The Way to Eden

Sin's second fight was as brutal as the first. Jeff came to know that she'd resort to the knife as soon as she knew the other fighter was down. It seemed to be her preferred method of dispatching her opponents. He shook his head slowly wondering if there was any way to change such a vicious combatant. He'd already decided he was going to try, if for nothing else than to save more unsuspecting fighters from similar fates. This time when she left the ring she took a path to the ramp that would lead her past him. He stood up and leaned over the barrier hoping she would hear him over the roar of the crowd.

"Ya don' hafta end their careers, ya kno'," he said a little more harshly than he'd meant to.

She stopped and glanced at him curiously for a moment in silence, her gaze raking him up and down but not in a sexual way. Jeff knew what ogling felt like from his fans, but this woman couldn't care less about him physically it seemed. She examined him as if he were an odd specimen in a laboratory. An unusual feeling for Jeff, to be sure, but he merely waited mutely for an answer. She gave him none, stalking past him in dismissal. Jeff was bewildered and more than a little irked.

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"Why didn't you say something to him?" the man asked Eden dumbfounded when she returned to the back.

She sighed in exasperation as she grabbed another water bottle. Obviously, she needed to set some ground rules before she had to injure this guy to keep him in line.

"I've already told you how I'm going about this," she hissed. "I have your instructions, now allow me to do the job you hired me for. He isn't going to respond to me if I play the part too easily maneuvered. We need him to want to save me from my own vindictiveness."

"Of course, Sin," he said softly. "I'm sorry I seem over zealous. I'm just very anxious to see him pay."

"Not that it matters, but what for?"

The man looked at her uncertainly, as if he didn't want to trust her with the information.

"Like I said," she replied to his unasked question, "not that it matters. I've agreed to your plan. There's no turning back."

The man nodded thoughtfully then shrugged, as if coming to a decision.

"His interference cost me my business," he said finally. "Rio wouldn't have left the club if she'd never met him."

"So you ARE Henry Bender."

"You know me?"

"Only by reputation," Eden said neutrally.

"Well, I suppose it makes no difference," Henry said. "As you stated earlier, you could have taken care of me by now if you'd liked."

"I thought you hated Rio."

"Are you a fan of hers?"

"Not anymore," Eden answered with a lot more fire than she'd intended. "She turned her back on her fans."

"She turned her back on me, as well," Henry smiled grimly. "I made her. I may have hated her, but she was good and she made me tons of money. I gave her matches many of the guys were denied. When that Hardy boy entered into the equation, it was the beginning of the end."

"So, he saved her."

"Not just him, but yeah."

"I heard she was married not long after her last appearance."

"I heard the same."

"Why not go after her husband then?"

"Because she's always with him," he said angrily. "And because Jeff Hardy is the one who drew her away from me to begin with. It makes more sense to attack the one who took her from me in the first place."

"You say that like you owned her," Eden pointed out.

"She was mine," Henry said coldly. "It had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with proprietary rights."

"But Jeff Hardy doesn't have any hold on her anymore."

"But he's in her life just the same," he replied bitterly. "And removing him will hurt her. Show her that she made the wrong decision to leave me."

Eden was intrigued with Henry's sudden intensity. She remembered well the quick successions of events that lead Rio's downfall in the Warrior Series. Samuel told her that it was obvious the club owner wanted to eliminate the silver fighter. He knew she was being set up from the beginning and showed Eden the signs so that she could recognize a plan like that when she saw one herself. Evidently, Rio could see it too, for she faked her own death to escape, only resurfacing when Jeff Hardy was in trouble.

"You wanted her dead," she said matter-of-factly.

"Only after I knew she was no longer mine."

Therein lay Henry's obsession, the tall warrior thought silently. He hated Rio, yet he coveted her. Eden could see that he wanted to hurt Rio badly and that this truly was the way to do it. When Jeff Hardy died, it would remind her of where she came from and who was ultimately responsible for his demise. It would shatter her beyond repair.

"After tonight, I won't be seeing you again, will I?" she asked, suspecting his answer.

"No," he replied. "In fact, I won't even be here for your final two matches. You have the set up and the plan well in hand."

"And the payment?"

He pulled a large, hard-cased suitcase from behind a lighting box and set it down before her, opening it. She saw rows of stacks of cash in moderate bills.

"Do I need to count it?"

"You said you could always find me," he answered. "I'd rather not make you and your trainer go through all of that trouble."

