(Note: Well, I started writing this a few weeks ago, before recent events showed me just how wrong I was in my interpretation of a certain character, but let's not talk about that now. I decided to go ahead and finish it anyway, in honor of happier times. Let's just say this is set in a reality in which face!Shield is in the early days of a feud with the Authority in general. Feedback is always welcome. Thanks for reading!)

On-the-Job Training

"He's just doing this to screw with me. I know he is," Stephanie McMahon fumed.

She paced around her makeshift office in the arena. Brad Maddox stood off to the side, looking pathetic and being generally useless, as usual. It was mid-morning on a Monday. Stephanie had more important things to worry about than this.

"I'm sure your father wouldn't-" Brad began.

"Yes, he would," Stephanie glared at him, "My father conveniently neglected to mention that he had an illegitimate daughter running around somewhere. He would definitely go over my head and guarantee her a job."

"How does he still have the authority to do that?" asked Brad.

"I have no idea, but somehow he does," said Stephanie, "I'm under orders to give her a job. Any job at all, it doesn't matter. The only thing I'm not allowed to do fire her."

The door opened to admit Triple H. He paused briefly to kiss his wife before speaking.

"The plane just landed," he said, "So there's about half an hour until… what was her name again?"

"Carly Caden," Stephanie sneered over the alliteration as though it left a bad taste in her mouth, "Isn't that just precious."

"Have you decided what you're going to do with her?" asked Triple H.

"No," Stephanie groaned, leaning against the desk, "If it isn't a legitimate enough to satisfy my father, he'll start interfering even more than he already has. But there is no way I'm giving this girl enough power for her to become a threat."

"I'm sure she doesn't have any plans of being a threat to you," was Brad's weak attempt at reassurance, "When I spoke to her on the phone, she seemed very… uh, polite."

"She's an idiot," Stephanie said flatly.

"But she is your sister," Brad offered.

"She is not my sister!" Stephanie snapped.

Suddenly, a devious light sparked in her eyes. She smiled, advancing on Brad Maddox. He knew that look well enough to be concerned about what was coming next.

"You just gave me a solution, Brad," said Stephanie, "Congratulations, you got yourself a new assistant. Now she's your problem."

"But, Stephanie," Brad protested, "I don't need an-"

"Have her sharpen pencils and bring you coffee for all I care," Stephanie dismissed Brad with a wave of her hand, "Just keep her out of trouble and, more importantly, keep her out of my way. I want you to make sure that girl falls in line like a good little McMahon. My father should know not to underestimate me."

xXx

It had been one heck of a graduation present: Vincent McMahon, the father she had never met, called up out of the blue and offered Carly a job working for the WWE. Said it would be good experience for her, and it would allow her to do a lot of traveling. Of course, Carly accepted.

But she was nervous now, walking into the arena complex. She'd only spoken to some of these people on the phone. She'd never met them in person. She wasn't even sure what they expected her to do, exactly.

Carly managed to stammeringly introduce herself at the security checkpoint, and was directed to the office. She was surprised at how many people were running around getting the place set up. She hadn't really thought about just how many employees were needed to make these shows run smoothly. Even though the McMahons probably didn't really consider her to be family, Carly was excited just to be a part of all this.

A sign taped on the door labeled this room the COO's office. Carly hesitated. There was no reason to be afraid. All she was doing was reporting to people she'd never met before to be assigned an unknown job. Carly gulped. She summoned up her most polite and professional air, took a deep breath, and knocked.

"Come in," a woman's voice called.

Carly opened the door. Inside the makeshift office stood a tall woman, a large, broad-shouldered man, and a nervous-looking pretty-boy. The woman smiled and reached out to shake her hand.

"You must be Carly," she said, "I'm Stephanie McMahon. This is my husband."

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Ms. McMahon, and you, Mr. Helmsley," said Carly.

Carly knew that everybody referred to him as Triple H, but she couldn't bring herself to call him anything but Mr. Helmsley. He smiled as he shook her hand, though, apparently appreciative of the respect she addressed him with. So far so good. She hadn't tripped or said anything stupid yet.

