Chapter Three

Working in the practice ring with the girls is strange, and Seth doesn't know what to do with it.

They aren't bad. If they were bad, he might head down to Hunter's office and ask if they might be able to work the girls out of the storyline before one of them botches something and causes a serious injury—or just pisses off someone high on the food chain. If they were bad, he and his brothers might be able to get out of this and just go back to the way things were before.

But, actually, Shay and Cathy might be green but otherwise, they're okay.

Which means these stupid romance storylines will be going through to the end no matter what.

The only things they've really done today are discuss possible moves they can do together when they're booked in inevitable mixed tag matches. Roman and Shay are at least on the same level when it comes to what they do; both of them are booked as power wrestlers for a reason and that means they can get away with basically just hitting people really hard. In fact, Roman's Superman Punch and Spear are all about hitting people really, really hard. So hard, in fact, that both moves put together are enough to send somebody to the mat and keep them there.

They both really do put off some weird alpha vibe that slightly freaks Seth out when he sees it.

Cathy is more of a ropes girl and for that, Seth is grateful because as a highflier himself, he thinks they can put on some dynamite matches together. Six-man tags are going to be strange because Dean is strange and unpredictable, and they're losing Roman, who usually balances out the team perfectly. Seth is a highflier, Dean does a strange combination of technical moves and brawling, and Roman just knocks everybody over. It's worked because it's a careful balance but now, they don't have that balance so he and Cathy will have to kick it up a notch to make sure the fans are still entertained at the end of the day. Something to think about later on.

Eventually, they have to break and let the girls work on their own for a little while, which also means bringing in a couple more Divas for them to work with. Which would be a disaster if Naomi and Paige hadn't both offered to work with them. Rookie or not, Paige has more skill than quite a few of the Divas who work for the company and Naomi has always been incredibly athletic and talented. So at first, Shay works with Paige and Cathy works with Naomi, and then they switch partners to make sure they can provide a decent offense against both styles.

He just doesn't know if he wants to do this the way the company will want them to do this. Racy storylines are apparently gold but most of them just end up making everybody look bad and people shudder at the memories. It's not worth it most of the time. There are exceptions, of course, but those exceptions are so rare and few between that Seth doesn't want to bank his career on being one of them. He and his brothers can put on damn good matches when given enough time to do so, and they always will. But factoring in two more people and an even more complicated storyline, and now he doesn't know where things are headed. At all.

Roman is the first one who breaks the silence. "What do you think about these girls?"

"I think they're solid," Dean says before Seth can. "We'll have some good matches with them."

Roman hums thoughtfully and not for the first time, Seth wonders what the big man is thinking and what plans he's concocting for them. Though Seth is the Architect and the glue holding the Shield together, Roman has become incredibly tactical and has developed leadership qualities none of them saw in their raw form, so none of them recognized it. If anything, Dean was shades of being a leader but that was mostly because of his time in Switchblade Conspiracy… Which hadn't ended so well for Sami Callihan, so maybe, just maybe, it's good he's not the leader of the Shield. Seth doesn't want to think about what might happen if Dean tries to use them as stepping stones the way he used Sami, and he doesn't think he can forgive him for it, either.

When Roman catches his eye, Seth clears his throat so he can add his two cents to the conversation. "We'll have great matches with them. Just it's going to be weird because now our balance is off. Cathy isn't a power wrestler like you, and you got the power wrestling Diva."

He doesn't bother adding that at least they received two good female wrestlers to begin with because he doesn't see the point in mentioning what both Dean and Roman have seen today from the ladies. Much as he would just love to beat this horse to death, his mind is starting to be blown by the amount of good female wrestlers in the company compared to a few years ago when basically all of them except for two or three were Diva Search models who could barely take bumps, much less sell bumps or sell their own hits. Things are gradually changing for the better.

But he's still mildly surprised when he glances at the ring and watches Shay land what looks suspiciously like the Future Shock DDT on Naomi. Suspicious because that was the Future Shock DDT and he'll be damned if she didn't get neat underhooks and a perfect leg sweep.

