Carolyn was curled up into as a small of a ball as her bruised and beaten body would allow, the occasional tremor rippling through her as she lay on the bed in the first aid station. It wasn't the first time she had taken a wallop from a Superstar, but most had been quick and efficient about it, not drawing it out in some humiliating display. Her head pounded as if there was a construction crew in there equipped only with jack-hammers but by some minor miracle -perhaps it was more Murphy's Law- she had avoided a concussion; or any serious damage for that matter. If she had ended up with a concussion there was a good chance she would have been taken to whatever hospital was the most convenient right now, instead of being trapped in a room the size of a shoebox with an unwanted vigil by two of her new 'team mates' outside. So she had been a little uppity about her whole position in this fiasco, had it really required that much of a brutal response? Did Hunter really have that much of a stranglehold over everyone else that no-one had so much as moved a foot as Reigns tossed her about like a rag doll?
Ugh, it hurt to even think. She'd ask the doc for painkillers, but Roman had run the man off before he had even got so much as a pill in her.
She tried to move but sharp pain discouraged the idea, much to her frustration. With nothing else to do she watched the silent monitor and frowned. Dolph was currently in the ring with Ryback and he was angry. Gone was any trace of his usual cocky, in control 'I'm better than you' attitude, right now he was working off pure emotion. Wrestling angry was a bad idea; it made you sloppy, your opponent's job easier by manipulating your emotions and open you up into making mistakes. Something that Ryback had been taking full advantage of. Her first thought was to go down there and calm him down, to show him she was going to be ok. A little worse for wear right now, sure, but if she could just get up things wouldn't look so bad. Suck it up... And get your ass off this bed.
Hey, Tylenol.
Sitting on the counter on the opposite side of the of the room sat a small plastic bottle. All the muscles along her spine and abdominals screamed in protest at excessive movement, pleading with her brain to just lay back down and not move for the next fortnight. It took a minute, but she finally managed to sit up. Now if she could make the transition to actually stand she'd be on a roll.
Just outside Roman and Seth stood on either side of the door to the trainer's room, people either avoiding them completely by finding a different way around or giving them a very wide berth. Seth had a cap pulled down over his eyes as he leaned against the wall, appearing as if he could be having a moment of shut eye. Roman was standing with his feet set shoulder width apart and arms folded across his chest, his expression as stoic as statue. His eyes darted at the closed door when he heard something beyond it, hand reaching for the handle when Rollins stopped him. Pushing his cap up Seth casually picked up an unopened bottle of water from an equipment trunk next to him and slipped inside the trainer's station.
Her back was to him, too busy focusing getting the lid off the bottle of paracetamol to notice his entry. In truth Roman had gone easy executing the 'initiation', if he hadn't there was no way she'd be upright at all right now. Besides, it would've been counter-productive if he had gone all balls to the wall. They wanted to get her undivided attention, not take her out of the game. Judging by the reaction when he cleared his throat it seemed to have worked, red and white capsules spilling everywhere at her startled response. She spun around and faced him, too fast for her own comfort if the grimace she couldn't hide was any indication. He kept his silence, cracking open the lid then took a mouthful before placing the plastic bottle on the bench as if he were in slow motion and backed off.
The fist that held the now half empty bottle of Tylenol shook involuntary, its contents rattling against the white plastic. Her eyes darted from him, the water, the pills she had managed to shake into her hand and back on Rollins. Why the hell was he so damn calm? There had to be an angle here, she just couldn't see it yet. She threw the pills down and swallowed them dry despite the water he had left on the counter and waited. Seth simply shrugged like he didn't care one way or the other. Slowly they inched around the tiny room and Rollins just continued his silent watch, leaning back on the rear counter until Carolyn had finally reached the door.
"I wouldn't go out there if I were you."
What she thought of his advice came in the form of one of the dirtiest looks he had ever gotten before she turned the handle and pulled the door open. However, the head of steam she had been building up quickly cooled when she came face to chest with the one responsible for her even being in here to begin with and slammed the door as dictated by impulse. Trapped, like a rat in a cage.
Brilliant.
"What do you want from me?"
Her voice was barely above whisper and Seth had to strain to hear it. "Just for you to work with us, like you agreed to do. Nothing more. Nothing less." He finally moved, taking a few steps closer but not enough to risk invading personal space. "Believe it or not, we would have preferred if it hadn't come to this." He stated softly, almost as if he actually regretted what happened.
