Disclaimer - I do not own WWE or any of it's characters. I only own my character Siren and her family.
Thank you to armyrachel and ItzlzziieMonsta for choosing to favorite and follow this story and myself.
Also thank you to calwitch for the amazing review of chapter 3.
So just to help you guys out while you read this, every thing that's in bold is "in ring action, promos, text messages or social media posts", bold and italicized are "flashbacks", and italicized is "phone calls".
Reviews are appreciated, let me know what you like or don't and if you see anything spelled wrong :)
Also please let me know if you'd like to see a prequel to Wake Up.
Thank you!
The song for this chapter is "You And I" by PVRIS
I know it's warmer where you are
And it's safer by your side
But right now I can't be what you want
Just give it time
And if you and I
Can make it through the night
And if you and I
Can keep our love alive, we'll find
We can meet in the middle
Bodies and souls collide
Dance in the moonlight
When all the stars align
For you and I, for you and I, oh
I know it's cold when we're apart
And I hate to feel this die
But you can't give me what I want
Just give it time
And if you and I
Can make it through the night
And if you and I
Can keep our love alive, we'll find
We can meet in the middle
Bodies and souls collide
Dance in the moonlight
When all the stars align
For you and I, for you and I, oh
But for now we stay so far
'Til our lonely limbs collide
I can't keep you in these arms
So I keep you in my mind
But for now we stay so far
'Til our lonely limbs collide
I can't keep you in these arms
So I keep you in my mind
(Reaching out, can't feel you now)
Can we meet in the middle?
Bodies and souls collide
Dance in the moonlight
When all the stars align
For you and I, for you and I, oh
Tuesday's Main Event emanates from Pittsburgh, PA, with Dolph kicking off the show talking about the ladder match.
Siren walked through the backstage area, she was excited because her daughter would be with her for the summer starting on Sunday at Money In The Bank. Her family would be there as well to watch the show.
Seeing Seth standing by the curtain getting ready for his match she nodded to him, which he returned with a smile. As much as she wanted to hate him like Joe and Jon, she couldn't. When it came down to it, she understood why he had done it. She had been around WWE long enough to know that sometimes to be the good guy, you had to first be the bad guy, and there was no guy more hated right now than Seth Rollins.
She kept replaying Vickie's words in her head, Seth was indeed her heart, but she knew she couldn't be with him, at least not right now. If she did, it would be the biggest disrespect to Joe and Jon, and she was not about to add to their pain and frustration. Things between the four would die down eventually, she just had to hope that when it did, Seth still felt the same way about her when that day came.
She walked into the locker room, not seeing Roman or Dean anywhere she sat down on the couch and flipped on the monitor to watch Seth's match. The match was a 3-on-3 tag match, Dolph, Kofi and RVD versus Jack Swagger, Barrett and Rollins.
She could see the intensity in Seth as the match got underway, he had been training hard in preparation for the ladder match that Sunday. Seth won the match, planting Kofi with a curb stomp for the win. But she noticed Seth's bloodied nose as he headed back up the ramp to the back.
Deciding to see if he was alright, like a friend should do, she walked to the trainer's room. Knocking lightly on the door she smiled at the trainer who opened it. "Is Seth okay?"
The trainer nodded, "He's fine. Nothing broken. Do you wanna talk to him?"
"No that's okay. Just let him know I came by to see if he was okay."
"Will do, Siren."
"Thanks."
She turned and walked away, as she entered the locker room she found Roman and Dean sitting on the couch. "Hey guys."
"Hey. Where were you?" Jon asked.
"Just down at the trainer's."
"You okay?" Joe questioned with a concerned look.
"Yeah. Just a little knot in my shoulder."
Siren smoothed out her dress as she stood out in the balcony corridor with Roman. She felt silly wearing such a nice outfit to walk out to the ring, but wardrobe suggested it would be nice for the fans to see her dolled up, out of her Shield outfit. She finally agreed as she wasn't in a fighting mood that night, so why wear her ring gear. But just in case something went down she pulled on a pair of black shorts under her dress and opted for a pair of black wedge ankle boots, instead of high-heels.
