For the next few weeks Imogen was bounced between Raw, Smackdown and both brands relative house shows that didn't have conflicting schedules. Pulling the double duty was exhausting, so when she wasn't performing, in the gym or something else work related the usual place to find her was with her head buried in a hotel pillow. She first suspected Paul was trying to keep a measurable distance between herself and Shane the only way he thought best, by having them on different shows while they figured out what to do with her. When she had discussed simply transferring to Smackdown on a more permanent basis he had told her to think about it first; once approved she would likely be there a while and simply couldn't jump back to Raw once Stu came back from injury. For now working both shows got her an increase in pay, so it wasn't entirely a bad thing. While she was becoming easily irritated she enjoyed the chance to travel with the Smackdown crowd at the same time.

Spending more time with Nattie, Cody and especially Phil was three big pros amongst the sea of cons, and having Punk around again gave it a bit of a feel of their early years on the road together. He was also good at judging when to let her mouth off to blow off steam and when to jump in and get Imogen to stop. Cody seemed to act as a calming influence in his own way to, his laid back and usually quiet demeanour a key factor. Natalya was the one who was like a ray of sunshine in the mornings, able to bring out the competitive nature they shared back in Japan as they worked gym sessions and the occasional match together. When Beth got added to the mix the three would tear up their routines like an unstoppable force. With Teddy Long as a firm but fair General Manager, Smackdown felt more and more like it was the place to be.

Raw on the other hand was starting to get under her skin. Barbie had continued to go through her metamorphosis, much to the disapproval of Eve and Victoria who couldn't understand why. The entire thing was beginning to cause a lot of tension in the Raw Divas locker room. Beth and Imogen on one side, who were slowly becoming a surprising voice of support for the former Divas champion as she genuinely tried to improve her skills. Victoria and Eve were on the other, accusing Barbie of caving in and selling out to the pair of 'butch bitches'. Barbie found herself stuck in a sort of no-man's land, unsure if what she was doing was worth the drama it was causing. Having Imogen actually stand up for her in itself was confusing, both women had made it pretty clear that they didn't like each other.

"It's because she's starting to respect you." Paul Wight said when the two had caught up for their usual breakfast chat, "I've been around this business a long time and I know Campbell's type. This sport, it's in her blood. If you clearly disrespect it they can take it almost as a personal insult. But since Wrestlemania you've put your game face on and have really been working at it hard, she can see that. It's not how long you've been at it for, it's the commitment you're now giving it which is changing her attitude towards you." Pausing he took a slow sip of his juice before continuing, "I'm not saying you'll be friends any time soon. Respect and friendship are two completely different things."

"You really think I can do this?" Barbie asked after a while, "I know I'll never be as good as Campbell, Nat or-"

"Now you can stop that negativity right there." He interrupted, Paul hated it when the woman would tear herself down. "You can be if you try hard enough; Beth, Nat and Imogen all started at the beginning to. They weren't born with wrestling as a super power. Don't worry about what they're doing, right now just focus on you and where you want to go and in time you'll have some great, memorable matches of your own to be proud of."

He was right of course, her problem was that she was still measuring herself up against Imogen; who's grandfather and father had been champions. Who had been wrestling almost as long as she had been walking. Who knew almost every single in and out of this business, both on the stage they performed and the scenes behind it. But it was then Barbie realised something. For all her skill it wasn't what bought her to the biggest game in America; it was her looks, just like almost every other woman who had gone through the WWE doors. Sure, Imogen could wrestle like a fiend but it wasn't why she was hired. Shane hired her because he simply wanted to fuck her whenever he wanted, which hadn't turned out the way he planned at all. Then she remembered that morning in hotel room... they way he began acting after that concerned her.

Paul cocked a curious brow at the small smile that was spreading over his companion's face, then watched as it slid back into a slight frown of contemplation. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Her attention returned darted around the room, seeing if anyone was in ear shot before turning to the giant in front of her, "I'm not sure if this is the best place to talk about it."

He could see that this was something she needed to get out, to clear her own head if nothing else. Placing his cutlery on his now empty plate and signalling for the bill a couple of minutes they were ready to leave. "Why don't we go for a walk? It'd be criminal not to take advantage of a nice day while we can."

