some chilled out music through the speakers. Everyone else began clearing up the mess the fight had caused, Chris and Edge worked on an inventory of all the bottles used in the fight so they could make an order the next day for replacements, Torrie and Stacy took care of the furniture and Matt took a look at how badly the floor had been damaged. Lita directed operations from the bar top, feeling exhausted. She could see Christy and Ashley stood by the back door, both talking urgently into their cell phones to their news reporter friends. Stacy was actually smiling and looked like a world of worry had been lifted from her shoulders. Whatever hadn't killed them had made them stronger. When Matt raised his gaze, he could see a smile playing over Lita's lips. He knocked on the counter to get her attention.

"Things look good from over there?" he asked, more than love making his eyes shine.

Lita smiled, taking in all her friends as they worked on clearing up the bar that their lives centred around. They were all exhausted but there was an optimistic air to the proceedings and most of them were smiling. A hand strayed to her stomach and her smile widened.

"I think everything's ok," she replied sincerely.

And it was.

end