Seth sat in his locker room watching the monitor, he was waiting for Roman's interview. Honestly he didn't care what Roman had to say, he really just wanted to see Siren.
He saw Renee walk down and step into the ring with her mic. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome one of the competitors in the Money In The Bank championship ladder match, lead by his manager Siren, Roman Reigns."
Seth heard the crowd exclaim as The Shield music rang out, he kinda missed having that kind of ovation. But his sadness turned to awe as he saw Siren step out onto the staircase. She was wearing a black sleeveless dress, the front had three strips of fabric across her chest giving glimpses of her skin, the hem stopped at her mid thigh and she was wearing black ankle boots. Her long brown hair was down, the ends curled and her makeup was a dark smoky eye. He had never seen her come to the ring like that, and how he wished he was the one walking beside her right then and not Roman.
He watched as she and Roman descended the stairs, knocking fists with the crowd as they went. When they got to the barricade Roman, like the gentleman he was, picked Siren up bridal style and deposited her on the other side of the wall.
She smiled her thanks as Roman climbed over the wall and joined her on the steps. Roman then held the ropes open for her and she stepped inside where they joined Renee. "Roman, the table is set. This Sunday at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view, in the biggest match ever, someone is gonna grab a piece of history and walk away the new, undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion."
Roman lifts his mic, "I'ma get to that in a minute. I have to be straight up with you right now, I'm a wanted man in these parts. The Authority, they got a huge bullseye right here on my chest. And standing out here in the middle of this ring, it feels like a trap. With all due respect, I'd feel a lot better if you took off your high heels because if something goes down you're gonna need to run really fast."
Renee uneasily leans down and slips off her boots, then Roman turns to Siren. "You too, Babygirl."
Siren sighs, but she smiles as she leans down and unzips the boots, slipping them off of her feet, leaving both women barefoot.
"Now, regarding the Money In The Bank championship ladder match, I've said it before, I don't care who's in it. Sheamus, Cesaro, Alberto Del Rio, Bray Wyatt, and even John Cena." He gives a pointed look to Siren, who holds up her hands with a smile, "Why do you look at me?"
"When we were with The Shield, we ran this yard. Nothing changes for the big dog. I still run this yard and when I win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, I take my rightful place at the head of the table. Believe that."
"Roman, it seems that you have overlooked a certain superstar, Randy Orton."
Roman laughs, "How could ever do that? Randy Orton, the most pampered, spoiled little brat baby this company's ever seen. For years now everybody's been watching his back: Evolution, even The Shield and now The Authority. I don't care who watches his back. I'm not here to hold his hand. I'm not here to wipe his ass, I'm here to kick it!"
"Now what about the eighth participant that Triple H added last night, the Demon Kane."
"They say Kane's a demon. He's got this reputation of power, he's diabolical and everybody's scared of him. Renee, do I look like everybody?" He shakes his head with a smirk. "I assess and attack. I've assessed Kane and I'm ready to attack. That's my code, that's what I stand for. I assess and attack. Assess and attack."
"Roman, Roman, Roman—" Their eyes turn to the titan-tron where Triple H is on the screen. "You assess and you attack. That's awesome. Sounds like you want everybody to believe in Roman Reigns. You want everybody in the world to believe in Roman Reigns. But I know a man that believes in nothing. You're gonna get a chance to know him. You're gonna get a chance to know him real well, because Roman Reigns you are gonna be facing him this Friday night on Smackdown. You will face the demon Kane. And Roman, trust me, he believes in nothing. And maybe, just maybe, you should get to know him right now."
Siren turns to the blonde, "Renee, get out of the ring. Go."
"You get out of the ring, too." Roman says looking at Siren.
"No, I'm staying."
"Babygirl, please." Roman asks giving her his puppy dog eyes.
She sighs, "Fine. But if he didn't come alone, I'm coming back in."
Roman nods as she grabs her shoes and climbs out of the ring, his attention turns back to the big red monster as he walks down the ramp. Kane climbs into the ring, the two men staring one another down. The two start trading punches until Kane grabs Roman by the throat looking for a choke slam. But Roman maneuvers out of it and hits Kane with a right hand knocking him back against the ropes. Roman rushes him and knocks him over the ropes to the floor.