Dean clicks his tongue. "She's learned being friends with McIntyre, looks like. Good on her. See if you can get her to do that in the ring. Hell, it's too bad she's not in a storyline with him."

"That's all 3MB needs. A fourth member who's a female or, worse, a groupie." Roman winces and Seth nods in agreement; it's been painful to watch three talented guys get packaged into a wannabe rock band but Seth will be damned if they don't seem to be having fun with the gimmick just the same. "Oh, watch this one. Cathy can land a damn near flawless moonsault."

"All of the Divas division needs to learn to wrestle like this," Seth says, Dean and Roman making noises of agreement; the four ladies in the ring are some of the best the roster has.

Which, to him, just isn't acceptable. Both the male and female rosters need to have extensive training done so all of them are on the same level or at least close to it. How many more times do they have to watch what happens when inexperienced wrestlers step into the ring with experienced ones and the match only looks good on one side? Granted, not everyone can be as great as Cesaro or Sami Zayn, but they can at least make the effort to get closer to that.

A female voice breaks up his thoughts. "Which one of them is your girl, Roe?"

Oh, it's just Tamina. He glances over to where Tamina Snuka has taken up residence beside Roman, watching the events unfold in the ring. What went from standard training a moment ago has morphed into some kind of Tornado Tag match that sadly has gone on longer than Raw or SmackDown will ever allow it to go on. As Roman's cousin, Tamina pops over regularly and Seth considers her a friend. She's damned good in the ring even if they don't tend to do much with her, but then, they don't do much with Paige either and she's supposedly getting pushed.

"The grappler would be my partner," Roman says, his voice going a bit dry.

Tamina glances at the ring and Seth does the same, smirking when Cathy pulls off a very nice Arabian press that could use a little more speed to it. But they're training and for now, it'll do until she has the skills necessary to pick it up. They probably need to start talking finishers, too, because he and his boys have theirs. Roman pulls off the spear, Dean has Dirty Deeds, and Seth has his curb stomp, all highly effective moves that get the job done. The girls will likewise need finishers. Cathy needs something flashier than just a curb stomp, though, and Shay will need something powerful that looks like it hurts and makes people wince.

Tamina chuckles. "She reminds me of you. Got a script on what you're doing yet?"

Roman grunts and shakes his head, and Seth silently seethes because the fact they haven't been given a script yet pisses him off. If Hunter expects them to pull something out of their asses, he's going to be sorely mistaken. Dean can do that if need be because Dean Ambrose can do almost anything, but Seth and Roman aren't nearly about to extend their effort that far when this storyline wasn't even their idea. They still haven't puzzled out if this is a way to push all of them or just a way to push the girls, and if it is just for the girls, Seth is going to jerk Hunter aside and have private words with him about it not being his responsibility to push the Divas.

Not that he has a problem working with them, but this has to have a payoff that leads to something good for all of them. He's seen what happens when romance storylines are used to push the girls; the guys get turned into jackasses or made to look bad, and he doesn't want that muddling his career. Ever since day one, he's worked his ass off and he didn't just become a well-known face on the indy circuit for nothing. Neither did Dean, who would put his blood, sweat, and tears—literally—into a match to sell it to the very end. He sells better than just about anyone in that respect. And while Roman is greener than them and hasn't had the same indy career, he's improved by leaps and bounds in a short time and doesn't need to be buried.

Seth can already tell Roman is going to the top; he can see it in the way the other guys look at Roman. The Shield are hot right now, hotter than most stables have ever become, but Roman has the right size and the right look to become a star. And he will be a star if Seth has to carry him there himself because Roman deserves it. In just a few years, he's grown faster than most because he's put more effort into it and strives to learn so he can improve.

Shay and Naomi pause, and Roman steps up to the ring apron. "Can you do a Cyclone? Might not be a bad idea to echo the whole F-5 shit since we all know Lesnar will come back."

"I can if you want me to." Shay shrugs, running a hand through her sweaty hair. "It's just a little risky because I won't be able to see where she lands and she's light. She might fly pretty far."

"Lesnar usually pitches big guys, Roe. Makes it less likely they'll hit a turn buckle too hard. She's not as big as him, but Naomi's not as big as the guys," Dean adds quietly.

