Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with WWE. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination. This story contains various scenes that are for people 18 years of age ONLY. Chapters containing these scenes will be marked NSFW.

Chapter 2

"I hope she and the baby will be okay," Skye said for the fifth time in the past two hours.

She and AJ Styles were seated in the ER's waiting room, hoping to soon hear how Cassidy was doing. She'd been taken into an exam room immediately, but there'd been no word on her well-being.

"I'm sure she'll be okay," AJ said softly, hesitantly reaching over and taking Skye's slender hand. He squeezed it gently in his own. "They're probably just running tests, and seeing how the baby is doing." He watched as Skye fought back tears of frustration and fear. He knew till the waiting room cleared out of visitors and patients, she would not let the tears fall. "Come on," he said, standing to his feet. "You need some air."

"No, AJ..." she tried to keep from letting him pull her to her feet but failed. "What about, Cassidy? What if-"

"We'll only be a few minutes. We'll stand near the entrance—they'll come get us." Seeing she needed more convincing, AJ lowered his voice, leaned down to her ear and whispered softly. "Honey, I can tell you're needin' to cry. But you won't let yourself with all these strangers around you. Come on. You've been strong long enough." He tugged her closer to him and then began walking her to the ER's sliding glass doors.

Surprised by her sudden, desperate need to lean on him, Skye allowed him to lead her out of the building. As soon as the automatic doors slid closed behind them, AJ pulled her into his embrace.

"She'll be okay, darlin'," he drawled, running his hand over her hair as she buried her face into his chest. "I know it."

"I keep seeing Quinn... holding her down in the water," Skye sobbed softly and lifted her head to look up at AJ, though her arms tightened around his waist. "And the blood trailing up the stairs. He'd dragged her upstairs like she... like she was nothing. I can't get it out of my mind. What if we'd been a couple minutes later?"

"We weren't," he replied, gently swiping at a tear on her cheek with the pad of his thumb. "Don't dwell on what could've happened, Skye. We got to her. She's safe now."

She nodded slightly and also wiped at her tears. "Thank you for going with me to her house. I know I couldn't have fought him off her, but I'd have died trying." She noticed AJ grimace when she said that, and hurried along. "It was sheer luck that you dropped by my house as I was calling her. It scared me so badly when she didn't answer. I knew something was wrong—I had to go to her."

He brushed her long, golden hair away from her face. "I wouldn't have let ya go alone. I couldn't." His heart jolted as he recalled Quinn latching onto her, shoving her under the water along with Cassidy. The psychopath didn't realize that Skye had brought a tough-as-nails man with her. A man that was head-over-heels in love with her, and more than willing to die for her.

AJ's face moved closer to hers and he lowered his voice to a soft rumble. "And please don't talk about your dyin', woman. I can't handle thinking about it." The next thing he knew, he'd closed the gap between their faces, and his mouth was on hers.

Skye gasped, and of their own volition, her eyes slid closed as his mouth moved softly over hers. Her arms went around his neck, her fingers tangling into his shoulder-length hair as she kissed him back. She felt his large hand reach up and cup her face then placed her own hand over his, giving it a loving squeeze.

Till she felt the cold metal of his wedding band under her palm.

She pulled away from him immediately, almost as if the ring scorched her. "AJ," she said softly, avoiding his eyes. "We can't." She swallowed hard. "You're married. You have a little girl."

He watched as she collected herself and grasped for control. That was the one thing he would change about her. He was so sick of the stiff and uptight mask she wore—the constant need for control of her emotions—especially where he was concerned. He wanted her to let go. He wanted more of the passion she'd just shown in his arms.

But she was right.

I'm married, he admitted. Technically. But not for much longer.

"Please, don't kiss me again," Skye said, lifting her chin. "I won't be 'the other woman'. Don't put me in that position." With that, she turned and re-entered the ER.

"I filed for divorce," AJ murmured under his breath, knowing it would do no good to tell her. She would simply think she'd broken up a happy family. He scoffed at his thoughts. "Happy family," he muttered. "It hasn't been a happy family in years."

But if he tried to tell her the truth, she'd never believe him. And then he would've lost her for sure. And forever.

Feeling utterly dejected, AJ ambled back into the ER, refusing to leave Skye alone to take care of everything on her own.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

Cassidy squinted against the harsh sunlight filtering throughout the room as she slowly managed to waken. She shifted her head slightly, managing to open her eyes a tiny slit. Pain reverberated through her head at the invasion of more bright light. A whimper passed her lips as she brought her hand to her eyes.

"Skye... I think she's awake."

Cassidy's gaze shot over to the direction the familiar male voice came from and spotted her best friend asleep in a chair next to a man with brown hair and tanned skin. Skye came awake instantly as the man gently nudged her. "Sugar? She's awake."

Skye immediately shot to her feet and hurried across the stark room to Cassidy's bedside. "Oh, my God, sweetie. How're you feeling? Ugh, stupid question—I'm sorry. Let me get the nurse for you," she prattled on as she pushed the button to call the nurse.

"B-baby," Cassidy tried to ask, but her throat was so dry and sore. "T-the ba... baby?"