Kane raises his arms and brings them down, setting off an explosion of fire on each of the turnbuckles. But his plan to intimidate the big dog backfires as Roman doesn't so much as flinch.
Roman and Siren walk backstage to their locker room, picking up their bags they head out to Tasha's rig to travel back to the hotel. They are met at the coach by Jon and Renee, the latter smiling at them as they approach.
"Hey Renee, you joining us on our trip back to the hotel?" Tasha asks as she opens the door.
"Yeah, Jon invited me. Is that okay, Tash?"
"Of course it is. The more the merrier, Renee." She said walking inside with Renee and the two men in tow.
"This is beautiful, Tasha." Renee exclaimed as she looked around.
"Thank you." She says stepping up front where Daryl was waiting in the driver's seat. "We're all ready boss."
Daryl turned around smirking at her, "Isn't that what I'm supposed to call you?"
"Not if you wanna keep your teeth." She smirked as the older man laughed.
"Alright then Ms. Tash, let's head out."
The group sat around laughing and talking, munching on snacks and drinking beer.
When they arrived at the hotel the group parted ways, with Jon and Renee heading into the hotel with Daryl. Tasha turned to Joe who was pulling out the bed inside of the couch. "You staying here, Lee?"
"Yeah, Babygirl. I'm getting tired of hotel beds, this is way more comfortable."
"Understandable. Well, goodnight big man. I'll see you in the morning." She leaned down kissing his cheek.
"Night, Babygirl."
The next morning Joe and Tasha headed out to the gym, they met up with Jon and Renee there. After a workout the group went out to grab some breakfast, before heading back to the arena to get ready for the show.
After attending the meeting and the others getting their scripts for the night, the group minus Renee walked to their locker room. They each got dressed in their gear as the show got started on the monitor.
The show kicked off with Triple H, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins in the ring. Triple H was smirking, which of course was not good news for anyone.
"Welcome to Smackdown. You know, in this business, people sometimes refer to things in eras. There's a golden era, the rock and wrestling era, the attitude era, the ruthless aggression era. Today, I've heard it called the reality era but I think more accurately, it will be called The Authority era. Because The Authority is constantly making history. Take this Sunday for example. At the Money In The Bank pay-per-view, history will be made when for the first time ever, eight men will compete in a ladder match. And I guarantee you that at the end of that match, we will crown a brand new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. And that man will be the brand new face of the WWE." He finishes looking right at Randy.
"But that's not all, at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view, you don't only get that, no, no, no, no, there's much, much more. You also get a traditional Money In The Bank contract ladder match in which one man will climb a ladder and retrieve a contract that allows him to create his own opportunities." He smirks as he rests his arm on Seth's shoulder.
"Now, if I was a gambling man, I'd say that when Sunday is over, you're looking at a pretty solid group right here. I would be willing to say that the brand new WWE World Heavyweight Champion and brand new face of the WWE will be none other than Randy Orton. And standing by his side with a briefcase and contract in hand allowing him a championship match anywhere, any place, any time will be Seth Rollins. And whether you like it or not, ladies and gentlemen, that, that is what's best for business."
"Hunter, you're exactly right. That is what's best for business." Randy brags, he's supremely confident that he's going to walk out champion on Sunday. "This Sunday at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view, I will ascend that ladder and not only be the Viper, and not only be the Apex Predator, I will be the WWE World Heavyweight Champion and once again, the face of the WWE."
"That's right." Seth says giving Randy a sideways glance. "Also on Sunday at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view, I will climb the ladder, I will defeat six other superstars including Dean Ambrose and I will forge my own destiny when I secure a contract that guarantees me a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match anytime, anywhere. And in case, things don't work out like Hunter said, we always got a plan b."
"Oh this is gonna be all bad." Siren says to Roman and Dean who are sitting beside her. Judging from the look on Randy's face, if there's a plan b, he's not in on what it is.
"Now wait a minute, wait a minute, Mr. Plan B, please pray tell what exactly do you think is gonna go wrong?"