Naomi shakes her head. "It's fine. Let's set up for one and see how it goes, then go from there."

"Are you sure?" Shay asks, glancing at her. The respect in her gaze speaks volumes.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Naomi turns. "Paige, Cathy, hit the corners for a minute so we have the room."

Tamina clears her throat and gestures to Shay. "Do me first. If you like where I land, we can try Naomi. I'm heavier, I'm not liable to go nearly as far as she is and we'll play it safe."

Shay and Naomi nod, the latter stepping back into a corner with Paige while Tamina pulls herself up onto the apron and enters the ring. Watching Shay pick Tamina up on her shoulders is pretty impressive, just like it's impressive when Paige can get the scorpion cross lock on Tamina, because Tamina just is not a small girl. She's not heavy, but she's muscular where a lot of the other girls aren't, so she's denser and harder to hold for any length of time. It's largely why she usually taps so fast to the scorpion cross lock—it's hard to hold her up for that length of time.

With precision, Shay executes the move and Tamina lands just off-center, then stands and dusts herself off. "See, that wasn't so bad. Now try Naomi and we'll see how far she lands."

"Do you think she's strong enough to pull off a tarantula or no?" Seth asks, glancing at Roman.

Roman shrugs. "It's possible. Might not be bad to bust that one out during a No DQ match."

"She can," Cathy says, and Seth glances up at her. "You sounded like you were wondering, so."

"Thanks for letting us know. How many moonsault variations can you do?" Dean asks her.

"Any and all of them you could want, really. In and out of ring, it's not really that hard once you figure out the first two or three." Cathy hops off of the ring apron and comes to stand with them while Shay tosses Naomi. "There's not much I can't do on the ropes. I worked my ass off to learn all the tricks I could because highflying is the most exciting wrestling you can watch."

Roman glances over at her. "Do you have a finisher and a submission move picked out or no?"

"My finisher is the Swanton Bomb, the same one Jeff Hardy uses." Cathy leans her back against the wall, carding her fingers through her ponytail. "And my submission is the Lotus Lock."

"What about your friend? She got her moves picked out yet?" Dean asks, turning slightly.

Cathy smirks and nods. "Yeah. Finisher is the stretch muffler. She likes it well enough"

"Wouldn't have guessed the stretch muffler coming from her, but if it works for her, it works." Seth glances at the ring, where Tamina and Shay are now trading suplexes that look rather jarring. "Where'd you guys pick all of this up? NXT or somewhere else?"

"We spend a lot of time going to indy shows and then obviously watching WWE all our lives. Shay's still determined to walk the top rope some day." Cathy smiles and rolls her eyes.

Seth would've pegged the girl as an Undertaker fan regardless of receiving that piece of information or not—you can look at her and just tell—but walking the top rope? Damn, that's fucking hard. He's done it before and it's not easy because the rope isn't stable, but then, he's never been as big as Taker and so it's all the more impressive to see the big man do it. And do it in a way that made it look so light and effortless. Seth damn near split his balls the first few times he tried it just because he fell. Only violently shifting his weight helped him not do that.

Which reminds him. They have to make sure the girls nail their finishers perfectly because nothing is worse than a botched finisher. Batista has been botching the Batista Bomb lately and other than that just being sad, botching a finisher is laughable and stupid. It's the one move that everyone needs to really cinch in perfectly whether it's a submission hold or a finisher because it's the move and it needs to look good. Roman nails his spear with perfect accuracy and Dean and Dirty Deeds know each other like old friends. The girls need the same with their moves.

"Wait a minute. The stretch muffler like the one Sami Callihan uses or what?" Dean suddenly demands, and Seth blinks over at him for the aggression in his tone. Since when does he—Oh. Seth covers his mouth with his hand and tries not to be too amused at the implication.

"That is the one." Cathy smirks at him and shrugs her shoulders. "She's a Callihan fan. When she figured out how to do his move, she ran with it. She's quite good at it, actually."

"Bullshit." Dean jumps up onto the apron and steps through the ropes. "Stop for a minute, ladies. Show me this stretch muffler you've apparently decided is your finishing move."