Eden nodded, closing the case and making a mental note to stash it with her things.

"You're going to see her, aren't you?" she suddenly asked Henry before he could turn and walk away.

"As soon as I see her alone, I'm going to take her."

"She's still a warrior."

"She won't have any fight left in her."

"And the man who trained her?"

"Who said anything about a man training her?"

"Don't take me for an idiot," Eden remarked softly. "No one fights like her without training."

"He'll be too busy helping Jeff Hardy's brother find the assailant," Henry smiled. "She'll be unprotected and vulnerable."

"And what will you do with her after you have her?"

"I thought you said it didn't matter."

"It doesn't. I'm just curious."

"I'm going to kill her," Henry shrugged. "But I may torture her and use her first. I haven't decided yet."

"You still have time to contemplate it."

"That I do," he purred. "On that note, I bid you a fond adieu, Sin. And my many thanks to you."

"You're welcome," she murmured to his retreating back.

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Divine proved to be a challenge to Original Sin, Jeff thought later with some satisfaction. Although the dark warrior woman didn't seem at all winded from her earlier matches, she couldn't seem to get a handle on the equally built Nubian queen. Divine reminded Jeff of a taller more intense, if one could believe it, Jazz. She had her opponent on the mat twice already. Then Jeff saw Sin reach for her knife and his heart sank. But Divine anticipated the move and knocked it out of Sin's reach then slamming the ebony and pink haired fighter's head into the mat with a vengeance. Sin shook her head to clear it then glared at Jeff accusingly. He widened his eyes innocently gesturing to his seat as if to say, 'how could I have done that to you?'

"She don' like ya," Shane said from his side. Jeff could hear the smile in his voice.

"Like I care," Jeff grunted back.

"Oh, you care," Shane laughed. "Ya always care."

Sin rolled out of Divine's path just as a kick was sent in her direction. She pulled herself up and launched a series of kicks herself bringing down the other woman. She looked for her knife but saw that Divine had swatted it out of the ring. No matter. She reached down into her other boot to pull out its twin and flung it at Divine's leg hitting her mark in the other woman's left knee. Finished, she thought with a smirk as she retrieved her knives and sauntered past Jeff again.

He glowered at her as she past him reaching out to touch her shoulder.

"Ya don' HAFTA do that," he said again.

"What would you know about what I HAVE to do?" she hissed.

"Amazin'ly enough, plenty," he growled.

"I highly doubt it!" She pulled her shoulder from him and stalked away.

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'He definitely seems interested,' Eden thought as she trotted down to the ring for her fourth and final match of the evening.

Jeff sat in his seat watching her glumly as she entered and circled her next prey. She smiled inwardly knowing he would feel compelled to speak with her again as she left. She relished the thought.

Sunshine looked apprehensive as she circled Eden. Clearly, she knew this was a losing battle. But to surrender without a fight meant certain unemployment, so she seemed resigned to make some sort of stand and try to leave the ring as unscathed as possible. Smart girl, Eden thought. Tool bad Eden didn't feel magnanimous tonight. Well, maybe a little. She decided not to use her knife in this case and just break her opponent's elbow instead, which she did easily as Sunshine was too busy looking for Sin's knife to notice the sudden movement. The match was over in less than five minutes and Eden cackled loudly as the small blonde screamed her defeat.

As she slowly passed Jeff he again reached out to her. She didn't let him touch her this time, but turned angrily to him instead.

"What do you want from me?" she demanded in a scathing tone that conveyed her attitude perfectly.

"Ya don' hafta be like this," he offered.

"You don't know me!"

"I'd like ta."

"I don't think so," she sneered turning away. His hand touched her softly, pulling away when she whirled around to face him. "Don't touch me!"

"Look, I'd jus' like ta talk ta ya," he said glumly. "Here, take this." He handed her a small white card with a phone number printed on it. ""Jus' take it. Then at leas' I'll kno' ya have my cell numba in case ya eva wanna talk."

"Why would I want to talk to you?" she asked harshly.

"Ya neva kno'," he smiled sadly. "Jus' please take it."

Eden feigned hesitation before taking the card. 'Oh, yeah,' she said inwardly. 'Come to Mama.' When her fingers closed around the card she looked up to see his smile widen slightly.

"I won' make anotha move until you do."

Eden narrowed her eyes as a jolt of electricity passed through her. 'What the hell was that? Ignore it, Eden. You have a job to do.' She smirked as she tucked the card into her sports bra and walked away.