Title: Return (1/?)

Rating: M

Content: swearing, sex, violence, angst of varying forms in upcoming chapters.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue

Summary: Ellie grew up around wrestlers, but left broken. Now she's back as a diva, but will things be as easy as she hopes, and will she be able to break away from the shadows of her past?

A/N: Somewhat re-written.

Walking into the building felt like walking into an unfamiliar home. It was comfortable, but strange. So many things were familiar – the production team running round, men in various states of undress wandering around the building, stretching, drinking energy drinks; but there was a sense of difference, of history, that made Ellie feel uncomfortable and not a little nervous.

"Hey baby girl," the familiar voice made her smile and she turned around.

"Randy," she dropped her bag as he pulled her into a huge bear hug. "How ya doing?"

"I'm good, now why didn't you tell me you were coming? I'd have met you at the airport or the hotel." He eventually relinquished the embrace and held her at arms length, studying her carefully. "You're looking good."

"Thank you. I didn't call cos I didn't want any fuss, but I gotta tell you it's nice to see a friendly face, things seem so different now." She shrugged and looked away, memories for a moment filling her mind of past days, history that she both held dear and tried to avoid.

"Yeah a lot has changed," Randy put an arm around her, "but you'll get to know everyone quickly enough and you've got me and John to look after you. Speaking of which, does he know you're here?"

"No, I didn't tell anyone. I didn't get chance, the call up was way sooner than I expected."

"Right, well lets go surprise him then," Randy picked up Ellie's bag and carried it along with his own, leading her down seemingly endless corridors until they reached what was evidently the locker room area. Randy put down the bags and held up one hand, "hold on a second." He knocked on a door and opened it slightly, putting his head round to look in, "John, you decent? Anyone else in there with you?"

She heard the familiar drawl muffled slightly, "dude what you on about? There's only me and Evan in here and yes I'm decent."

Randy beckoned to Ellie and she followed him into the room, standing slightly behind the Viper.

"Got a surprise for you," Randy grinned, moving to reveal the young diva.

"Ellie! Girl what the hell you doing here?" A blinding smile lit up John's face and he quickly pulled the girl into a hug, "why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

"I didn't know until the other day. I've missed you Johnny," Ellie relaxed into the large arms that surrounded her. John always had this way of making her feel safe. "How've you been?"

"I'm good darlin'." He let her go and shook his head, "I can't believe it."

"Believe it, I'm here," Ellie turned to the other man in the room, "Ev, do I get a hug or what?"

"Of course," he walked over to her, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before enveloping her in his arms. "Good to see you again El."

"Hold up, how do you two know each other, Ev you wouldn't have been around..." John looked at Ellie curiously.

"We met down at FCW when Ellie was training," Evan said, "Ellie you never told me you already knew the guys though."

"I don't want people to think I got here by anything other than my own steam," Ellie replied quietly.

"Hey that's cool, I totally understand that one," Evan nodded. His hands lingered on Ellie's shoulders, catching the quick eyes of the Viper.

"So you gonna keep an eye on our girl Ev?" Randy asked bluntly, the meaning behind his words perfectly clear – 'keep your hands off'. He'd always been protective of her and it wasn't that he didn't trust Evan, but Ellie was like his little sister and as such no one would ever be good enough for her.

"Randy!" Ellie shook her head, "I can look after myself you know. I love you guys but please, you have to chill out. No giving the third degree to every guy I say hello to, ok?"

John laughed, "we promise we won't hassle you too much baby girl. Don't we, Ortz?"

"Maybe," the words had no heat behind them, and were said with a smile, but Ellie knew that Randy would be keeping a firm eye on her no matter what. She appreciated that they cared, feeling safe and loved wasn't something she was particularly used to. As dark shadows crossed her mind, Ellie knew she had to keep busy.

"So I guess I should go find the girls locker room, and then speak to creative and see what the plans are for me," Ellie grabbed her bag, "Johnny, can we catch up later? Ev, nice to see you." She looked at Randy pointedly, "wanna come with me?"

He nodded and followed her out of the room, glaring slightly at Evan as they left. The younger man sat down and continued getting ready, pausing to collect his thoughts.

"So how do you guys know Ellie?" He asked finally.

"Her dad was on the creative team maybe five years ago? She used to travel with him and hung out with us." John stopped there, not wanting to talk about Ellie behind her back or tell Evan more than she would be comfortable with. "He... he died about four years ago and we kinda lost contact for a bit but when she started training at FCW we all reconnected."

Evan nodded. "I saw her a few times at FCW, she's good. Picks things up quickly."

"She's a smart girl. It's gonna be good having her around again."

Evan smiled in silent agreement.

Ellie's debut match was set for Superstars, so she made her way to the Divas' locker room to find her opponent and get herself ready. It may have been her first WWE match but she'd worked for some time in FCW and was comfortable and confident in her abilities. Wrestling was in her blood, and nothing would ever change that.

Despite Randy's insistence, she wanted to do things on her own though, knowing that reputation and behaviour shaped your experience backstage. She walked into the room with more confidence than she felt, a sigh of relief escaping her lips when she saw her old friend Nattie sat in one corner of the room.

"Ellie?" Nattie stood up and screamed, "oh my god you're actually here!" The girls embraced and started chatting away like they hadn't spent any time apart. There was no one who Ellie would have rather had her first match against and she was relieved it was her best girl friend in the business. They'd trained together many times and knew they clicked in the ring and out of it.

The room filled up slowly and Nattie introduced Ellie to each Diva. Ellie's initial excitement diminished as some of the divas greeted her with significantly less excitement and significantly more distrust than Nattie had. She quickly realised that little had changed in women's wrestling: it was as bitchy as ever.

Nattie picked up on this and squeezed her hand affectionately, whispering "don't worry about it, these bitches won't be around in six months. They don't understand the business like we do."

Ellie nodded but it did little to assuage her discomfort. She just wanted to get into the ring, the one place she felt truly alive. She wondered briefly whether coming back had been a mistake, but put that thought to the back of her mind the moment she hit the ring, losing herself in the crowd reaction, the pace of the match and the artistry of the business she adored. She lost, but it didn't matter, she was where she was supposed to be.

John and Randy watched backstage, proud of their friend.

"Hard to believe it's the same girl, isn't it?"

John nodded, "she's come such a long way."

"She's amazing. We gotta look after her Johnny, we owe her that much." Randy didn't once take his eyes off the screen.

"I know. We will."