A/N: The club name in the first chapter - I don't know if that's a real club or not. I just thought the name sounded good, and I needed something to fit in with my idea for the sign. Also, I'll be making some corrections soon. Enjoy this next chapter, and thank you for reading.

The smoothness of a warm metal ring brushed her face. Opening her eyes, she saw Randy's hand hanging over the side of her head. The sapphire stones of her own ring were pressed into the skin of her stomach. She lay face down, her head barely on a pillow, and Randy's overbearing presence making itself known as his leg and arm were draped over her. Though the sheets over her were neatly spread out, Randy had his half tangled up. She managed to push his limbs off her, flinging the sheet that covered her.

"Where are you going?" he grumbled, feeling her stir in the bed.

"Potty," she simply said before making her way to the bathroom.

He chuckled. "Potty," he repeated. "Like we're kids again."

It was quiet for a minute before Randy heard the toilet flush and then the faucet to the sink turn on.

"Again?" she mocked, emerging from the bathroom. She walked around the bed, picking up their clothing from the previous night. "My dear Randal, you must first grow out of something before you can visit it once more."

He waited for her to approach the side of the bed he lay on, watching for a second as she continued picking up items. With her back turned to him, his arms shot out, grabbing her and pulling her back into bed with him. The surprised laughter from her making him glad that she decided to stay with him.

"Okay, Jacqueline," Randy said sarcastically.

"You!" she gasped out. "You know I dislike my first name." She slapped at his arms, slipping out of his hold.

"I don't know why. It's pretty."

"It's too long," she argued. She folded their clothes neatly.

"Like Rita sounded any better?" He watched her look around after she placed his clothes back into his suit case. "You left your bags in the room you have with Trin, remember?"

She sighed out, realizing that she hadn't gone back to the room. "Totally thought we grabbed them. I'll just place my stuff with yours for now."

Randy swung his legs over the edge of the bed, his thoughts going back to last night. He and Rita spent nearly all their free time together. For the past couple of years, them waking up together was nothing new. Many nights, they would spend hours making love to each other. Giving themselves to the other, and greedily taking just as much as they gave away. But for months now, it wasn't enough for Randy. For months, he desired much more from her.

"I'm going go back and take a shower. I have a shoot around noon, and then some radio interviews," she told him as she slid back into the dress she wore the night before. "Zip me up?"

Randy nodded, standing to pull the delicate zipper up. He sank his fingers into her raven hair, pressed his lips to the back of her neck, and lost himself momentarily in her scent. A spicy vanilla and cinnamon filled his senses.

"You smell delicious." He barely let his hold on her loose as she faced him. "Promise me you'll call me after your radio time?"

Rita tilted her head, smiling at the innocence in his voice. "Of course I'll call you. You promised me that you'd take me out to dinner after the show."

"Damn," he said lightly. "I thought you'd forget about that after last night."

"And not get a free meal?" she teased. "No way, stud." She pulled away from his grasp, a little surprised at just how tight he was holding her. Don't do this to yourself, Randy. But she brushed it off. "I'll see you later tonight."

"""""

"A new line?" Rita asked as she adjusted herself in her chair. "But I thought I was supposed to get the title right after Randy won?"

"Well," Vince said, looking up at the young woman. "Would you rather win at the pay-per-view after? Or would you rather be placed in a storyline?"

"I'd rather be in a storyline," she replied. "But I don't get it. Wasn't I supposed to feud with Nattie?"

"It could go either way right about now," Stephanie said as she glanced down at some papers. "You and Natalya have had some wonderful matches."

"Thanks," Rita smiled, taking in the compliment.

Vince folded his hands together, leaning back in the leather chair. "So, what will it be, Miss Cossa?"

Rita froze for a moment, not really believing she would be allowed this much creative freedom with her character. Slowly but surely she nodded her head. "What's the storyline?"

"""""

"The Shield?" Randy asked her in disbelief. "Why did they change it? We were supposed to have our titles together again. What the fuck sense does it make if they place you with them?"

"It's a revamp, Randy." She looked down at her small carton of cookie dough ice cream. "I'll be changing my look, my attitude. Basically everything."

"So, what am I supposed to do?"

She scooped up some ice cream, ignoring the way he seemed to dislike the change to come. "What do you mean, what are you supposed to do? You'll be in your own match with John. I had nothing to do with what you're doing. Just mine."

