Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the WWE or its superstars. The only thing I own is my original character. This is a complete work of fiction.

Fanning the Flames

Chapter 21

Money In the Bank

Dean

As I laced my boots, Raven strode confidently through the locker room door's threshold. As usual, she was procrastinating on getting dressed. Luckily for her, she didn't actually get booked for a match. She was still donned in her spandex workout pants and a revealing tank top. She carried two bags. One I recognized as her gear bag, the other was a small little mystery. I eyed her carefully with curiosity.

"Hey Stone! You know we are only here for the show tonight, not moving in right?" I called out. She stopped and looked at me. Her right hand found its place on her hip as it jetted out from her body.

"No shit, Ambrose!" she snapped. "Besides, when did my belongings ever concern you?" I tried to hold back a grin. She was already heated today.

"Jeeze, so secretive all of a sudden! What's in the bag? Your good friends Buzz and Woody?" I asked suggestively. Her jaw dropped in shock at the accusation of vibrators. But, knowing how much enjoyment I got out of the shock value, she quickly tried to conceal it.

"Oh, yeah absolutely! I decided to bring them so you could see what a satisfied woman looks like." Roman and Seth both looked over at us with amused expressions on their faces.

"Oh, I've seen plenty of satisfied women in my bed, Sweetheart…and never did I need batteries to do it."

"Sex dolls don't need batteries, dumb ass."

"Sex dolls? The ladies love them some Dean," I cooed.

"Oh my god, you two!" Seth said interrupting us. "I swear you two have to verbally spare daily!"

"We do not!" Raven said chuckling as she pulled her gear out of the bag.

"Do to!" Roman chimed in.

I just shook my head.

"So, Stone…what's really in the bag?" I asked nosily.

"If you must know, it's something I wanted to try out tonight," she said as she slipped on her top over her smooth, tan skin.

"So it was buzz and woody!?" I exclaimed. She glared. "Kidding! What did you want to try?"

"Are you sure you want to try something different the night of a pay-per-view?" Seth asked a little nervously. He and Roman both like schedules and routine, this last minute stuff wasn't their style. Raven reached into the bag and pulled out a series of small walkie talkies.

"I want you guys to trust me on this," she said handing us all one and keeping one for herself.

"Alright. What are you thinking, Raven?" Roman asked a bit interested in her idea. It wasn't his style but he really seemed to try meeting her halfway.

"Well, our group image needs a facelift, to be honest…."

"A facelift?" he said with a chuckle.

"Yes. As a unit we are seen as a strong force. The general consensus is that the WWE Universe doesn't believe in your abilities as individuals. They think we rely on our numbers too much. So…walkie talkies are going to come into play. We don't all have to be ring side all the time for each other's matches. For example: tonight during Dean's Money in The Bank Ladder match. I'm going down ringside…alone. Seth and Roman, you can be waiting backstage just in case. If Dean looks like he's in trouble, I'll call for you on the walkie….What do you think?" she asked crinkling her nose. Roman, Seth, and I exchanged glances.

"I don't know, Rave…." Seth mumbled all non-committal. Her smile fell a little bit.

"You know what? Let's try it," I said loudly.

"Really?" She asked with a squeal.

"Yeah…I mean, we all know we are good enough to win on our own, we just didn't have to."

"Alright, we'll try it then," Roman said decisively.

Raven

After our strategy session, I still had some time before I had to be ready for Rollins and Reign's tag match. I wandered down the corridor towards catering. I hadn't eaten in quite awhile and there was no way I could get through such a long pay-per-view without it. I made my way through the food line and as I turned to find a table, I spotted Daniel Bryan and Brie Bella. Daniel saw me and waved me over to them. I took a seat across from the two of them.

"Hey guys!" I greeted

"Hey Rave!"

"Hi, Raven! So nice to see you!" Brie said a little too cheerily. Despite my close relationship with Daniel, Brie and I just weren't that close. I mean, we were friendly, but we never hung out with out him present.

"I know! It's nice to get a chance to chat with you two! Things have been so crazy, it's just been too long!"