"The baby is fine," Skye replied, brushing Cassidy's bangs from her forehead. "They ran several tests, and she's perfect."

Cassidy sighed in what could only be interpreted as sheer relief. "Sh...She?"

Skye saw the hint of a smile on Cassidy's face and returned the smile. "Yes. She—a little girl. You're about three months along."

The nurse came in then. "Good morning, Ms. Allen," she greeted. "Would you like something for your pain?"

Immediately, Cassidy shook her head. "N-no, thank you. I don't want to risk hurting my baby."

"Oh, it won't. We have certain pain medications that we can give to pregnant women. And we usually give a low enough dose even then that it wouldn't hurt a baby."

Cassidy shook her head once more. "Thank you, but... I still don't feel comfortable with it. Could I just have some ibuprofen?"

"Sure thing," the nurse smiled warmly and left to go get the pain reliever.

Skye motioned for AJ to come to the bed. "Cassidy, this is AJ. AJ Styles. We... We work together. He saved your life last night. AJ, this is my best friend, Cassidy Allen."

Even in her groggy state, Cassidy knew they were more than mere co-workers. Something was clearly going on between them.

"You saved her too," AJ corrected her, with a raised eyebrow. "I certainly had some help." His gaze shifted to Cassidy then. "It's nice to meet you Cassidy. I'm very glad to see that you and your baby are okay."

She managed a weak smile. a "It's nice to meet you too. And thank you. Thank you both, so much. I-I... I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't shown up when you did." She shifted slightly in the bed, and winced. "Oh, my God..." She groaned. "My back is on fire."

"He... He beat you before we got to your house," Skye said softly, her eyes casting downward to her feet. "I'm sorry we didn't get there sooner."

"Not your fault," Cassidy said, gingerly adjusting herself in the bed. "It was mine. For staying with him as long as I did."

"I think the fault was his," AJ chimed in. "For being such a sick piece of-" He cut off his words. Being a southern 'good ol' boy', he tried not to curse in front of women. Though I certainly let out a few colorful words last night in front of Skye, he thought. The sight of Quinn Ellison trying to drown the woman he loved along side her best friend had awoken a sleeping giant. It was all such a blur, AJ couldn't recall everything he'd said or done the night before.

"Where is he?"

Cassidy's words brought him out of his thoughts.

"Quinn," Cassidy said. "Is he in jail?"

Skye nodded. "For now. They arrested him last night at your home. But they can only hold him as long as it takes for his bail to be set, and paid."

"God," Cassidy uttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I need to get out of here. Being an EMT, one of his co-worker friends will let him know I'm here. This'll be the first place he looks for me."

"The doctor had said that you could possibly be out of here sometime tomorrow if you are doing as well as he likes," Skye told her. "I'll stay here with you. Shane McMahon is supposed to come see you soon—like, he could be here any minute. He's going to set you up with a job—once your healed enough to work, that is. Until then, you can travel with me. Kind of get a feel for the schedules and routines."

"Um, you two women are not staying here alone when that psycho could show up," AJ informed Skye. "I'll stay too. And if he does come here, he'll wish he hadn't," he finished as Cassidy's nurse returned with her dose of ibuprofen.

"She's right in here," the nurse was saying as she walked through the door.

Cassidy watched as a tall, silver-haired man followed the nurse into the room and gave a nod to both Skye and AJ. The man wore a full suit and walked with a very confident—almost arrogant manner. His handsome face seemed much younger than his hair color implied. The effect was quite becoming on him.

Finally his dark chocolate gaze settled on her, and he reached his hand out to shake hers; a warm smile on his face.

"You must be Cassidy. I'm Shane McMahon. And I'd really like to help you—set you up with a job, security guards for your protection—anything you need."

"It's very nice to meet you, Mr. McMahon," Cassidy said, returning his firm handshake. "And that's very kind of you—I can't thank you enough. I am willing to do whatever I'm needed to do. The pay is not of any importance. Over the past several years, I've done very well for myself. I just... I need something that will keep my location constantly changing—so it would make tracking me down more difficult."

"Are you shy," Shane asked, out of the blue. "Are you comfortable in front of a camera?"

Cassidy shook her head slightly. "I'm not shy as a rule. Why do you ask?"

"I think I'd like to try you out as a correspondent. One of our full time ones is about to go on maternity leave and it would really help us out."

"Well, that would be fine with me," Cassidy replied. "But you should know that I'm pregnant too. I'm about three months along, and I am not exactly sure when I'll start showing."

Shane nodded, deep in thought. "Well, how about you audition as a correspondent, and if it goes well, we can use you for the next couple months or so, and that will give me some time to find a more permanent solution. Then we could rotate you to maybe being a personal assistant. When you have the baby, then we can figure out what would work best for you."

Cassidy nodded and gave him a slight smile. "That sounds perfect. Thank you so much, Mr. McMahon."

"Call me Shane," he replied. "And I'm happy to help. Just take care of yourself. That's what's important." He gave her another warm smile and added, "I'll get you set up with a plane ticket on Skye's flight out, and you can travel with her till you heal enough to begin working." He handed her a business card with his phone number then. "If you have any questions or concerns, do not hesitate to call me with them."

