Title: The Liberator
Part 20
Author: Angel Eterno
Rating: NC-17 - slash
Content: Slash, Romance, Abuse
Disclaimer: Characters don't belong to me. They belong to WWF and Titan Sports. No copyright infringement intended.
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"Well!!??" the taller blond demanded, staring harshly into Christian's fearful eyes. "Where the fucking hell were you? With somebody else, huh? Why are you such a fucking little slut Christian? And why the fuck do I bother with you? You're just not worth it - you're so not worth anything to anybody except a quick cheap fuck. You don't care whose cock is up your ass, do you?"
Edge's voice dripped utter disgust as he glared piercingly at Christian, who lowered his eyes to the floor. His habitual fear settling back into place until he remembered Rob was waiting for him. Rob needed him. Edge seized his shoulders with both hands and flung him back against the wall with a loud thump, its solidness knocking the breath out of him as his shoulders banged into it. Edge raised his hand to whack Christian round the face, but like lightning Christian brought up his arm and blocked the blow, pushing Edge away at the same time; hard against the opposite wall.
Extreme shock registered in Edge's eyes at this unprecedented reaction. So much shock that he could do absolutely nothing. Christian took a step towards him, still clinging tightly to the arm of the hand he'd blocked, twisting it round forcefully until Edge was grimacing his pain. He was totally stunned as he comprehended the determination in Christian's unwavering icy eyes as he leant in close, hissing between clenched teeth:
"Don't you EVER do that to me again!"
And pushing Edge one more time to punctuate his statement, he stalked angrily away, leaving a shell-shocked Edge to stare dazedly after him. He felt shaky inside and his legs felt like jelly, but there was also a sense of elation; both those feelings would have to wait, however - he had a job to do...
***~***~***
Christian almost ran to the bottom of the hospital steps, then taking them two at a time in his hurry to pick up his charge. But once inside, a chilly reluctance stole over him as he wondered again if Rob had only been acting teasing and friendly on the phone because people were around him. But if that were so - why then would he have called him to come pick him up in the first place? If he was mad at him, he'd have called one of his ECW cohorts, wouldn't he? Not that he would blame him for being mad at him after what he'd done, but then again, Rob had deliberately antagonized him. Taking a deep breath he pushed open the door to the reception area. A pleasant airy place, with huge ferns and other greenery adorning it, nothing too clinical here. Casting a look around he spotted Rob sitting on a couch by the window; unsurprisingly, he too was in the same clothes as yesterday. Two for the shower when we get back, Christian thought idly. Then flushed as he realized the direction his thoughts were taking. Rob was getting to his feet now, as Christian walked slowly toward him, unsure whether to smile or not. But Rob was smiling, or rather, half-smiling at his approach.
"Hey, how you doing?" Christian asked, guilt sweeping over him again as he noted the bruises on Rob's face. The bruises he'd put there.
"I'm fine. What about you?"
Christian was surprised that Rob should ask after him.
"I'm, erm, fine too." He replied after a pause.
Rob smiled again.
"Let's go then."
Christian felt helpless and uncertain. He couldn't cope with Rob being nice to him - he should be shouting at him, going mad at him, hitting him - anything but this! He had to force himself to remain calm.
"Where - uh - do you want to go?" He could feel his voice was wavery, but if he noticed it, Rob didn't mention it.
"Back to the hotel, I guess - I really need to shower, clean up, and maybe to sleep ..."
"OK - I'll take you back to your room then."
"If I went to yours, I could clean myself up while you got us something to eat..."
Christian gulped.
"You want to come back with me?" he almost squeaked, unbelieving.
Rob eyed him unwaveringly, a half-amused expression on his face.
"If that's cool with you?"
Christian almost chuckled.
"I'm cool with that."
"Hey - let's go already!" Acting in character, Rob spread his hands to demonstrate how cool he was.
****~****~****
In the car, Rob pulled the visor down, the brightness of the day hurt his eyes. Christian drove carefully, and a lot slower this time. So many thoughts and feelings were vying with each other for prominence in his head, but he couldn't express any of them. So it was they drove in silence. Glancing from time to time in Rob's direction, Christian observed that the other man hadn't been talking idly saying he wanted to sleep. His eyes kept half-closing, lulled by the gentle movement of the car. The lack of movement didn't wake him immediately when Christian brought the car to a gentle halt, put the break on and looked over at his passenger. After a few seconds Rob's eyelids fluttered open, and again he offered Christian that sleepy half-smile.
"We're here." Stating the obvious Christian! He told himself. Rob nodded faintly.
"Yeah, looks like it."
Hastily, Christian got out and hurried over to Rob's side, opening the door for him. Rob gazed up at him curiously.
"I can manage, you know?"
Awkwardly, Christian dropped his hands to his sides and mumbled he was sorry. Rob chuckled at his discomfort.
"I'm only teasing you," he chided gently as he climbed out. "Now come on - take me to your room, I'm hungry, feel grubby and need some sleep ..."
"Hey!" they both turned together at the shout from across the car park. Long blond hair flying, Chris Jericho jogged over to join them. Concern in his face as he looked at Rob.
"I heard what happened, man, hey, I'm sorry - are you OK?"
Rob smiled at his erstwhile lover.
"Yeah, I'll be fine - guess you heard I fell over a bag ...all the stuff I do in the ring, then go and get knocked out virtually by a bench in the locker room!" he feigned a laugh.
Chris just smiled, still concerned. Christian remained silent, eyes darting from one man to the other.
"If you want to come back with me, that's OK..."
Rob shot a quick glance at Christian, who just stood there holding his breath with a apprehensive expression on his face.
"It's OK, Chris, I've already promised Christian he can look after me - guess he's always fancied a nurse's uniform!"
Rob felt guilt at saying no to Jericho, was that a hurt expression he saw flit across his face? Surely not - after all - Jericho himself had stated quite categorically that he neither wanted nor expected any kind of ties in their one-off relationship. As far as he was concerned, sex was for fun - not for commitment . He'd also stated that if you got too emotionally involved with anyone, you only ended up getting hurt, and it wasn't worth risking friendship for that.
Chris smiled faintly, nodding his head.
"OK, just so long as you're alright. Let me know if I can do anything." The blue eyes switched to Christian, seeming to cool by a few degrees. "Look after him then." And nodding curtly he set off toward his car, getting in and slamming the door; the dust scattered in his wake as his foot pressed unnecessarily hard on the accelerator.
End Part 20