"Hey, take it easy, Randy. I wasn't—I didn't mean that, no, no, no, no, no. I mean it's not unthinkable that you might not get the job done again, you know."
"I'm sensing dissention among The Authority ranks, boys." Siren says smirking.
"Seth, that's not unthinkable. What's not unthinkable is that without your Shield guys standing by your side that I don't whip your ass."
Triple H steps in between the two as Seth begins unbuttoning his suit jacket. "Hey, you—all right, all right." He smirks, obviously an idea had just come into his mind as he places a hand across Seth's chest and shoves him back from Randy. "Okay. I got to do this in front of everybody. All right. I understand sometimes, there might be some, some trust issues. Randy, do you know why you should trust Seth? Seth, do you know why you should trust Randy? Because I do, that's why. Because I trust him, that's why you trust him. And you wanna know the reality of it for both of you? The reality of it whether you like it or not is there's one constant in this whole equation, one constant that isn't gonna change and that is The Authority, that is Steph, that is me. It is not gonna change. So here's the thing, you can either survive against The Authority or you can thieve with The Authority. So while trust right now might be a little bit of a bitter taste in your mouths, adapt or perish, right? This is the future, this is the present, this is the future, this is the plan and like I said, this is best for business, all right? Now, we'll move on because where you see Seth Rollins lately, you see one man, Dean Ambrose."
Dean goes to get up off of the couch and Siren grabs his arm, hauling him back down. "Ah, ah, ah, sit your ass down."
"And you can be excited all you want because in just a moment, you're gonna see Dean Ambrose. That's the good news. Unfortunately, for all of you and I just got to—I got to say, I love doing this, I've got some bad news for you."
Siren waits until they go to commercial before she gets up motioning to Dean. "All right, now you can go fuck shit up."
"Yes!" Dean whoops before he jets out the door, Siren following with a smile and a shake of her head.
"Lunatic. But you gotta love him."
She meets up with Dean at the gorilla position, she notices that neither Triple H, Randy or Seth have come backstage yet. She figures they must have cut through the back on the side of the stage to avoid Dean, well they proved they at least had some sort of sense between the three.
Siren smirks as Dean's theme hits and the two walk out onto the stage. As Dean climbs into the ring, Siren takes her place ringside to cheer him on.
Halfway through the match Barrett knocks Dean to the canvas, Siren slams her hand down on it, willing him to his feet. "Come on, Dean! Get up!"
Dean hits Barrett with a vicious clothesline and delivers "Dirty Deeds" for the win. But as Siren climbs into the ring and hugs him, another superstar's music hits and they both see Jack Swagger walk out onto the stage with Zeb Colter in tow.
Dean stands in the ring begging Swagger to come in there and fight, Dean's still fired up. But instead Swagger levels Barrett with a clothesline before tossing him around the outside. Just as he prepares to lock in his ankle lock, Dean flies through the ring ropes and takes them both out. He then grabs one of the small ladders and drives it into Swagger's gut, then he slams it down onto Swagger's back. Dean grabs Swagger and heaves him up into the ring where Sired still stands, leaning amusedly against one of the turnbuckles.
Swagger picks Dean up over his shoulder as he rushes him and tosses him back first over the ropes by the announcer's table. He turns his back on Dean, which is a bad idea, as the Lunatic slides back into the ring and takes him down, raining punches down on his face. Dean knocks Swagger over the ropes onto the floor, he rolls out of the ring in pursuit, grabbing Swagger and slamming him into the barricade, flipping him into the time keeper's area. He then grabs Swagger by the back of the neck and slams his head off of the announcer's table.
Before Siren can warn Dean however, Seth comes through the crowd and shoves Dean back first into the steel ring steps. Seth then punches Dean several times in the head before picking him up and shoving him back into the ring. Siren leans down to check on Dean, she can see Seth on the outside removing his jacket and knows he's not done yet. He climbs up onto the apron rolling up his sleeves, before he gets into the ring.
"Move." He tells her.
"No."
"Move, Siren."