"Well you have had a chaotic life over the past few weeks. It seems like the Shield is giving you quite a challenge," she remarked.

"Oh absolutely! The three of them are quite a handful. I mean, I thought Daniel and Kane were bad!" I teased. Daniel chuckled heartily. "With them it was the arguing. With the Shield, it's their intensity. Lots of strong personalities going on in that group!"

"I bet!"

"I hate to admit it but they really are quite the team…" Daniel said scratching the back of his head.

"Speaking of teams, why the fuck are you and Kane not teaming up anymore?" I asked a little angrily. "You guys were such a great team. You balanced each other out perfectly!"

"I know you thought so, Rave. I know you believed in us so much as a unit…but it just wasn't working out."

"What do you mean?! Did you even try?!"

"Yes! Of course we tried. You saw us try! But let's be honest, Raven, we all knew that you were the glue that held us together. You and those titles. Once you were gone and we were title less, the rest just fell away. We don't get along and we suck at communicating. Without you refereeing the fights and being the buffer, it was awful," he said with a shrug. "Are you still mad?" I sat silent for a moment, just processing the words that he'd spoken.

"No, I'm not mad, Daniel," I said reaching out and giving his hand a squeeze. "Just a little disappointed. I mean I can see why it wasn't going to work, why it wasn't working….I just….I guess it just makes me sad."

"Why are you sad?" Brie asked nosily.

"I know I wasn't their manager anymore. But it still makes me sad because without Team Hell No tagging together, it truly feels like the end of an era. For some reason, even though I wasn't with them, it still felt like old times when I could see them teaming up on Raw."

"Awww Rave! It bums me out too. But we still are friends and train together. Not that much has to change," he said warmly. I smiled.

"I know, I know. I mean, I've moved on, it's good that you are too. I see the WWE Championship in your future!"

"I hope you're right."

"I know I am."

"Speaking of moving on, your buddies are here," Brie sing-songed. I looked to see Seth and Roman standing across the room. '

"Well, I've got a team to manage…" I said with a laugh. "I'll see you two later."

I approached my teammates. Seth smiled and threw a friendly arm around me as we moseyed over to make our entrance. I had to admit, I was beginning to feel like I was exactly where I belonged….

The tag match went fantastically. We tried out our walkies and it was pretty effective. Seth and Roman were able to pick up a solid victory over the Uso's without any outside interference. Next on The Shield's agenda: Dean's Money in the Bank Ladder match. The odds were stacked against him on this one. Dean had six opponents. With two tag teams involved. Those teams were likely to work together here but Dean didn't have this advantage.

"You ready, Ray-ven?" Dean asked.

"Absolutely. Are you?"

"Of course I am. Don't you worry your pretty little head about that!" he replied cockily. I shook my head and turned my attention to the other two Shield members.

"Okay, so walkies set on channel four. Be on stand by, be ready. I'll call the second I feel like things are out of control. Alright?"

"Sounds great, Rave." Seth said with a nod.

"Good luck out there, Dean," Roman said extending his hand out to him for a handshake. "And, Raven, be careful out there. These matches get pretty crazy."

"We will be fine!" I assured them as I followed Dean out of the door and into the hall.

We entered the arena through the crowd of screaming fans. Deans pace was slower than usual, allowing me to keep up with him. I had the feeling that this was intentional on his part. Without the other guys there, I was left rather unprotected. The thought of this made all three guys uneasy. It was sweet but they obviously didn't realize that I was one tough chic.

We fairly easily cleared the barricade and entered the ring. Most of his opponents were already there waiting along with Summer Rae and Zeb who were also there to cheer on their clients. I eyed up the competition a bit anxiously. It truely was a promising crop of new susperstars and Ambrose sure had his work cut out for him and he knew it too. Now Dean Ambrose was a very arrogant and cocky man, almost annoyingly so at times, but as I looked in his eyes tonight I saw something I had never seen in his eyes before: uncertainty. It was oddly human of him. Although it was nice to see, the context made me worry. I stepped close to him and grabbed onto his vest with my hands. I looked at him intently.

