Stephanie McMahon's other flunky was standing outside the door to her cell when Bayley got there. She was an odd-shaped girl, obviously heavily into body building. "Don't try anything, or I'll be on you in a second," she said, trying to sound menacing.
"You don't scare me," Bayley informed her. While she didn't have a propensity for violence, she certainly wasn't afraid to stand up for herself.
"Dana," Stephanie called out from inside the cell. "There's no need for being inhospitable, yet."
Bayley walked into the cell, being glared at by Dana as she passed by her. The attitude of some nobody was the least of Bayley's concerns. A much bigger problem was the ice cold look in McMahon's eyes when they came face to face for the first time. Unlike some petty thug, Stephanie was someone to be feared.
"Close the door, and sit down," Stephanie ordered in a manner only a person who was never argued with could use.
Doing as she was told, Bayley pushed the door shut and took a seat on the single bed opposite the one Stephanie was sitting on. The fact that the cell had single beds instead of bunks was remarkable enough, before considering the fact that the one Bayley was sitting on clearly wasn't used by anyone. Somehow, McMahon had been able to get a cell all to herself. Not only that, there were plenty of expensive clothes and pieces of jewellery in the cell. It was about as close to a hotel room as you could get in a prison.
"Now, why don't we start with my half a million dollars?" Stephanie suggested, linking her hands in her lap.
The way it was phrased immediately triggered Bayley. She decided to set out her stall as someone who wasn't going to be easily pushed around. "Your half a million dollars?" she asked, raising her eyebrows slightly. "That was a down payment on the job we carried out, successfully, I might add."
Stephanie's glare intensified. "No, it was a down payment on Becky Lynch and her computer chip idea coming into my possession. Last time I checked, she's not working in the laboratory I had waiting for her, she's sitting down there in a cell." She pointed at the wall in the direction of Becky and Bayley's cell.
"Yes, because you got arrested before we could hand her over. We were all ready to go. Our part of the bargain was going like a dream. We kidnapped her. We had her bound and gagged in a bedroom in a secure location. All we had to do was meet you for the exchange, but when Ronda called you, there was no answer. That's when we learned you had been arrested. I get that you're angry about the whole situation, but surely you must see there was no wrongdoing on my part?"
"No wrongdoing on your part," Stephanie said slowly, a sour expression on her face. "Your two partners ended up shot dead, and you're now in prison dyking it up with the bitch you kidnapped. I'd say it's pretty obvious there was some wrongdoing somewhere. Maybe you ought to explain to me how you went from not being able to contact me to where we find ourselves now? And then you can tell me what happened to my money."
"I'll do that first," Bayley said, getting more heated than she would ideally have wanted to thanks to the homophobic comment from Stephanie. "As far as I know, the money is still in whatever account you transferred it to. Ronda had the details for it and she didn't share them with either me or Charlotte. So I don't have it, I don't have access to it, and I can't give it back to you no matter how much you threaten me."
McMahon looked like she had just been forced to eat a dog shit sandwich as she mulled that over for a few seconds. If there was a small silver lining, Bayley didn't pick up on any distrust. At least her story, which was true, had been believed.
"Just as I suspected. Then there's only one thing for it," Stephanie decided eventually. "Since you killed Ronda and effectively lost the money, I consider you to owe me half a million dollars. You plainly don't have the money to pay me back, which leaves me only two options, which I have been considering for some time in case we found ourselves having this conversation: I can either have you killed and use that to send a message to anyone who gets on the wrong side of me, or I can allow you to work off the debt."
"What are you saying?" Bayley asked warily, steering well clear of a further protest about the so-called debt. Heading down that road was only going to have negative consequences for her, and for Becky.
"I'll do the questioning," Stephanie snapped. "Speaking of which, you didn't answer my original question yet. I want to know how it all went so wrong for the three of you, and how the hell Becky came out of it supposedly in love with you. Because that's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard," she added nastily.
It didn't matter at all to Bayley what McMahon thought of her, her girlfriend, or their budding relationship. All that mattered right now was that Stephanie seemed to think she could put them to work in some way until she adjudged them to have effectively paid back half a million dollars. It was unfair that they were in that positon. It was unjust. But it was better than being killed, and Bayley didn't doubt for a minute that Stephanie could make that happen, even in the prison. She decided the best course of action was to be honest about the way everything had happened, and she began to recount it all, from finding out that Charlotte wanted to kill her and Becky after the plan went wrong, to fleeing the cabin, to the shootout at the motel.
"So Becky didn't actually commit any kind of crime at all," Stephanie mused after listening attentively to the entire story.
"No. The charges against her are ridiculous, and it should be easy to prove that at her trial," Bayley said. "Me, though? I was wanted for other stuff, so I'll definitely be going down."
