The story takes place between July 2012 and November 2012, around the time Dean Ambrose wasn't on TV (between his departure from FCW and debut on RAW).

It's not amazing, but it was the best I could do at the time I wrote it.

'ARGHHH!'

Andie roared in agony when she had finally had enough. She opened her eyes and looked at the blurred outline of William Regal, trying to focus on him through eyes blinded by sweat. He made the briefest of eye contact.

'That's enough,' he said.

Aksana immediately pushed Andie away and left her lying on her back in the ring, exhausted. Aksana was stronger than her, but it was the only advantage she had over her. Andie was the better wrestler. She knew the counter now she was lying on the mat, but how could she have remembered when all she could think of was the pain? When Aksana shouted her goodbyes Andie was still lying on the mat and didn't answer her. She slammed her fist down hard in frustration.

'Come here,' Regal said.

Andie turned her head to look at him. He'd pulled up a chair and he was sitting on it with his knees apart and his hands resting on his kneecaps. Yes, that was bound to happen but he could at least give her a bit of time to recover, maybe let her have a shower first? But she knew better than to argue with him.

She got to her aching legs slowly and limped to him. She knew what to do. She got to her knees in front of him as gracefully as she could and clasped her hands behind her back. She bowed her head respectfully as she had learnt to. He put his finger under her chin to give her permission to look at him. She knew he would lecture her, she hated this part but she always listened to him.

'You've been practicing a counter to an ankle lock all week. I encouraged Aksana to do that lock for just that purpose, so you could try the counter in a real competitive situation.'

Andie snorted, Aksana was such a fool. She would never try a move suggested by the mentor of her opponent. But when Regal stopped talking she instantly stopped laughing.

'I don't know what you find so funny. Aksana didn't look like a fool tonight in that ring, but you did and you look very foolish right now.'

Andie felt her face get even hotter. Yes, she imagined she did look a fool.

'Tell me why you forgot the counter.'

'I didn't, I was in so much pain ...'

Her voice trailed off into nothing, she hadn't thought about what she was going to say. He waited a moment for her to finish her sentence, he always demanded full answers but Andie couldn't give one.

'You forgot the counter. That is the reason you couldn't finish your sentence, because you had begun with a lie.'

'Yes Sir,' Andie said clearly. That's how she addressed him when they were alone, loud and clear. It was all part of the discipline he said.

'Why did you forget the counter Morgane? You practiced it enough I think.'

He insisted on calling her by her ring name, she detested the name. Morgane was a fairy. She wasn't a fairy, she was a wrestler.

'Because I was in pain and all I could think about was the pain.'

'That isn't good enough. You need to focus and you need to learn discipline. Stand up.'

Though she was used to it her heart raced faster when this moment came. She stood up and found her knees were a little wobbly.

'Pull down your trunks and knickers.'

She pulled them down together revealing her smooth lips. She put her hands behind her back and looked at him again. She wasn't permitted to show shame.

'Bend over my knee.'

She tipped herself over and settled her hands on the cheap linoleum floor. The first smack was swift and hard. It was always the worst. It was difficult not to gasp, she sucked in her breath and tried to master the pain. Her bottom quickly changed colour. In the beginning the spankings had left marks and she had to go through a few varieties of trunks trying to find ones that would cover up every mark. Her excuse was that she was trying to find something comfortable. But now her bottom had toughened up and the marks would fade away within 24 hours but she had not become more tolerant of the pain. Getting your arse slapped continually was very different to being trapped in a submission hold. It was a different type of pain; every slap was a shock whereas the pain of being held in a submission hold was more constant. But she had got better at not showing pain. At the start she had yelled and begged; now she took them with barely a whimper. When he finally stopped she let out the huge breath she'd been holding in anticipation of the next slap.

'Stand up.' he instructed.

She stood up shakily, putting her hands on his thighs for support. She stood in front of him again. He took both her hands in his.

'You will do better next time,' he smiled reassuringly.