Shay looks mildly amused but the glint in her eyes says she knows exactly why Dean is upset—and Seth is just suddenly loving this. If they're going to be working with these ladies, there might as well be a little fun involved, and nothing seems to piss Dean off more than the idea that one of his teammates is using his old partner's move. As far as Seth knows, Dean and Sami haven't quite bridged the gap caused when Dean decided to use Sami to gain a better toehold in CZW and for some reason, Dean is very angry about this. Why he feels he has the right to be angry about it, Seth has no idea. How do you turn on your partner and get angry at him?

At first, it doesn't even seem like Shay is going to comply with Dean's request—and there's a decent reason why she might not want to. The stretch muffler is a great move, but given the fact Dean has nine inches on her, she might not be able to cinch it in effectively on him. But his continued mouthing off seems to change her mind. As soon as Dean is down on the mat where he needs to be, she looks his leg over her neck—which can't be easy because Dean is so much bigger and heavier—then grabs his arm and pulls. It's brutal and now that Seth decisively eyes the move, he can almost see Callihan doing it in his mind's eye. That is his version of it.

"Good form. Did she meet Callihan back in NXT or not?" Roman asks, glancing over at Cathy, and Seth looks to her as well. It's rare that both a male and female wrestler in the same company use the same moves, but he guesses it doesn't matter since Callihan isn't main roster yet.

"Son of a fucking bitch, let go!" A thump sounds, and Seth grins when he realizes Dean was in actual pain for a minute. "You made your point. Jesus Christ. Was that really necessary?"

Shay cocks a brow at him. "Was it necessary when you talked shit until I agreed to put you in the hold? You're the one who was asking for it, Ambrose, and I hope you got what you wanted."

"She met him," Cathy says, and Shay cocks her head at her, likely not following their conversation while stopped Dean. "They asked me if you met Sami back in NXT or not, and I'm telling them you did. It's why she can get it perfectly; she's learned from the guy who does it probably the best out of anyone else we've seen. Advantage of meeting him, really."

"There were millions of advantages to meeting him and talking to him, but that was definitely my favorite one and now that I actually might get to win matches, I get to show off the muffler." Shay smirks when Dean glares bloody murder at her, clearly unimpressed, and okay, maybe she's really growing on Seth. Good music taste and she's not at all frightened of Dean. Maybe they're going to be best friends. "Sami told me to say hi if I ever worked with you, Moxley."

Dean looks ready to blow and Seth is just loving every second of this. Why didn't they do this sooner? They have to find every NXT call-up now and poke them for information about Sami so they can talk about him in front of Dean. "That is not my name and just because you learned a submission hold from that little prick does not mean anything. Sami is just a slimy—"

The backhand whips his head around and that's when Roman finally steps in, separating the two of them before it can go any farther. Which is might have. Dean doesn't beat up on girls, but if the girl can put up a fight back, he'll go for it and Seth doesn't at all blame him because that looked like whiplash there. Jesus Christ, this storyline might actually be a fun time.

Cathy slides back into the ring and Seth regretfully follows, pulling Dean away and pushing his hand away from his face so he can see the bright red mark left on his cheek. Had it been a normal smack, he has no doubt it would be handprint-shaped. There was a lot of anger in that swing, but it wasn't blind anger, and now he really understands why Shay is booked to be a power wrestler. She's a hard hitter and not meant to do anything but this because she does this well.

"Don't talk about Sami like that, Ambrose." Shay's voice is low, almost deadly. "Do not go there because there's a hell of a lot I know about that thanks to him and I don't like your attitude."

Oh, they were friends at one point. That makes sense. She wasn't just defending a guy she admires; she was defending a friend. Seth makes a mental note to get that message across to Dean so they can prevent further fighting. Even if there is some resentment between Dean and Sami, Sami isn't in their group, isn't on their roster, and shouldn't become something that sticks between them and prevents them from bonding like a group should.

"Just let it go, Dean. There's no reason to let Sami become your problem when you haven't even seen him in years," Seth says, crooning and stroking his hand through Dean's messy hair. It's the only thing that gets through to Dean anymore, being treated gently and sweetly.