"They just call you in a meeting and ask you to completely redo everything you are? Ri, please tell me you fought them on this."

"No, I didn't fight them. They asked me."

"They asked you?"

"I made the decision, and I'm not backing down."

Randy sat motionless on the chair on the other side of the kitchen counter. His jaw jut out in doubt, and the look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. He hated her choice. But that was okay with her. She didn't need him to agree with it, although it would have been nice for him to show a tiny bit of excitement towards the idea. And she was unnerved by the way he sat so still. She placed down the carton with an exasperated sigh.

"Say something?"

He barely shifted his eyes to her. "I'm happy for you."

"I didn't say lie to me."

"No, really," he said, his body relaxing some. "I'm glad that you'll have this opportunity. It's not that often that someone as young as you would achieve so much in the time you've been here."

"I've been here for three years."

"Exactly," he said approaching her, trying his best to reassure her that he wanted to support her. "It took them years to trust I could do much of anything. For years, I was just a good looking, baby-faced statue with a multitude of abilities that were yet to be showcased."

"Keep stroking it, and it might go off," she joked, earning a genuine smile from him.

"What I'm saying, Ri, is that you have so much to offer, and even if it means I won't have my best friend standing next to me in another title reign, I'd much rather you be happy where you want to be."

He wrapped his arms around Rita, the passion he had for her instantly coming alive again. He was happy for her, that was no lie. What he wasn't content with was the fact that she would be around Ambrose. Randy didn't trust the guy, and knew he'd have to pay Rita more mind when she was around Ambrose.

"""""

Rita. Her name sounded in his mind over and over again. The vision of her played in his mind. He could see her standing in front of him. Long, jet black hair and green eyes that popped through her dark features. He had seen some beautiful women in his lifetime. Hell, he had slept with some gorgeous women. But no one had quite captured him like she did.

Soon, she would enter the training facility in preparation of her title match. From what he was told, she would be joining him, as well as Rollins and Reigns. She was to be part of The Shield. For how long, he wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure what her purpose would be. But he supposed with the four of them each holding a title, they would truly be a force to be reckoned with.

By veteran standards, they were all new to this. He knew that he wasn't much older than she was, but her abilities and credentials hugely outnumbered those of her fellow divas. He knew she was in the independent scene. That she had gone to Mexico. She had traveled to Japan. He knew that her appetite for the wrestling business was just as massive as the next guy.

Although he had seen her work, he was hesitant to think that she could do this. He had to see it for himself. He stood around, talking a bit with Regal, going over move sets and coming up with ideas. Though Regal wasn't there to train him today, talking with the man never ceased to amaze him.

"There she is," Regal said, stepping out of the ring. He took her extended hand into his, giving her a polite kiss on the cheek. "Ambrose here was just shooting some ideas out for your match that's coming up."

"Match?" she questioned then proceeded to follow Regal around the ring. "With who?" She twisted her hair into a tight bun, her glance falling on Ambrose. She saw Regal point from beside her.

"Him, my dear."

"Moxley."

His name coming from her mouth made his ears perk up. An involuntary smirk crossed his lips at the nickname. "I haven't been called that since I signed here."

"Well, aren't you glad I remembered it then."

"Right," Regal said, oblivious to the tension between the two. "Why don't we test out some spots now."

"Wait a minute," Ambrose said, pulling himself onto the ring's apron. "I wasn't told about this match."

"Neither was I," Rita put in. "What's it to you, Mox? Can't deal with a woman beating you?"

"Beat me?" he scoffed. "You think you could beat me? Who said you were going to win anyway?"

"Jon," Regal said, a smirk on his face. "She is scheduled to win."

Ambrose's face twisted into disgust. "What?"

"It's going to be her entrance into The Shield."

"How is that an entrance? She comes in, kicks my ass, and we're just supposed to say, 'Oh, okay, we're fine with that,' Regal, are you kidding me?"

"Jon, Jon, calm down," Regal said, approached the younger man by the ropes. "It's going to be a series of challenges issued from what I was told."

"Series, my ass! I'm not doing it." He jumped off the apron, folding his arms over his chest.

Rita leaned into the ropes, angered by his blatant dismissal of her skills. "What the fuck's your problem, Mox? You wanted to play hero a couple of nights ago, but now that they're making you do your fucking job, it's a problem?"