She smiled back at him. It was a familiar ritual to her; punishment followed by reassurance and forgiveness. She stood to attention waiting to be dismissed. Only then could she cover herself up again, for now she would have to endure the humiliation. He let go of her hands and Andie folded them behind her back. She would have liked to cover her nudity but it was against the rules and would earn her further punishment.

'I have a surprise waiting for you tomorrow,' he said.

Andie laughed.

'Do you think I'm the type of woman who likes surprises?'

It was OK, they could joke now. They'd been doing this long enough for her to know when the punishment was over.

'No but this is one I wager you'll like. I'd like you to meet a protégé of mine.'

'Oh?' Andie said, arching a neatly plucked brow.

She wasn't feeling enthusiastic about this. She was the most skilled in ring woman in FCW, she didn't like the sound of him bringing up somebody he had trained for her to compete against ... Regal read her thoughts and laughed.

'Don't worry. It's a gentleman.'

That actually brought a smile to Andie's lips. She was always willing to meet other like minded men. Life on the road away from home comforts, family and friends wasn't easy. It'd be nice to get friendly with a man ... But she knew she musn't get too ahead of herself. She didn't have a fantastic track record when it came to dating. Regal smiled at her again.

'You may go now,' he said.

'Thankyou Sir.'

She pulled up her bottoms and walked to the lockers and showers rubbing her tender flesh as she went. She already had high hopes for Regal's protégé.

Andie was sweating in the gym. She'd become a slave to the gym since she'd been signed. She had never done a real workout prior to FCW. She had been a fan of palates for a short time, but only because she wanted to tone her stomach, the only other thing that had kept her slim was wrestling. But she knew the look WWE liked and wobbly arms wasn't it. Hence she was here. Right now she was lifting dumb bells and she was in the zone. At least she was until a tall young man stopped walking through the gym to stare at her. He was moving closer. Creep. She tried to ignore him, sometimes you got guys like that in the gym. But he was hard to ignore. He was quite imposing; he was quite a bit taller than her and she wasn't short. 5'10 wasn't short for a female.

'You're doing it wrong,' the man said to her.

'I'm sorry?' Andie answered politely. Fuck Off, she was thinking.

'That's not how you lift dumb bells.'

She didn't answer him. What an asshole.

'I can show you if you like,' he said.

Andie looked at his face. She was about to tell him where to go but he was already moving about her and soon had his hands all over her. He put one hand on her stomach and the other on her back. He pushed her back forward and her stomach in. Andie didn't shove him away. She was used to being handled like this in wrestling. But really she should have. What was stopping her? Only that he wasn't a dirty old dog. On the contrary he wasn't too bad looking actually.

'You're arching your back too much. You'll break your back doing that,' he said when he stepped back to look at her improved posture.

Andie gave him a good long look. Scruffy sandy hair and a baby face. He looked familiar but she couldn't think why.

'Thanks for the tip,' she said and went to pick up her dumb bells again but he snatched one up before her. That had been his cue to go; he was pushing his luck now. He weighed one in his hand.

'Phew! Aren't these a bit heavy for a skinny thing like you?'

Andie bristled at the insult. She hated comments about her weight. She spent her school years being picked on for being long and lanky.

'I'm fine thankyou,' she said coolly and pulled the dumb bell from his grasp.

'I like the accent. Whereabouts are you from in England?'

Why was he even asking? Andie wasn't great with American accents but she'd heard enough to figure that he was from some poor Midwest state. He'd probably never gone to England in his life. Not that it mattered to her. She'd grown up poor, very poor. She'd only recently become comfortably well off.

'Manchester. You've probably never been there,' she said, hoping he took the hint.

'No but I bet I will one day ...' he answered. 'You a wrestler?' he asked.

What an odd question to ask. She'd never had anyone ask her that outright. She could only assume that he'd seen a match of hers. But then he'd have to be a real wrestling fan. She'd never come across a casual fan who'd see one of her matches. Maybe this guy was alright.