"Somehow I find that hard to believe," Carolyn replied snidely.
Seth picked up the water to have another drink and simply continued in that calm demeanour he had owned since he came in. "How so? Have we ever done anything like that to any of the other divas the entire time The Shield has been here? Have we so much as laid a finger on them?"
She lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut while pinching the bridge of her nose, wishing the analgesic would hurry up and kick in. She must be hurt more than she realised; her brain must've been rattled, because on some level he was starting to make sense.
Wait... what if this was the trap?
Carolyn chuckled, then stopped and winced, fingers gently rubbing at a spot under ribs. "Clever boy... I'll admit it, Rollins, you're good. You almost had me going. But I think I have this game sorted."
"Oh?" He merely looked mildly curious, not in the least offended by her doubts.
"Ambrose, the pretentious ass he is, has the job of trying to pick me apart up here," Carolyn began, a forefinger resting against her temple, "Reigns plays the roll of the brute, trying to cow me into submission with physicality." Leaning over she plucked the bottle from his hands, finding no resistance as she did so. "And you... you're the guy I'm supposed to identify with as the supposedly sympathetic party. The hypothetical port in a storm so to speak." She took a drink then pressed it back against his chest, "Nice try, though you're to have do better than that."
Rollins had to hand it to her; Carolyn was a tough one to crack. But the best lies always held an element of truth, it's what made them so convincing. "Interesting theory," He mused as he straightened up, crossed the room and opened the door. "Roman, we need a word with you."
Primal instinct made her back up despite her bravado, the sight of Reigns was the equivalent of 'fire is hot'. He had burned her tonight, and it was lesson she wasn't going to forget in a hurry. He too was calm, but it was unsettling; he didn't give off that same relaxed, nonchalant air that Seth did. It was more as if Roman was waiting for something.
"I think you need to explain the severity of the situation Miss Walker has found herself in as of tonight."
Reigns moved from his spot and Carolyn couldn't help but think of at least half a dozen references to stalking predators. She couldn't go around him and sure as hell couldn't go through him, her only option was to retreat until he had her backed into a corner. Thick, tattooed arms came to rest on the bench tops either side of her, he hovered so close that she had no choice but to hold the focus of dark, intense eyes. He leaned in to her right, close enough so the warm exhale of his breath tickled her ear.
There was an unintelligible murmur from where Seth stood before the bigger man began to back away, finding she had gone several shades paler. His features finally changed for the first time, grinning coldly at her. "I should make one thing clear to you, Carolyn. There is no 'sympathetic party' here. I'm merely suggesting what you need to do to avoid more of the same of what happened here tonight. The sooner you get on the same page the better it will be." Turning his attention to Reigns, Seth jerked his head towards the door, "Take her back to the locker room until the show is over. They way Ryback is going they're going to need the room afterwards."
"You were right," Ambrose said, "She didn't bite, though from what Rollins said she was having second guesses of a moment or two."
Helmsley placed a report he had been sent neatly on the desk in front of him then leaned back into the cushioned office chair. The show was over and the majority of the wrestlers had gone back to their hotels, the only people around being technicians and road crew packing up the equipment that made up the WWE machine. "I would have been surprised if she had taken the bait so easily. Still, the fact that she had doubts, no matter how temporary, is a good step in the right direction." Picking up a file that was next to the report he just put down Hunter handed it to Dean.
"What's this?" He asked, opening it up and finding travel schedules, flight times, show dates and everything else associated with a lifestyle on the road. It looked practically identical to his own.
"Walker's new travel itinerary. The more time she spends around The Shield the more isolated she'll become," the COO answered, "From now on she travels with you, has appearances with you-"
"Shares hotel rooms with me," Ambrose added with an amused smirk.
Hunter simply shrugged, "I can arrange that too, if you want." He paused, watching Ambrose for a reaction as he mulled the idea over. "Do you want that, Mister Ambrose?"
Dean's index finger flicked the corner of the file back and forth absently while he thought over what he was just offered. He had said it as a joke, but now that the boss had voiced it as an actual possibility... It could make breaking down her guard so much easier. "I would love some one on one time with our new recruit, boss. Getting to know who you work with is best for business, after all."
"Indeed it is." Helmsley grinned as he could almost see the gears turning in the other man's mind. "Now if you could do me a favour. Here's the hotel she's staying at along her room number. Carolyn should get that as soon as possible, don't you agree?"