"You've got this, Dean," I said sternly. " I'll be right behind you every step of the way! Now make this match your bitch!" A slight grin crossed his lips and I once again saw the usual confedence he normally possessed.

"You got it, Stone."

I climbed out of thed ring and the match began.

I paced outside of the ring just watching the action. Thankfully, Dean was holding his own. Fifteen minutes into the match, all seven men were wiped. Dean was laid out in the ring, pulling himself across the mat and towards the ladder postioned in the middle of the ring. I saw Summer Rae desperately trying to lift Fandango up to stop the Shield member from successfully uptaining the briefcase. I ran around the ring and clotheslined the pint sized blonde to the floor. I smiled and looked up to see a shocked Zeb. I climbed up onto the apron and ducked into the ring.

"Don't you dare, young lady!" I heard Zeb warn. I turned to see him on the apron.

"You watch yourself, you geezer. Mind your own business!" I hissed.

"I can't allow you to-" he was cut off by my boot landing on his midsection, sending him flying off the apron and onto his two clients, Cesaro and Swagger. I chuckled and turned back around to see Dean falling from the ladder.

"Dean!" I yelled as I hurried over to him. I knelt down beside him. "I'm calling for Rollins and Reigns!"

"Do it," he mumbed. I pushed the button on the walkie talkie.

"Boys?! Boys!" I called out, nervously waiting for a response.

"Holy shit!" Dean marveled. I turned to see Cody performing a cross-rhodes on Wade off the top of the ladder. They both laid limp on the mat. I set the talkie down and rose to my feet. I heard Dean yell into it. "Guys! Now! She's going to get herself hurt!"

I approached the ladder and looked all around me to see if anybody was coming. Nobody was. I smiled and placed my manicured hands on the cold metal and began to climb. I was glad I'd opted for my wrestling boots over the heeled boots about now. I reached the top of the ladder and reached my hands up. I could feel the blue briefcase graze my finger tips. Suddenly I wave of momentum hit and I felt myself wobble. Soon I was free falling. I closed my eyes but amazingly enough, I didn't hit the ground. I force broke my fall...actually I was caught.

"Whoa!" I heard a deep voice marvel. I opened my eyes immediately.

"Roman!" I whispered so relieved. He'd managed to catch me in his arms, a bit of a rough landing. I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a squeeze. "Holy shit...that was close. I was so scared for a minute," I said breathlessly. He chuckled quietly and squeezed me tightly.

"I thought you were going to be careful!" he said softly. "You gave us quite a scare there." I smiled and laid my head on his shoulder as my adrenaline spike declined a bit. Roman set me down. The bell rang.

Dean was sitting on the mat, head in his hands. Seth was right along side him. Evidently his help arrived a little late, as Roman's arrived just in time. This left Damien Sandow standing on top of the ladder in triumph.

"Shit!" I growled.

"It'll be okay," the Samoan assured me. I wasn't convinced.

Dean and Seth rolled out of the ring and we headed back through the crowd.

Once backstage, I hurried my pace to catch up with Dean.

"You really did a fantastic job out there tonight. You may not of won but you looked like a million bucks!" I said cheerfully.

"I don't want to talk about it," he growled.

"Dean! Come on!" He stopped and turned around to face me.

"This is your fault, Ray-ven. You had to go with your dumb walkie talkie idea! Then you get yourself fucking involved in my match. If Roman hadn't needed to save your ass, he'd have been there for me in that ring! I'd have won a god damn title shot! You cost me my dream, my opportunity!" He spat angrily before walking away.

I looked at Roman and Seth.

"Guys..." I whispered helplessly. I felt as if i'd been put comforting arm around my shoulders.

"He's just upset he lost. He didn't mean what he said," he said offering up an explanation.

"Dean will be fine. Trust us," Roman added with a smile.

"I sure hope so. I was only trying to help." They nodded knowingly and we headed back to our locker room.

I just want to thank you for taking the time to check out this story. It's been getting a lot of views and it means so much to me that you guys seem to be liking it so far. I have been having so much fun writing it. I hope you all will keep on reading to see what Raven gets herself into and see more of the Shield's shenanigans! Feel free to leave me some more reviews and feedback!