"Miss Cossa," Regal said, placing an arm on her shoulder. "Don't let him rile you up."

Had it been anyone else, Rita would have reared back her fist and landed a good one on Regal's face. Instead, she backed away from the ropes, pacing in the middle of the ring.

"Playing hero, huh?" Regal commented after a moment's thought. "That might be a better idea. I'll bring it up to Stephanie and Paul."

Rita was too flustered over Ambrose to even care what Regal was going on about. She was even more irritated with him when he spoke again.

"What are we going to do now?" Ambrose asked, making a point to ignore the vixen in the ring.

Regal smiled at him. "You will be leaving." Then he looked over to Rita. "You're going to have the day off now, thanks to him."

She couldn't help her eyes rolling. "Great. Thank you for today then."

"You're very welcome, sweetie." He sat on the middle rope, allowing her to exit the ring, then called for another trainee. "Ah, wonderful rookies."

Rita heard him begin talking to the new trainees as she left the area.

"Hey!" his deep voice called out. "Hey, Rita!"

Turning around, she saw him walking towards her, a hand held out. "What?"

"I didn't mean for it to come across like that – "

"Like what? Besides you basically demeaning all the hard work I've done to get where I am. All the shit I had to put up with. I thought you of all people would understand that it wasn't easy to get through what we did."

"I wasn't demeaning you, sweetheart."

"Call me sweetheart again, and they'll be looking for another Dean Ambrose." Her emerald orbs flickered with anger. He knew he shouldn't push her, but he couldn't help himself. He could tell that her bite would be worse than her bark.

He held up both hands. "Whoa there, honey. I just wanted to apologize – "

Rita didn't allow him to finish. She turned on her heels, grabbed her bag, and exited the building. She didn't even care that he followed her out to her car until he placed a hand on the car door, preventing her from opening it.

"You've got five fucking seconds to back away from my car before I kick those pretty little blue eyes to the back of your skull."

He grinned, wanting to bait her more. "Well," he huffed out. "I think you're pretty too."

She faced him, the anger on her face disappearing. She looked truly confused now. "What's your problem, Jon? I didn't do a damn thing to you."

"No, not to me, you did not," he agreed, nodding his head.

"Okay, so you don't want to lose to me. Understandable. I'm sure a lot of men with inferiority complexes wouldn't want to lose to a woman."

"Damn, burn me some more, baby."

"But you know just as well as I do that I'm damn good at what I do."

"Of course I know that. I've seen your matches. Some of the best I've ever seen."

"So what's the real problem here?"

He studied her face. She was too beautiful for her own good. If he didn't know any better, he would have told her straight out that she slept her way to the top. But even he couldn't bring himself to lie like that. What was his problem with her again?

"Nothing," he said, backing away from her. His face fell flat, his eyes looked down the pavement.

Rita sighed as he walked away. As if Randy's words ringing in her mind didn't confuse her enough... Now she had to deal with this. There was no way that she could be in a storyline with Ambrose if they didn't get along. The chemistry would be all screwed up.

What was his problem anyway? She couldn't think of one thing she'd ever done to the man as she drove away from the performance center. She wasn't mean to him. She wasn't nice to him. She wasn't anything to him. They barely knew each other, and they had only met once before prior to them being signed to the WWE. He was signed to the promotion that ran out of her hometown.

She exhaled another deep breath, sliding on her sunglasses. She couldn't think of this right now. She had more important things to worry about, like her upcoming title match. Jon Moxley, or Dean Ambrose – whatever he went by these days – wouldn't ruffle her feathers. That was his forte. Irking people. Well, he wouldn't win that match with her, for sure.

"""""

Randy waited for her to arrive at the arena. He was already dressed in his wrestling gear, but Rita was yet to show up. They were to have a tag team match tonight, and Randy knew that this was probably going to be the last match they had together for quite a while. She was scheduled to win the women's title at the pay-per-view this Sunday, and then she would be a Shield member. The idea of her joining them didn't quite settle with him.

When he heard the door to his locker room open, he was relieved to see that it was the person on his mind.

"Why are you so late?"

Rita placed her bag down with a thud, sinking into the leather couch. Placing her hand over her forehead, she spoke in a quiet tone.

"Just have a headache," she told him.

"So that makes you late?" His eyebrows shot up at her explanation.