Dean glimpsed at the details that had been scribbled out before pocketing the piece of paper. Giving Hunter a mock salute he left, he had a delivery to make after all.
A repeat of American Dad played quietly on the nearby television with Stan Smith inevitably taking his problem with the episode's main plot to his usual extremes, but neither of the room's two occupants were paying a lot of attention to it. Carolyn lay on her side, head resting on top of Dolph's left arm, his warmth pressed against her back and right arm circled loosely around her waist. Neither were really in the mood for talking -let alone anything else- as muscles and joints ached. Dolph had apologised profusely several times over for his inaction, his guilt still present despite her best efforts to allay it. As far as things had gone, tonight hadn't been a good one for either wrestler. The sooner it was over and done with, the better.
She shifted a little with Dolph adjusting as he needed to, feeling the rise and fall of her flat stomach as she sighed. He could tell she was distracted by something, though had no idea of what. When he had inquired about it Carolyn insisted it was nothing. Why she was blatantly lying to him Dolph didn't know, but he had learned long a go that if she didn't want to discuss something, she wouldn't. All he could do was wait until she felt like talking about it... if she wanted to talk about it at all.
Carolyn grumbled as someone knocked on the door, not wanting to move out of the safe comfort she had finally found herself in with Ziggler lazily tightening his hold on the diva. If she ignored it, perhaps whoever it was would get the hint and leave. The rapping came a second time and still she lay there, willing them to go away.
"I know you're in there, Carolyn, and I'm not going anywhere," The muffled voice immediately making her tense, "Open the door, I have present for you."
"What the hell does he want now?"
"Let me answer it," Dolph said quietly. He was eager to get his hands on Ambrose; not only for the events that opened Smackdown, but for the interference he had played during his match tonight. At first he thought he could've used it as a loophole to get Carolyn out of the disaster she had gotten herself into, but Vickie had shut that idea down just as quick. Dean hadn't actually laid a finger in him, so technically he had done nothing to violate the terms of the deal. Her reply was a sympathetic smile but she got up all the same, straightening the baby blue cotton cami and shorts she wore along the way
"Nice outfit," Dean commented when she opened the door, blatantly giving her the once over.
She simply rolled her eyes. "Do you want something, or are you just here to make a dick of yourself?"
"Just dropping something off," He replied, slipping past into the room uninvited and almost immediately coming nose to nose with Dolph. "Ohhh, I see I've interrupted something. Guess that's why you took so long."
"Yeah, you have," She snapped back, pointing at the television. "It's called American Dad."
"Riiight." Clearly he was unconvinced, but entertained none the less. "What's the matter, Dolph? You look upset."
"Give me a reason," Ziggler growled in response, just itching for any excuse to put Ambrose in his place. "Just one."
"Your girlfriend's new travel plans," Dean answered, casually slapping the file against the other man's chest, "Starting next Monday she's my new roomie."
"What?!" Carolyn inserted herself between the two before Dolph attempted to remove Dean's head from his shoulders and took the paperwork. Flipping through the pages she found everything meticulously planned out. "He can't dictate which damn hotel I stay at, or who I do or do not share my damn room with!"
"Our benevolent COO thought it would do you some good," Ambrose replied, "Unless you already forgot what Roman said earlier."
"Get out."
"I guess you do remember."
"Get. Out."
"Alright, alright, I'm going." He held his hands in the air and backed off towards the door, "Enjoy the rest of your evening with your knight, Princess. See you next week." The file came flying at him, hitting the closing oak and spilling all over the floor.
The two stood in silence, the long minutes stretching out before Dolph broke the spell. "What did Roman say?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
His hands found her shoulders, feeling the tremor that ran through her frame. "Tell me."
"No."
She was buckling, he could hear it. It had taken The Shield only two nights but already they were cracking one of, if not the most, strongest women he had ever met. "Please."
"Dolph..."
His arms folded around her, pulling her against him. Her head came to rest on his chest, his hands brushing the hair from her face and gently stroked her spine. He felt her take her breath only to have it exhaled in a shudder. A calloused thumb brushed against the smoothness of her cheek, coming away damp. Christ... he had never seen her cry before. "Carol..."
She finally answered, unable to keep the crumbling walls up any longer. "To put it bluntly; If I don't fall in line, they'll kill what's left of my career."
Apologies if anyone got several alert messages for this chapter, the interweb deities thought it would be fun to play some shenanigans when I updated.