It sounded like a plan, so together they went for a stroll around the block. "I was just thinking, despite Campbell's wrestling ability she essentially got in because she's, well, gorgeous." The admittance came out with a bit of reluctance, she hated the idea of complimenting the woman... at least while they were still at this stage of the game. "So in that respect... she's not any better than the rest of us. To put it bluntly she only got her contract because Shane wants to fuck her."

Paul couldn't help but snort in mild amusement, from day one it had been obvious that the woman only had eyes for Bennett. Against that sort of loyalty McMahon stood no chance. "Well he is well known for thinking with the smaller of a man's two heads. It's not a surprise really."

"I know..." Barbie fell into silence as they watched some school kids load onto a bus, waving at a few excited students as they realised who the two wrestlers were and crammed up against the back window to get a better look. "You know what I did with Shane and why I did it. Looking back I'm not proud of it, but when she came into the picture... it seemed like he was changing. Not for the better either."

Concern nestled itself in the back of Wight's mind, "What do you mean exactly?"

"Well, you know how he likes to control things." Barbie answered, "And, well, Imogen has pretty much had him by the balls ever since she shot him down; especially after Wrestlemania. I mean Vince himself taking her side over his own son? I bet that one didn't go down well. It's been making him... obsessive. More than people realise. I get the feeling like if things keep going the way they are something bad is going to happen."

She shivered, despite the pleasant temperature. Without thinking to much about it one of Paul's massive arms wrapped themselves casually around the diva and gave her a reassuring hug. "Well then, I guess you and I had better keep our eye on the little weasel."

Barbie smiled, it was hard not to feel safe while being hugged by a man the size of the Big Show. While she had been with the company for a few years now, Paul was the first one she felt like she had made a proper connection with. He didn't care about what she had done with the junior McMahon and simply accepted her for who she was and didn't expect anything more from her than she was willing to give. Pulling out of the hold she looked up at him, "Thank you, Paul."

"For what?"

"For just... being here. It's nice to have someone to talk to, I'd almost forgotten what it was like to be able to tell someone something and know it wont end up all around the locker room by the end of the day."

He simply grinned, "Any time." Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a small folded piece of paper and handed it to her. "Going back to what we were talking about earlier, I called in a favour from an old friend. He'll be happy to help you to advance your training."

Taking the offered note she unfolded it to find a cell phone number and some initials. "Who's DM?"

"Dean Melenko, 'the man of a thousand holds'!" He replied with a little flair, "If anyone can teach you how to tie someone up in knots, It's Dean."

Her smile was positively beaming, this was something she never would have expected at all. "Paul... just... Thank you, you're the best."

"I know, but we'll keep that our little secret. Once Melenko is done with you the Divas division wont know what hit it."

Two and a half months had passed since Stu was sidelined by Randy and Imogen was still working both shows. To try and even out the work load Levesque scaled back her house show appearances where he could, but seeing the heat she could get off a crowd Stephanie was seriously considering putting the younger woman up for title contention. If approved it meant she would have to potentially keep up with the current pace at the very least, if not increase it a bit more. While the title opportunity sounded like a great idea, Paul had to admit he was starting to get concerned about just how much longer Imogen could keep up with her current work load, though so far she had never once complained about it. It was time to get a decision from Campbell, stay on Raw and put up with Shane, or make the jump to Smackdown full time and work separately from Stu on a more permanent basis. Making up his mind to go with Steph to this Friday's Smackdown he would giver Imogen her choices and hopefully get an answer soon, for both their sakes.

Upon arriving and asking around as to where the Tampa native was they eventually ended up running into Punk first. "... Are you both insane?" He asked with a tone of slight disbelief when he got the answer to why they were both there, "I mean sure, the title shot is great, but you want to add even more onto the work load she's already got? She's spent the last six weeks all but living off Red Bull and coffee just to keep up!"

"I know." Stephanie replied calmly. She had heard the story of just how long the two had known each other and found his genuine concern for her well being touching. It could be hard to find that sort of friendship now days, especially in this business. "That's why she's going to have to make a decision of which show she wants to stay on."

"So if she decides to stay on Raw and wait it out for Bennett to come back she not only has to deal with Junior but would still be forced to pull double duty any way because Nattie is here." Phil said sarcastically, "Yeah, that's a great potential choice to let her have."