"No! Do not do this, Seth." She states. "You want him, you're going through me. Do you really want to hurt me?"
"No. But I will move you." He grabs her by the hair, carefully so as not to hurt her and tosses her out of the ring towards Zeb and Swagger. "Hold her. Or I will make your life hell."
Siren screams in anger as Jack stands up, wrapping his arms around her, pinning her to his chest. "Let me go! Swagger! I swear to god I will kill you!"
In the ring Seth is screaming at Dean. "You think you're gonna ruin this for me? You think you're gonna ruin this for me, huh? I got eyes on you all the time."
"Dean!" Siren screams as she watches Seth bounce off of the ropes and deliver a vicious curb stomp to her brother.
"You will not ruin this for me. I created my own opportunities. My time!"
Siren fumes as Seth turns back to her, "Don't let her go until I'm backstage." He then gets out of the ring and walks back up the ramp.
Swagger then lets her go, she slides into the ring kneeling down beside Dean. "Easy, Dean. Don't move." The trainer's run down to the ring, together with Siren they help Dean backstage to the trainer's room.
"Damnit!" Siren screams as the door shuts, she turns kicking over a box that was sitting on the floor.
"Hey love, you okay?"
Siren turns to find Paige standing before her, her Diva's Championship belt hanging over her shoulder.
"No, Paige, I'm not. I can't do this anymore." Siren says defeated as she slides down the wall behind her.
Paige kneels down in front of her friend, she hated seeing her so distraught these days. "Look, I've got my match right now, but after it's over you and me are gonna talk, okay?"
Siren nodded meekly as Paige hugged her, lightly kissing her head. "Hang in there, okay?"
True to her word Paige returned right after her match, she found Siren still sitting in the same spot. "Come on, love. Let's go talk." She took Siren's hand and helped her up.
The two walked outside to Tasha's coach as they would have more privacy in there. They sat down on the couch and Paige turned towards her friend, she looked so confused and lost, it killed Paige to see her that way.
"So what did you mean, you can't do this anymore?"
Tasha looked up with tears in her eyes, "I can't hate him. Colby. I can't do this every night."
"I have watched you for years, you have never had a problem playing your role. Why is Seth Rollins any different?"
"Because I love him." Tasha admitted.
"I knew you did." Paige said with a smile. "We could all see it. So why don't you tell him?"
Tasha shook her head, "I can't. It would kill Lee and Jon. I can't do that to them."
"Honey, if Joe and Jon are truly your friends, if they really love you like they say, they'll accept it for you. They don't have to forgive Colby, but they could at least tolerate him for you."
"I don't think they could."
"Just talk to them. Sometimes the ones we love, others think aren't good enough for us. But that doesn't mean they should stop you from following your heart. Just promise me you'll think about it. I hate seeing you like this. I want my bubbly, laughing, always happy bestie back."
Tasha laughed, that was why she loved Paige, she was her best girlfriend and she always knew what to say despite her only being 19. "How are you so smart about relationships at only 19?"
Paige nudged her shoulder with a smile, "I had a good teacher."
After going back inside Siren headed up to the balcony with Roman to get set for his match against Kane. Knowing that her mind needs to be on the match, Siren pushes Seth from her mind, she would deal with that issue later.
As their music hits the two begin their descent down the stairs towards the ring, hopping over the barricade and pausing by the ring steps. Siren knocks fists with Roman before he climbs into the ring ready to fight Kane.
Throughout the match Siren keeps a vigilant eye on the surrounding crowd and ramp, she just knew there would be outside interference. It was inevitable, she just didn't know who it would be.
Just as she thought, as soon as Roman locked and loaded delivering his superman punch to Kane, he backed into the corner ready to deliver a spear when the interference came. Randy ran down the ramp and began his assault on Roman, the referee called for the bell giving the win to Roman via disqualification. Both Randy and Kane continued their beating on Roman, with Kane delivering a choke slam planting Roman on the mat.
