Falling Into the Nexus

chapter one;

"What have you learned here, Daniella?"

I looked up from my french manicure and then glanced at the older woman in the chair across from me. Many things went through my head, one idea telling the counselor that I learned that tequila was not my friend when I had already had six shots of vodka. I wanted to tell him that I had learned the hard way not to fall asleep first at a party.

"That alcohol is not my best friend," I whispered gently.

I had just finished a ninety day stint at the Betty Ford clinic, thanks to my father, Vince McMahon. He had dealt with it enough – having told me that as a McMahon, I needed to protect our family name. Supposedly, hitting every club in the city that the WWE would have been in that week, wasn't protecting our family name.

"Who is your best friend?" the counselor asked.

Quickly, I thought about what would get me out of this little 'final exam'.

I envisioned myself in one of my siblings' position. I treated this as if it were a promo on Friday Night Smackdown or something – deciding to say what sounded the best to me.

"Myself," I nodded. "And my family."

The older man nodded his head and shuffled some papers. "I think that we're done here, Ms. McMahon."

"I'm allowed to leave?"

He nodded his head, "I believe that your mother and father will be here momentarily. Go get your things."

I jumped out of the chair and walked out of the room, closing the door behind me.

"Are you done, Daniella?" the secretary asked.

I nodded my head, "Yep! I'll never return here, I swear to God I hated it here," I murmured, signing out on the clipboard. "Goodbye."

I walked back to my room where my clothes from when I was admitted laid on my bed.

I had been wearing a pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt, white heels and pearls. I sighed and changed out of my dark blue uniform. I used my fingers to comb out my blonde curls. This was it, I was done – I was so lucky.

There was a knock on the door and I walked to it, opening slowly.

My mother, Linda McMahon, hugged me tight.

"Oh, my dear! I missed you so much, my love," she whispered.

I hugged her tight, my eyes on the large man behind her, his hands on his hips, watching my intently.

"Dad," I said softly when Mom let me go.

Vincent Kennedy McMahon was never really Vincent Kennedy McMahon to me – he was Daddy or even just Pops, but now, I felt like I was his employee.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me, raising an eyebrow.

"Eighty-nine days sober," I recited, as if I wanted a pat on my head.

"Good," Dad said. "I got you a job with the company, I need to keep an eye on you," he said. "You start tomorrow – get packed when you get home and make sure you have enough to live," he nodded curtly.

"But!"

I didn't get anything else due to my Mom giving me a short glare.

"Don't upset him, Daniella, he can put you right back in this place, and I just wanna have my daughter back," Mom said softly. She reached over and took my hand, "Come on, love, let's get you home."

Home to me was a third floor apartment which had a queen sized bed and massive amounts of compartments for my liquor.

At twenty-one, I was a recovering addict. My mother told me that Shane and Stephanie, my older siblings, had come in and cleaned my apartment up for me so when I was sober and returning home, I wouldn't be tempted.

I sighed and dropped my bag to the floor, hearing my phone ring.

Moving to the wall, I grabbed the phone off the hook and answered. "Hello?"

"Well look who's out of rehab!"

"You know, Mike... if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to go to rehab," I said, shaking my head.

I had met Mike Mizanin two years ago when I had just turned nineteen. I was stupid enough to fall for his tricks, his hi-jinx and by the time I turned twenty-one, I was madly in love with his crazy personality.

Mike was the first person who got me black-out drunk, he was the first person who refused to let any man make moves on me when I was drinking – he protected me.

"You know, you're the one who never could say 'no'."

He had a point, I knew that I had a problem with the word but now? What would I do in the real world?

I couldn't help but wonder what the lessons I had learned in rehab would do for me in the real world.

"Anyways, I'm calling you to offer you to take out for dinner tomorrow night after Raw. What do you say?"

"I'll think about it, Mike," I said kindly, "But hey, lemme text you later cause I have to pack."