While understanding in Punk's apparent need to look out for his friend Stephanie did not appreciate the disrespect aimed towards her brother, no matter just how much of a jack ass she knew he was. Despite his faults, Shane was her brother and a bond of blood was hard to break. "While I understand your concern, Brooks, I do believe this is a decision left to her." She retorted somewhat icily, "Now can you tell us where she is or not?"

"Catering." He replied after a minute, "Probably has the coffee on an IV drip by now." Not bothering to stick around any longer before he said something else that would really land him in hot water, the world champion stalked off. As far as he was concerned the entire thing was bullshit. Something should have been decided weeks a go on what to do, instead for two months he had to watch as Imogen all but ran herself into the ground doing everything that was asked of her. A lot of the excess booking had been made by Shane himself, the fact alone made him even angrier on Imogen's behalf. If they really wanted things to calm down they'd at least limit the booking power the bastard had...

Catering was quiet, all things considered, and it wasn't hard to spot the beautiful brunette among the few people that were there. She had commandeered a table at the far back of the room, head resting on her crossed arms over the tabletop and a Styrofoam cup wafting a lazy trail of steam sat beside her. As the couple got closer it became apparent that she wasn't simply resting her head, she had actually fallen asleep. "Just give me five minutes." Came the muffled reply when Stephanie reached down and gently shook her arm.

"Wake up, Imogen."

At the sound of Paul's voice she jerked awake with a start, knocking over the coffee in the process, hissing through clenched teeth as it came in contact with her skin. "Dammit!" Paul retrieved some napkins and handed them to her. Throwing some on the table to soak up the spilled brew she used the rest to wipe off what had spilled on her. "Not to sound rude, But what are you doing here?"

"I have a proposal for you." Steph answered, "How would you like to have a run for the title?"

"What?" It was hard to focus, Imogen must have been dozing for a good fifteen minutes at least; she felt so tired lately that all she wanted to do was curl up in a nice comfy bed and sleep for a week. She couldn't have possibly have heard the McMahon heiress right.

"I want you give you a run for the title." Stephanie repeated. "We've been playing with the idea of turning Natalya face and need a strong heel to pull it off. Since you two know each other so well, have great chemistry in the ring and you get a great heated reaction from the crowd I thought you'd be perfect."

Imogen closed her eyes and for a minute Paul though that she might have nodded off again, "I sense a catch somewhere..."

"You're right." Paul jumped in, looking over at his wife as if to say let me handle this one, "You've been working your ass off lately and I appreciate that, especially since you haven't complained once about it, but we know you can't keep this pace up forever."

"I don't have to keep it up forever." Imogen said, a lazy smile slowly working it's way to the surface, "Just until Stu gets back."

"That's not going to be for a few more months and you now that." Levesque pointed out the obvious truth, "Look at you, you're all but falling asleep right now."

"Then stop letting that fucking asshole book me at every god damn thing he can!" Anger to easily provoked at the drop of a coin lashed out, despite her effort to try and stop it. As fast as it reared it's head her tone calmed, "The televised shows I can handle, hell even half the house shows along with it is fine. Just... I don't know." Her eyes opened and Paul could plainly see just how far the fatigue was catching up with her. "Can we just get on with what the catch is, please?"

"You're going to have to make a choice, Stay on Raw and continue the double duty, or move to Smackdown on a permanent basis."

"... And end up back to barely seeing Stu at all." She added somewhat glumly. "Great choices."

"No one said this was going to be easy..."

"I know." She sighed, a part of her knew this was coming eventually. In a way it was a relief. "Can I have some time to think about it at least?"

Stephanie nodded. "I can give you a week, we need to get the next title contention up and running soon. Also I'm going to talk to Teddy, see if we can get you the night off from competing at least." Seeing just how run down their newest Diva was getting first hand, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt that her own brother was a big cause of it. As they left to find Teddy Long Stephanie too one quick look back before they left catering, Imogen had once again dozed off at the back of the room.

OK, I think I'm making up for a little lost time here. Hopefully I can start bringing everything to a head in the next chapter or two, so look out for the drama to kick into gear soon!

Peace.