No interest in that news registered on Stephanie's face, but she did lean forward, staring into Bayley's eyes. "How do you think hearing that story makes me feel, Bayley?"
"What? I have no idea," Bayley floundered. "I'm sure you don't give a damn whether I get found guilty or not."
Stephanie grunted a laugh. "You're right, I don't. But I have to say, there's something about you that impresses me. There's more to you than your innocent appearance suggests. You know how the world works, and you know how to get things done. I could use someone like you, Bayley. Your girlfriend, not so much, but…"
"We come as a pair," Bayley said firmly, not sure herself why she had risked cutting in.
Stephanie raised one eyebrow slightly. "Is that a fact?"
It was perfectly clear to Bayley that she was in a very dangerous situation. The last thing Becky would want to do was work for the woman whose orders had gotten her into this whole thing to start with, but it was better that than have someone shank her to death one day. Ultimately, it was a question of doing what had to be done to stay alive. Bayley would have to convince her of that.
"What makes you think some computer nerd is any use to me in here?" Stephanie demanded impatiently after a moment of silence from Bayley.
"You took on those pair of clueless idiots out there for protection," Bayley pointed out. "I guarantee Becky and I could do a better job than them."
Leaning forward, Stephanie looked even more menacing than ever. "You guarantee it, do you?"
"I do," Bayley said, making sure not to show any sign of intimidation. "You can tell as well as I can that they're just a couple of empty-headed idiots who like to act tough. It's obvious from one look at them," she said without hesitation. If working for McMahon was going to be the way to save herself and Becky, she was prepared to do it, no matter how unpleasant it was. But there had to be that promise of eventual from Stephanie. "What happens to us in the future? What's to stop you using us for a while and then having us killed anyway?"
"Nothing," Stephanie said with an offhanded shrug. "But I don't have a habit of getting rid of people who are useful and loyal to me. So, let's say I told those two braindead bimbos out there to get lost and took you and Becky on in their places. You might look at that as an opportunity to prove yourselves worthy of keeping around, and to work off your debt at the same time. Do we understand each other?"
Bayley nodded. "We do."
"Good," Stephanie said with a smile that still had no warmth in it. "You can start by giving the news to the other two. Let's see how you handle yourself."
"What, now?" Bayley asked.
Anger flashed in Stephanie's eyes for a second. She wasn't used to being questioned like that. "Let's just take it as a given that when I tell you to do something I mean now unless I say otherwise," she hissed.
"Of course, sorry," Bayley said, forcing herself to put the required amount of respect in her voice as she got up and headed for the door. If nothing else, at least the first job she had been given would be relatively enjoyable. She opened the door and found the two blondes standing outside talking to each other. Keeping in mind that Stephanie was watching and listening from inside the cell, Bayley chose her words very deliberately.
"The two of you, fuck off, now," she ordered. "You're no longer required."
"Says who?" the bodybuilder called Dana demanded incredulously.
"Says me," Bayley snapped. "I'm working for Stephanie now, and that means you're not. So like I said, fuck off."
"You going to make us?" the other woman said, eyeing Bayley up as a possible opponent in a fight.
"If I have to, sure," Bayley told her. "But it's my first day in here, so I'd like to avoid putting you both in the hospital if I can, and I'm sure Stephanie would prefer not to have to go to the trouble of arranging someone to finish the two of you off while you were there for disrespecting her. It'd be easier if you just got the hell out of my sight, like I told you to. But the choice is yours. What's it going to be?"
"Didn't want the stupid job anyway," Dana lied with a scornful look on her face. With that, she turned and walked away, with her friend Emma following along behind.
"Not bad," Stephanie said from behind Bayley, now standing up. "You actually sound convincing when you talk tough. I like that. I'm starting to see why Ronda picked you for the job."
Bayley turned around to face her and spoke frankly. "Yeah, and then I killed Ronda when she came after me. Like I said before, I'm willing to do what it takes to survive. If that means working for you, that's what I'll do."
"You'd better hope your girlfriend sees it the same way," Stephanie said, showing no sign of being impressed with Bayley's tough words. "Go and tell her what we've agreed, then bring her back here. I'm going to have her stand here and swear loyalty to me, if she wants to ever see the outside of this shit hole again. Once she's done that, only good things will happen for the two of you, so long as you keep that loyalty. There have been people who have gone from the very bottom, where you are right now, to the top in my organisation before."
"I'll be back soon," Bayley promised the woman was now her new boss, hoping that Becky would see things the way McMahon had described them, with only good things to come if they worked for her faithfully. She seriously doubted it.
A/N: Thank you to those who left a review last time. I'm glad you're all enjoying the story!
So, Bayley and Becky, rather than being killed, have been told they are going to have to work for McMahon. How do you think Becky is going to react to that piece of news? Will she agree to swear loyalty to Stephanie? Submit your predictions in a review!