'Yes. How did you guess?' she replied.

'I think I've seen one of your matches. What's your ring name?'

She grimaced. She hated telling people her ring name but she was going to have to get used to it.

'Morgane.'

He sniggered in response. Well, that had gone down well. This guy was definitely an ass. She started lifting her dumb bells again and decided she definitely wasn't going to interact with this guy any further.

'Trained by anyone decent?' he asked.

She stopped mid lift.

'William Regal. I want to finish in 20 minutes so I'm going to get back to this if you don't mind.'

He smiled and she noticed dimples for the first time. It was disarming but she pulled her gaze from them.

'William Regal ...' he repeated. 'Well, maybe I'll see ya around babe.'

He then turned around with a swing of his hips and left the gym. Andie tried lifting the dumb bells again. She actually found herself taking his advice and this time she found the lift easier ...

Training had gone well today. Aksana did the ankle lock again and this time she immediately reversed it, she never even managed to get it locked in. It was amazing how much a sore arse aided your memory. When Regal had first said he was going to spank her, her immediate thought had been: pervert. But she'd submitted because she trusted him, respected him and she had the smallest crush on him ... Sitting across from him at a bar right now it seemed ridiculous that she ever thought he might think of her as anything more than a student. He was a happily married man, handsome, intelligent, much older ... She always wanted the most inappropriate men. She definitely didn't have feelings like that towards Regal anymore but she still admired him and she was very glad that she could call him her friend and teacher.

He had been glancing back during their conversation now and then to check if his surprise protégé was here yet. He looked back again now as did Andie. She noticed someone in a black leather jacket enter. He looked completely at odds with his surroundings. This was quite an upmarket bar. Regal was dressed in a snappy suit and even Andie wore a demure dress that covered her tattoos. But she liked a man that broke the rules. She followed him with her eyes. When he walked down the bar she immediately recognised him. It was that jerk who had pestered her in the gym.

'Urgh you see that guy?' she started to say to Regal but he spoke over her.

'Ah there he is,' he turned round and waved.

Andie looked in the direction he was waving in. She hadn't noticed anybody just enter.

'Morgane,' Regal said, catching her attention.

She looked at him.

What the fuck? That guy was standing next to him now.

'This is Dean Ambrose,' Regal said smiling broadly. 'Dean, this is Morgane. The young lady I wanted you to meet.'

Dean Ambrose. Yes, she had heard of him and now she heard the name she knew why he had looked familiar before. She had seen one his matches but he never struck her as particularly impressive. But she knew Regal had spoken highly of him at least once. That ass had probably known who she was all along. She felt disappointed that the protégé wasn't someone else. She had thought of several other men she would have liked it to be. And to make things worse she knew they wouldn't get along. He had proven earlier how much of an idiot he was. He stuck out his hand to her.

'Nice to finally meet you,' he said smoothly.

Andie took his hand and gave it a brisk but firm shake.

'Nice to meet you too,' it wasn't nice to see him again but she didn't want to appear rude in front of Regal.

Regal scooted over in their booth and Ambrose sat bang opposite her. He smiled at Andie and fingered his tumbler of whiskey.

She gave him a small smile back, only for Regal's benefit, then immediately looked away. He was teasing her, she knew it.

'Dean is going to RAW Morgane. He's having some time off before he makes his debut but he'll be in Florida for a while yet. I think there's a lot you two could teach one another,' said Regal.

Ambrose raised his brows like he doubted the truth of that statement then said, 'I could show her a thing or two ...'

Andie didn't miss the innuendo. She felt her face grow hot but she met his boldness with equal brashness.

'I'm up for it if you are,' Andie said trying to smile but she thought she bared her teeth instead.

'Excellent!' Regal exclaimed. He had either completely misunderstood the exchange or was ignoring the innuendo. He then started talking about when they should next all meet but Andie wasn't listening. She kept glancing at Ambrose. He had icy blue eyes that didn't twinkle and bored into her.