"Okay, okay, don't make me wait long, though..."

I hung up and rolled my eyes.

"Fat chance."

Dad had arranged for a WWE production assistant to pick me up at the airport. His name was Travis and he was a scrawny red head who seemed to have more on his mind than picking me up. He threw my bags into the back of his rental car and opened the door for me.

When I slid into the seat, he moved into the driver's seat, "How was the flight?" he asked me.

"Long and tiring, but I mean, no problem," I said.

"So, your Dad wanted me to go over a few guidelines with you," he said simply, adjusting his grasp on the steering wheel.

"Shoot," I muttered.

He sighed a long sigh, "You're not really supposed to fraternize with any of the WWE Superstars unless asked to for you job – other than that, no drinking, obviously."

We pulled up to the arena and I climbed out of the car, adjusting my white sundress with the black shrug. "Great," I said softly.

"Go meet your Dad," Travis nodded. "I'll bring your bags to your locker room."

I walked into the arena and looked around.

"Where is Vince McMahon's office?" I asked a man in a large purple t-shirt and jean shorts. He had a matching purple hat and arm bands up and down his wrists. When he turned to look at me, I noticed his beautiful big blue eyes.

"John?" I grinned, raising an eyebrow. "What is this nonsense?" I asked, motioning to his outfit. "Where's the Chain Gang?"

John Cena laughed out loud before throwing me into a huge hug. "Oh, you know – just kinda hanging around. The Chain Gang seemed to die out so now I'm just the amplified version of me!" he beamed.

I took a deep breath, "I love it," I said.

"So you had a hard few months, huh?" John asked me, his hands on his hips.

I pursed my lips and looked down, sadly.

"Hey," John said softly, looking down to me, pushing my chin up. "You lost your way, we're all here to make sure that it doesn't happen again, Ella," he winked. "Your dad's office is down the hall and to the left. I'll see you around, girl."

I smiled gently at John before turning on my heel and walking towards Dad's office.

I reached the hallway where Dad's office make-shift office was and saw a male punching at a punching bag. Unlike John, this male had a unique style about him – he wore black and a bright purple in a design that sprawled against the back of his tights. He had short black hair which was styled like he just ran his hands through it – his dark eyes were in a deep trance and the trance didn't break when I walked past.

I opened the door to Dad's office and sighed, seeing Dad at his desk.

Dad looked up, "Morning," he said. "So Travis picked you up without any problems, good. I just wanted to tell you about your new job," he said.

"I'm going to have you shadow some WWE superstars," he nodded. "I'm going to have you be personal assistants to the Nexus – they are six men who are going to dominate this business, and especially since the Nexus leader Wade Barrett lost against Randy Orton at Survivor Series last night, we're going to have you be a possible on-screen love interest with a few of the members of the Nexus – we are going to use the femme-fatal angle to destroy the Nexus.

At the end of a seven week program with the boys, we will have you choose a face character or a heel character to fall in love with on screen and it will launch their personal career. I am giving you some slack with the rope, Daniella," Dad said. "Please do not hang yourself with it."

I nodded my head, "Alright... thanks, Dad."

He gave me a soft smile, "I love you... now go find you the Nexus." he beamed.

[Author's Note;
I am so obsessed with the Nexus – I think it's happened ever since I got a wave and wink from Justin Gabriel at the house show I went to. I love that he saw my sign and laughed! ("I'm Here for the South African Stunner!") I'm so conflicted with what happened to John Cena, so I refuse to let him NOT be in the story. That's my own decision.

This story, as mentioned in the summary, Daniella is supposed to fall in love with either Justin Gabriel or Wade Barrett! Oh my Gosh! ;) I love you all! Please read and review! IT means so much when I get an email about how someone reviewed/alerted/favorited. ;D I adore you. Kay! I wanna get FOUR reviews? Epic reviews, too? I'll updated ASAP! ;D

– Ashley]