Siren watched Kane climb out of the ring, he grabbed the tallest ladder he could find and shoved it back into the ring. Sensing the danger she ran around and tried to pull Roman from the ring out of harms way, but as Kane picked up the ladder he swung it towards her and nailed her in the face. Siren fell back to the floor, the blow causing her vision to go fuzzy. She didn't know what was going on in the ring, but she could hear the crowd buzzing. As her vision cleared she looked into the ring and screamed in terror.
"Rome!"
Her scream roused Roman, who was set dead to rights by Randy, ready to deliver a punt, which had put several superstars out of action over the years. As Randy rushed him, Roman popped up delivering a spear that knocked Randy backwards a good two feet. Roman then delivered another spear to Kane as the monster tried to charge him. Roman picks up the titles that Randy had taken down and holds them up high as the crowd goes wild. He holds them high looking around the ring, he can't find her. Suddenly his eyes fall on her and instantly he drops the belts and slides out of the ring coming to her side.
"Jesus Christ Babygirl." He says as he sees the blood covering her face. "What happened?"
"Ladder." Was all he heard her say.
A look of fury came over his face as he stared at the two men in the ring, but before he could go inflict more damage on them, Siren laid her hand on his arm. "Roman. Don't. Get me outta here. Please."
As much as Roman wanted to beat the two men to death, his first priority was Siren. He leaned down, picking her up bridal style and carried her to the back.
As he walked through the backstage area they were approached by Paige and Renee who were both concerned for their friend. The two women followed them to the trainer's room where Roman laid Siren down on one of the beds.
Even though the cameras were off, Joe was still in Roman mode. Feeling his anger rising he left Tasha in the care of the trainer's, knowing that Paige and Renee would look after her. He stalked out of the room intent on finding Orton and Kane, and beating them to death. But as he rounded a corner he found someone he wished he hadn't right then. Seth Rollins.
"What happened?"
"Your little buddies are what happened." Joe spit out, venom dripping from his words.
"Is she okay?" Colby asked concerned, knowing he was practically signing his death warrant by speaking to the man.
"What do you care, man?" Joe snapped, his anger and resentment towards Seth Rollins still fresh.
"Look, I know you're pissed at me and you have every right to be. What I did was fucked up and I know that. But you know as well as I do, if you don't play ball with the bosses, you might as well pack your shit and leave. I'm just doing what I gotta do to keep living the dream we all had growing up. I know you and Jon will never forgive me, but I just needed you to know that I am sorry. Despite what you guys might think, I do still care, especially about her. That won't ever change." Colby sighed, running his hands through his hair in frustration, this wasn't how he wanted this to go down. "Look, will you just tell her I'm sorry and I hope she's okay."
Colby turned to walk away, but Joe's voice paused him. "Go tell her yourself. She's in the trainer's room." As much as it pained Joe to speak civilly to Colby, he did apologize, and it was genuine, he knew that from all the years they had spent together. And deep down Joe had hope that one day they could all be friends again.
"Okay, thanks." Colby said with a nod as he headed off down the hall to the trainer's room. Once there he knocked lightly on the door before he entered. Sticking just his head in he found Paige and Renee smiling at him. "Hey, is she okay?"
Paige nodded, "They're gonna send her for some x-rays, just in case, but she should be fine. Come in."
Colby stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He approached the bed Tasha laid on as Paige and Renee stood up.
"We'll check on you later, love." Paige said before she and Renee took their leave, smiling at the couple behind them.
Tasha nodded to her friends, still in and out of it she didn't notice that Colby was in the room until he laid his hand on hers. "Hey beautiful, how you feeling?"
She looked over, shocked to see him sitting beside her. "Like I got hit in the face with a ladder." She joked.
But despite her humor Colby frowned, "I'm so sorry Tash."
"Hey, it's okay, Colby. Shit happens."
The trainer walked up before Colby could say anything. "Okay Siren, you're gonna need to go to the hospital for some x-rays. Do you need a ride there?"
"I'll take her." Colby offered.
"Okay, here's the paperwork for the x-rays, just give it to the front desk."
Colby nodded as he stood up, placing his arm around her back to help her to her feet. As they exited the trainer's room they were met by Joe who had Tasha's bag in his hand.
"She's gotta go get x-rays, I offered to take her." Colby said hesitantly, not sure if Joe was going to allow that.