Cassidy took the card from him and thanked him once more. Then, with a smile and nod to AJ and Skye, Shane hurried out the door, most likely on his way to another business appointment.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

A Few Days Later...

"YES!"

Dean Ambrose leaped into the air pumping his fist in his excitement while staring at his cell phone. His messy reddish hair flopped down into his eyes as his feet hit the floor.

"Whoa there, brother," Seth Rollins exclaimed, placing a calming hand on Dean's shoulder. "What're you so excited about?"

"Don't tell me Renee is having twins," Roman Reigns joked, shaking his head with a chuckle. "If you tell me there's gonna be two mini-yous running around, I'll lose my damn mind."

"Ha ha, very funny," Dean answered, as he sent a text on his phone.

The three hounds of justice were all in Dean's dressing room going over their segment for Monday Night RAW that night. Dean finished with his text and looked up at his two best friends. "Ya'll know how hard Renee's been working lately? Right? And how tired she's been, what with the baby and all?"

At their nods, he continued. "Shane found some chick who he let audition as a correspondent. Renee just texted me that apparently the chick did great, so now she is free to take her maternity leave."

"That's awesome, brother," Roman grinned, lacing up his wrestling boots. "I'm really happy for you guys. So, when's this new reporter going to start?"

"The next few days I think," Dean answered. "She was apparently in some sort of accident and needs a little more healing time. She's best friends with Skye Blake, and apparently a writer herself. Some romance author by the name of Cassidy Allen."

"Oh, she's the one that got the nickname "Nora Roberts 2.0", isn't she," Seth asked.

Dean and Roman both gave him a shared look of horror.

"And how the hell would you know that," Dean finally asked, trying his hardest not to laugh.

"What," Seth demanded. "My little sister loves romance novels. She talks about them all the damn time. Shut-up ya douche-bags! It's not like I read them!"

"Methinks thou does protest too much," Roman snickered, as the three left the dressing room and headed to catering.

"Kiss my ass," Seth spouted as they walked down the long corridor and followed the taped signs on the walls that led them to the designated catering area.

Stepping into the cafeteria-like room, they hurried over to the tables lined with food and began picking out their dinner.

"But, Skye, these guys are just so huge! And some of them are really scary!"

Picking up a club sandwich, Roman heard the soft whisper and turned to see who was speaking. He spotted a pale red-head sitting next to Skye Blake at one of the tables, and realized she must be the new reporter Shane had hired.

"I know, Cassidy," Skye spoke softly, gently placing her hand on the woman's shoulder in a show of support. "And I'm sorry I didn't' tell you. It just didn't occur to me."

"Are... Are they okay," the red-head asked. "I-I mean... they're nice?"

"Yes, for the most part, they are all nice. Some can be jerks, but they won't... they won't hurt you."

Roman had trouble making out the whole conversation, but he heard enough to realize the woman was having some anxiety about her new job. He was about to turn around and follow Seth and Dean to a table, when Skye's gaze settled on him. With a soft smile, she motioned to him with her hand to come join them.

As he made his way over to their table, Skye said, "And here's one of the nicest giants on the roster." He stopped at the table and sat down slowly, somehow able to sense the young woman's unease. "Cassidy, this is Roman Reigns. Roman, this is Cassidy Allen. My best friend, and soon-to-be correspondent for RAW."

He watched curiously as the young woman's gaze shifted to his. He took in her blue eyes, and then scanned her pretty face quickly, noting the fading bruises marring her skin, the healing cut at her lower lip. She was dressed in a simple green t-shirt and gray sweatpants—most likely for her comfort after the accident Dean had mentioned. She looked extremely cautious.

"Welcome aboard," he smiled softly at her, hoping to offer some encouragement. "I hope you'll like it here." He reached his hand out to shake hers, and watched as something resembling fear crossed her delicate features. Skye gave her a discreet nudge, and Cassidy seemed to snap out of her trance-like state. She gingerly reached out and took Roman's hand. "Nice to meet you," she said softly, barely able to make eye contact. "I'm sure I'll love it here."

Roman had to wonder if that was true, if her heaving chest was anything to go by. She looked as if she were on the verge of a full-blown panic attack.

His eyes moved down to her plate. Her salad was barely touched. "Nerves, huh," he asked. "Don't sweat it. You'll do great and-"

"I'm... I'm sorry. I have to go..."

Cassidy shot to her feet, wincing slightly and hurried from the room.

"Sorry," Skye told Roman. "It's not you. It's... people in general. She's a bit... introverted."

"How's she going to handle being a reporter then," Roman asked, unwrapping his sandwich.

"For some odd reason... She comes alive in front of a camera," Skye said. She was stretching the truth quite a bit, but she didn't want Roman's feelings to be hurt—for him to think that Cassidy had taken an instant disliking to him. He was really a decent, sweet guy.

"Well, I guess we'll just all have to do our part in making her feel welcome," he said, before biting into his sandwich. Because something about that pretty little fafine, has snagged my curiosity, he thought as he continued eating his dinner. I'd definitely like to get to know her better.

Translation (According to Google Translate):

"Fafine" - "woman"