Dean sighs and nods. "I know. Just… Of all moves, you know? It's like I can't even move on."

"It's a move a lot of guys can use and they just choose not to use it. Sami didn't invent it." Seth continues petting Dean's curls, trying to soothe him. "You don't have to associate it with him."

"Easier said than done when he was my partner," Dean mutters, shaking his head.

Seth would rather just not remember that. "But he isn't anymore. Roman and I are. Remember?"

"How could I forget?" Dean smiles lazily at him. "I should probably apologize, shouldn't I?"

"It would be a good idea. And she should apologize, too." Seth adds the latter in a slightly louder voice to make sure Shay hears because tension in their group, while amusing, will cause issue.

Dean nods and leans around him. "Sorry for trashing the guy. Didn't know you liked him."

"He's a friend." Seth turns in time to see Shay shrug. "It's cool. I'm sorry for smacking you."

"It's a good, solid submission finisher and it'll look even better considering we've got some damned good submission finishers in the division already," Roman says firmly, and Seth can hear the silent message to Dean to not even suggest dropping the move in lieu of something else.

Paige clears her throat, and Seth remembers there are three other people in the room and clicks his tongue. They really have to stop fighting in public. "It's a good move. It takes power and skill to pull off, and it looks impressive because of the easily visible stretch. No hair in the way."

"It's one of the things I like best about it," Shay admits. "The hair being on the mat means it can't get in the way and hide the actual move. Too many moves have that issue."

"I want to see Cathy hit the Swanton, be sure she's got it solid, and then call it a day for practicing," Seth says. They really do just need to call it a day. They've got enough so far.

Tamina opts to take the hit, which is nice of her since Paige and Naomi have been working their asses off with the girls today, and they all stand way back to watch. The Swanton Bomb is a move Seth has a lot of respect for just because it can go so wrong so fast. A high-angle senton bomb, it requires the wrestler to make that turn just before they hit their opponent and he knows what happens when it lands wrong because it can risk injuring the head and neck of the person performing it. But Cathy looks quite comfortable on the top turnbuckle, something he's noticed and is quite proud of because a highflier must be comfortable in high spaces, and when she executes it, she keeps her body perfect straight and turns at the exact right time. Flawless.

"Do you know how many people are going to be happy to see that move back?" Dean asks.

Seth rolls his eyes and chooses not to answer the question; the fact they have to endure CM Punk chants is bad enough, but Jesus, what if they have to endure Jeff Hardy chants too? The irony alone would be hilarious considering who retired Jeff from the WWE, but it'll also be annoying because damn it, it's not that hard to not chant a name. He can respect the fans having paid money to get into the show, but it's sad that so many people try to put on decent matches, sometimes given a shitty amount of time in which to do so, only to get ignored by the crowd or basically told they're not wanted. Respect would be a nice change, but it'll never happen.

"If only we could do the shooting star press," Cathy muses as she stands. "But it's Evan's."

And they probably wouldn't get the license to do it anyway thanks to Lesnar and Kidman. Yeah, it's a move that can go very wrong based on the landing, but a lot of moves can go wrong based on landings and it's all up to the wrestlers performing them to pull them off. Of course, letting bigger guys like Lesnar try them when Lesnar isn't traditionally a highflier type was a bad idea and it proved exactly why only certain wrestlers perform certain moves. Even guys like Cesaro and Sheamus, big guys who can get up on the top turnbuckle with a fair amount of success if only once or twice during a match, can't pull off a move like that.

"You two did good today. We'll talk to Hunter about the scripts to see where we're going from here," Roman says, shaking hands with first Cathy, then Shay. "You have our numbers if you want to talk over anything and we have yours. We'll catch up with you when it's time to go."

They have a house show tonight but Cathy and Shay aren't booked—Hunter wants to save their reveal for Raw and refuses to budge, and other Divas fair better at house shows—but Seth imagine they'll hang out with their friends. 3MB is booked to wrestle tonight, which means at least Shay will be able to hang out with Drew, and he's pretty sure Barrett is booked, too.

Shay is off immediately, but Cathy hangs back, leaning against the ropes. "You know, we're going to have to spend actual time together at some point. If you want to make the storyline work, we're going to need to get to know each other so we can better establish that tension."