"And this is Brad Maddox," said Ms. McMahon.

"We spoke on the phone," Mr. Maddox said as he shook Carly's hand.

"Of course," said Carly, smiling, "I'm Carly Caden. Oh, right, you knew that already. I beg your pardon."

Carly kicked herself internally. Actively trying not to sound like a nervous imbecile was having the opposite effect.

"Actually," said Ms. McMahon, "As long as you're employed by this company, you'll go by the name Carly McMahon. You got this job because you're a McMahon, so it's only fitting that you accept all the responsibilities of being a part of this family."

"Oh," Carly blinked in surprise, "Alright. I'll do whatever you think is best, Ms. McMahon."

That was unexpected. It wasn't exactly welcoming, but Carly couldn't blame her for being distant. They may share a father, but that didn't exactly make them sisters.

"I'm glad you understand," Ms. McMahon smiled, "Now, you'll be working as Brad's assistant. Mostly clerical work, nothing too difficult, at least until you learn how things work here."

"I'll certainly do my best," Carly nodded, "When do I start?"

"Right now, if you're up for it," said Ms. McMahon, "Brad?"

"Oh, right! Follow me, please, Carly. Can I call you Carly?" Mr. Maddox asked a little hesitantly.

"Of course, Mr. Maddox," said Carly.

xXx

As soon as the door shut, Triple H grinned, slipping an arm around his wife's waist.

"'Mr. Maddox, Mr. Helmsley, Ms. McMahon,'" he mimicked, "Are you actually concerned that that mouse is going to be a threat?"

"Not anymore," said Stephanie, leaning against him, "She really is too stupid to cause me any trouble."

xXx

Carly spent most of the afternoon just following Mr. Maddox around, observing. She gathered that the powers-that-be of the WWE were extraordinarily organized and efficient. Also, Mr. Maddox was actually a very confident person. Carly still wasn't sure what had made him look so nervous before. Everyone here had been remarkably kind to her.

As Carly followed Mr. Maddox during the final pre-show checks, they passed by the locker room, where various wrestlers were milling about and getting warmed up. Mr. Maddox suddenly stepped back around a corner out of sight. His face was very pale.

"Mr. Maddox, what's the matter?" Carly asked, "You don't look well."

"Oh, no. I'm fine. Everything's fine," he with an uneasy laugh, "I just don't want them to see me."

"You don't want who to see you?" said Carly, lowering her voice to match his.

"The Shield. Those three guys who look like the swat team," Mr. Maddox explained when Carly continued to look confused, pointing each one out, "Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns."

"But why are you hiding from them?"

"We have a… history. By which I mean they beat me up if I don't do what they want."

Carly studied the three men. There was something dangerous, almost predatory-looking about them. The one called Roman Reigns looked incredibly strong. His face was handsome, but fierce and stern, and he had eyes like a wolf's. The one called Dean Ambrose seemed to have trouble staying still as he listened to the third man talk. He kept twitching his head and shoulders. Every now and then, Ambrose's heavy-lidded eyes would widen, and his mouth would twist into a grin. At first glance it seemed that the third one, Seth Rollins, was the normal one, aside from his two-tone hair. He was the leanest compared to the other two. But there was something too calm about the way he carried himself, and there was something calculating in his smile.

Carly couldn't tell which one of them was the leader. Rollins was doing most of the talking, it was true, and seemed to be outlining a strategy. But Reigns kept his eyes on Rollins and Ambrose protectively and his few words seemed to carry a lot of weight, and whenever Ambrose spoke, the other two deferred to him, smiling and nodding in agreement. It was altogether a strange dynamic.

Seth Rollins glanced over at Carly, his dark eyes locking with hers for a moment. Carly looked away quickly. If Mr. Maddox was afraid of these three, she did not want to attract their attention.

"But how do they get away with doing things like that?" Carly asked, "Why haven't they been fired?"

Before Mr. Maddox could answer, another employee appeared at his side.

"The word is the Shield is going to want to talk to you tonight, Brad," she said, "Stephanie says you should put them in a match against Rybaxel and Swagger to keep them busy."