But Joe only nodded, "Okay. Her rig is outside waiting, it'll take you guys there. I'm gonna ride to Boston with Jon and Renee. Take care of her."
Colby nodded, picking Tasha up bridal style, he took her bag from Joe, who leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Love you, Babygirl. I'll check on you later, okay?"
"Okay Lee. Love you too." She said.
With that Colby walked outside to Tasha's new rig where he was met by who he assumed was her driver. He nodded to the man, "She's gotta go to the hospital for some x-rays."
"Okay, I'll take you there. I'm Daryl, her driver."
"Colby. Her friend." He said shaking the man's hand.
Daryl nodded, knowing all about him from Tasha, Joe and Jon, so he was surprised that it was him that was attending to her. He opened the door and Colby carried Tasha inside, gently setting her down on the couch.
As they drove to the hospital Colby looked around the rig. "This is nice."
"Thanks." Tasha smiled.
Colby kept a watchful eye on her nose as they rode along, the trainer's had stopped the bleeding, but he knew it could start again. He could see the area around her eyes already darkening, he knew she was going to have two nasty black eyes in the morning.
When they arrived at the hospital despite arguing from Tasha that she could walk, Colby lifted her up into his arms and carried her inside. The nurses were already waiting for her, as they had been contacted by WWE personnel. They took her back for x-rays while Colby sat in the waiting room. Half an hour later one of the nurses came to get him.
"She's going to be fine. It's only a small fracture, it should heal in a couple of weeks. She's going to have one hell of a headache and two very black eyes."
The nurse pointed him to Tasha's room where she was resting. Colby entered seeing Tasha sitting up in the bed, she smiled as he walked in.
"Hey. Good news, it's just fractured. You'll be fine in a couple of weeks."
Tasha nodded as he sat down in the chair beside her bed. "Thanks, Cole. For being here."
Colby smiled, "I've missed that nickname. You're the only one who uses it."
The two sat there silently, waiting for the doctor to release her. After a few minutes Colby sighed. "Tasha I'm sorry. For everything."
She shook her head, "I told you, you don't have to apologize. I know what this business is like, I've been here for thirteen years. In order to stay relevant, you gotta change. Sometimes you gotta do things you don't want to do, like play ball with the bosses. Sometimes you're the good guy, and sometimes you're bad guy. It's just how things work around there. And let's be honest, you do make a really good bad guy."
They both smiled as Colby shook his head. "I just wish it could've went down another way. I miss my brother's… and you."
"I'm still here." She smiled with a shrug.
Half an hour later they were loading up onto the rig, Tasha turned to Colby. "You gonna ride to Boston with me?"
Colby nodded, "I promised Joe I'd take care of you, and that's what I'm gonna do."
Tasha nodded as she stepped inside the rig with Colby behind her. "Let's head out D. We gotta long drive."
"You got it Ms. T." Daryl smiled before drawing the curtain closed that separated him from the coach and starting the rig, pulling out onto the road.
In the back Tasha turned to Colby as he sat down on the couch. "I'm gonna go change."
Colby nodded as she headed into her bedroom, he took the time to look around, admiring her taste in the design of the rig. A few minutes later she came back out dressed in a pair of black sweats and a white Divas tank top.
"I was gonna lay down and watch a movie, you wanna join me?"
"Yeah sure." Colby sat standing up and walking to the back of the coach where her bedroom was. He took off his sneakers as he laid down on the bed beside her. Propping himself up with some pillows he waited while Tasha picked out a movie and turned on the TV. Expecting her to lie down next to him, he was surprised as she lifted up his arm and scooted up next to him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as she laid on his chest.
Throughout the movie Colby kept stealing glances at her, his heart clenched as he thought about what could have been, before he walked out on her. But he was determined to make her his, even if he had to fight Joe and Jon to make that happen. Looking down he saw that Tasha had fallen asleep, he gently reached over and tugged her fuzzy blanket over the two of them. Fighting off sleep Colby cherished the time he had with Tasha, knowing that when they reached Boston, Jon would not be as civil as Joe had been.