"We have a match we have to get ready for," Roman says, albeit apologetically.

Cathy shrugs. "What about after that? We going to swap drivers again? That worked okay."

"We can do that," Seth says. She does have a point, after all. "I'll call you after our match."

She smiles at him, a genuine smile, and he can't help but smile back before she slips through the ropes and starts away. Even if he doesn't particularly want a relationship right now, she's gorgeous and the kind of girl he likes. She takes damned good care of herself, takes her work seriously, and just… She's pretty. Willowy with a natural beauty and she doesn't go overboard on the make-up like a lot of the Divas do. Too bad he's not looking into dating anyone.

Besides, he doesn't want to push himself into liking someone. His fixed crush on Dean might not be helping him—if anything, it's hurting him—but he's staying true to it for now.

Dean stretches his arms over his head until his back cracks. "That bitch fucking hurt me, man."

"You goaded that bitch into it," Seth reminds him, rolling his eyes and reaching back to tightening his ponytail. "Come on, man, you asked for it and you got it."

He gets a scowl for that but Dean does flex his hands and turn his wrists, checking to make sure his tape is properly stretched so they can start practicing. They're the Shield, the best, the hottest in the company. Which means they have to work their asses off to make it look that way.

"Where do you want to start?" Roman asks him, arms folded across his chest.

Seth considers, glancing over at Dean. "Hard and fast, Ambrose. Don't hold back on me."

They beauty of working with Dean is that Dean doesn't hold back. As soon as the words leave Seth's lips, Dean flies at him in a fury and Seth has to brace himself so he doesn't get knocked over by the assault. It might look like a rough starting point to anyone who doesn't know or understand the Shield, but they have to do things like this. They have to push themselves to the point of no return in practice bouts with each other so they can be the very best.

That and working with someone like Dean is a fucking blessing that no one should ever squander. To get the most out of him, you have to demand the most out of him, and demanding anything less is admitting you don't really want to rise to the top of your field in the first place.

Fighting Dean off is like trying to fend off a rabid pit bull while stinking of meat. He goes for hard hits and hard holds, for moves he knows will hurt, and Seth has to strategically break the holds or escape them before Dean can utilize them. Then, with bare seconds to react, he has to find moves he can execute in just as little time before Dean can collect himself and go for the kill again. It's never not a refreshing exercise in just how strong a competitor can be.

It's like the first time he and Dean ever had a match in the indies, still a day Seth will never forget because it was just that damned great. Both of them put their all into it, like they do all of their matches, and it was amazing to work with someone who obviously cared so much.

When they finally finish and decide to slow down, they're both panting and sweaty and yet Seth is still energized from the bout. Still ready for more. So he waves Dean off and turns to face Roman, knowing he has to be ready for a new form of assault. Dean is speed and technical tactics while Roman is a juggernaut who will hang back and wait for the moment to strike.

It's what makes an out-of-nowhere Superman punch feel like it's strong enough to break your jaw and sends you into the ropes, the turnbuckles, or flat on your fucking back.

It's what makes his spear strong enough to feel like you're being snapped in half and he's not even putting everything into it because he knows he's not allowed to do that.

Roman is everything and anything that is power wrestling and Seth loves trying to knock him down, trying to keep him down, and even likes failing because trying to knock Roman down is like wrestling a brick wall. It takes endurance and perseverance, and not everyone has that kind of patience. But Seth does, and over the years, Roman has learned because of it.

When they finish and Roman has had his bout with Dean, they're ready for their match tonight and Seth has the feeling they've grown just a bit stronger. Maybe it has to do with knowingly having more partners in the Shield or maybe it's just cementing their brotherhood just a little bit more, but it's there and he feels good about it. The Shield is stronger than ever and all they have to do is keep building their momentum.

He's looking forward to that.


A/N: Yet another story I had writer's block on for the longest time. It's like a disease that infects multiple stories and all you can do is plot and plan and not actually write anything that makes it into the story. That being said, I'm back on normal update mode for everything now, so hopefully we get lots of updates going and lots of words being written. So, let me know what you guys think. I love to hear it.