"Right, thank you," Mr. Maddox nodded, "Carly, would you go and find-"

He broke off. He suddenly looked a little less panicked, like he had an idea.

"Carly, how are you with public speaking?" he asked.

"Not terrible, I suppose," Carly answered slowly, "But why-?"

Mr. Maddox took Carly by the shoulders and looked her earnestly in the eyes.

"Then this is going to be your first official job as my assistant," he said, "When the Shield calls me out, I need you to go out there in my place and tell them about the match with Rybaxel and Jack Swagger, alright?"

"But why can't you-?"

"I have to inform the other wrestlers and reorganize the schedule for tonight," he interrupted quickly, "Neither of which are things you've had experience with, so I can't ask you to do that. It wouldn't be fair to you. So while I handle all of those things, I just need you to let the Shield know about the change in plans."

"But you said that they were dangerous," said Carly hesitantly.

"You have nothing to worry about," said Mr. Maddox with a reassuring smile, "You just stay at the top of the ramp, and they'll be all the way in the ring. Sound good? Alright, I knew I could count on you, Carly. Good luck!"

And with that, Mr. Maddox hurried away.

xXx

Carly stood backstage, a microphone nervously clutched in her hands. The Shield was out there already, but she wasn't listening to what they were saying. She was repeating the names "Jack Swagger" and "Rybaxel" over and over to herself. She didn't want to get that part wrong.

She understood Mr. Maddox's logic, of course. She didn't know how to handle reorganizing the line-up of matches, so it made sense that, as Mr. Maddox's assistant, she should be given this assignment. Carly just wished she would've gotten a little more advanced notice. This was her first day on the job, and now she had to go out and talk in front of all these people. She felt a little sick.

"Miss McMahon?" a stagehand said, "They just called for Brad to come out. You're on."

"Right. Thank you," said Carly.

She stepped around the titantron and into the brightly lit arena. The rumble of confusion that passed through the audience was only matched by the confusion of the faces of the three young men in the ring. Carly held the microphone up to her lips.

"I beg your pardon," she began, a little daunted by how loud her voice sounded, "On behalf of-"

"Hold on, hold on. Wait a minute," Seth Rollins interrupted, "Who are you supposed to be?"

"I… I'm Mr. Maddox's assistant," said Carly. It sounded more like a question than a statement, "My name is Carly McMahon."

"Oh god, there's another one?" Rollins exclaimed in exasperation.

The crowd seemed equally annoyed. Carly wondered if Rollins meant another assistant, or another McMahon. She was answered when Dean Ambrose snatched the mic away from Rollins.

"You mean you're some kind of relative of Stephanie's?" Ambrose asked.

"W-well, yes. She's my half-sister," said Carly, "But I don't see what that has to do with anything."

"She doesn't see," Ambrose smirked his two companions, "Alright, where's Stephanie's usual flying monkey?"

"That's a very disrespectful thing to-"

"Where is Brad?" Ambrose said slowly, "We called him out here, not you, so we wanna know where he is."

"Mr. Maddox is busy," said Carly, "So he sent me to-"

"Oh, Mr. Maddox is busy, is he?" Ambrose repeated mockingly, "He's too busy to even face up to-"

"Please, Mr. Ambrose, let me finish!" Carly blurted out.

Dean Ambrose's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Even Carly was a little startled at how bold she had just been.

"By all means, finish," said Ambrose, bowing slightly.

"Mr. Maddox sent me to offer you three a match later tonight against Jack Swagger and Rybaxel. As a peace offering," she added lamely.

"A peace offering, what a load of-" the rest of the sentence was lost as Ambrose moved the mic away from his face.

The three turned to face each other, conversing outside of the microphone's range. After a moment, Roman Reigns took the mic from Ambrose.

"We accept," he said in a low, no-nonsense voice.

"Thank you for your cooperation and understanding at this time," Carly finished.

There, that was professional and business-like enough to suit the authority around her. Without waiting for a reply, Carly quickly turned and walked back out of the arena.