She roughly grabbed up her bag, opening it and taking out her ring gear. "I'd like to not be interviewed right now. I've had enough of that for one day."

Randy remained quiet as she changed into her gear. Something was annoying her. A knock on the door pulled his thoughts away from her as he went to open it.

"Rita here?" the deep voice said. "I wanna talk to her about our match."

Rita's head popped up, knowing exactly who it was. She stood, adjusting her elbow pad, and walked up behind Randy's broad shoulders. "That match was canceled, thanks to you."

"Something like that," he said, tilting his head. "But I just talked to creative."

Rita pushed past Randy, pressing a hand to his chest. "I'll be back before our match," she whispered. She followed Ambrose down the hall, well aware that Randy was still watching them as they walked. Once they rounded a corner, he turned to face her.

"You're going to join us the following RAW."

She looked up at him, squinted eyes and pursed lips. Like she didn't already figure that. "Is that all?" she sarcastically questioned. "Thank you for your amazing revelations on my career path, Moxley. How could I have made it this far without you?"

She turned to walk away, but his hand taking a hold of her wrist stopped her. His skin was hot, feeling like it was burning itself into her own. "That's not all," he said. "We were informed of your change."

Rita looked up at him expectantly. "And?"

"And I can't wait to see it."

Her shoulders slumped, arms crossing under her chest. "You do know you're wasting my time, right?"

He stepped aside, hand held out. "Can't wait for you to be my partner."

She started walking around him. "It won't be just you," she said, surprised that he said nothing else as she walked away from him. Entering the locker room again, she saw that Randy was sitting on the couch, waiting for her.

"I don't like him," Randy stated flatly.

Shaking her head, she had to laugh. "You're kind of cute when you're jealous."

"I'm serious, Rita." He scooted himself to sit on the edge of the couch. "He's got his eyes on you."

She sat next to him, a leg folded underneath her. "And what's wrong with that? Young, unwed ladies are expected to have suitors trying to grab their attention."

Randy's gaze turned to her, something burning so fierce in his eyes that it almost scared her. He didn't say anything, his stare eventually turning from her to look at the concrete floor.

"What's it to you, anyway?" she asked, not particularly wanting the answer. "I don't say anything when you grab up a girl, or when you go back to your wife."

"Ex-wife, Ri," he said sharply. "Our divorce was finalized months ago."

"Oh, and that makes it better, right?" She stood, becoming increasingly aggravated by him. How dare he? She shoved her street clothes into her bag and zipped it up. "When you were with me for nearly three years while you were still married."

Randy looked at her incredulously. "Why are you even bringing that up?"

"You did!" Throwing her bag into a locker, she slammed it shut. "Forget it. I'll be around."

"Wait, where are you going?" He stood, reaching her before she was able to get to the door.

When his hand grabbed her arm, gently pulling her to him, she felt like she could have punched him in his head. Instead, she turned to look at him, softening her words a bit. "Don't worry about it."

Randy lowered his head to her chest, placing gentle kisses along her neckline. He wanted to rip off her ring attire and have his way with her right in the locker room. But he settled for taking comfort in her sweet scent. He knew she was bothered by something, and he had a mild idea of what it was. That Ambrose. The guy thought he was slick. Well, he certainly wouldn't come between the love that Randy had for Rita. It wasn't possible to separate them.

"I wanted to go talk to Steph about my change," she finally said, unable to bark her words at him like she wanted to. "I sincerely can't wait to dump this crappy outfit."

He held her at arm's length, examining the white tights and the white halter top. Both pieces had a fuchsia scroll design embellished onto them; One embellishment being on her left leg of the tights, and the other being brought up to the right side of her top. He scrunched his nose, confused almost.

"What's wrong with it? You designed it yourself."

"It's old. Even with the multiple colors, it's getting plain. I've had the same design since I started here. Don't you think it's time for something more?"

If only you knew. "Yeah, definitely." He thought he'd have to literally bite down on his tongue to stop himself from saying something more. But he was able to shake those notions out of his head. For now. "Want me to come with you?"

"Only if you want to." She turned, opening the locker room door. Randy felt like she was already slipping away. Like she had already left him. Though, he didn't know if that were actually possible. Someone had to actually be in a relationship in order to walk away from it. Still, he didn't like the feeling he had from all this. It was not going to turn out how he wanted it to.