A/N: Just watched Payback, Sweet Caroline the Shield boys stole the show...AGAIN! As if there was ever any doubt!
"Hey, have either of you seen Colby?" Peyton sat in the lounge at the airport terminal waiting for Joe and Jon's flights to leave. Both men shook their heads confirming neither had seen him. "That's strange. He always at least checks in with one of us." Peyton scrolled through her phone again, making sure she hadn't missed any texts or calls.
"I'm sure he's fine. Just over slept or something." Joe tried reassuring Peyton.
"I guess." She dialed his number again, frowning when it went straight to voicemail.
Joe glanced at his watch, "Well, it's my time." He moved to grab his carryon when Jon's phone rang, drawing the attention of all three.
"Yo?" Jon answered his phone, mouthing "Colby" to the other two. "Where the fuck are….oh…uh-huh." A grin crossed Jon's features as he chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, I'm vaguely familiar…ok…yeah, no problem. Later." Jon shook his head, laughing as he hung up his phone, "Well, good news, I found Colby and he's alive. Bad news, he may never be the same again."
Peyton's phone buzzed, "It's just a text. Aksana." She explained, looking at Jon motioning for him to continue with his explanation as she swiped her phone to read the text.
"Yeah, you're probably not gonna want to read that." He paused, noticing the look on her face turn from confusion to shock, "Too late."
"Oh God! Is that…Oh my God it is. That's…" she trailed off unable to finish her sentence, tossing her phone at Jon, "Make it go away. Please, just make it go away."
Jon laughed, and turned her phone to Joe, watching as he threw his hands in front of his eyes, "What the fuck, man!"
"As I was trying to explain, seems a certain Lithuanian co-worker of ours got Colby drunk last night and the two had quite the time. Believe me, she's deceptively strong. Apparently she took pictures to commemorate the blessed event. But uh, long story short, Colby's not going to be making his flight…he may be enjoying his time being her personal sex slave a little too much, but he'll meet us at the house show day after tomorrow."
Peyton shook her head, grabbing her phone from Jon, swiping across and holding it to her ear. "Bitch! Did you seriously just send me a picture of Colby? Naked? I…I may never sleep again! Do you know how much therapy this is going to take? I…I can't unsee that shit! That's like seeing my brother naked…if I had one. I hate you so much right now. So. Fucking. Much. What? I mean…I guess I'm kind of impres…" Peyton looked over at Jon, her face red, "I mean, I DIDN'T LOOK THAT LONG! Ok, no, that does NOT make it…ok…Yeah yeah, I'll see you at the arena. Later hooker."
"Seriously, she has got to be out of her damn mind!" Peyton ran a hand through her hair, shoving her phone in her back pocket. "She said since she's seen you," she tapped Jon's chest, "in all your naked glory that it was only fair that I see Colby in his. That way we're even. Is there a lot of lead in the water in Lithuania? Do they feed their babies paint chips or something? How close is it to Chernobyl?"
"You're cute when you're all flustered."
"Flustered? Fuck that! I'm scarred for life."
Joe patted Jon on the shoulder, "Yeah, you have fun with that. My flight's boarding. Later guys." He adjusted his headphones, and nodded to Peyton and Jon as he headed toward his gate.
"And then there were two."
"Three. The image of Colby's…." Peyton shivered, "nether regions is forever burned in to my retina, Jon. It'll haunt me forever."
"Let it go, babe. Just…let it go." He slung an arm over her shoulder, pulling her out of the lounge and toward his gate. "You headed back to Mississippi?" Jon tried to change the subject.
"Yeah…wait. What? Oh, no, flying out to Philly. Gonna meet up with Scotty and Jimmy and reminisce. This is you." Peyton stopped in front of the gate for the flight heading to Las Vegas.
"Yep." Glancing around the area, he gave Peyton a quick hug then shoved both hands in his pockets. "So, I'll text you when I land."
Peyton nodded, her own hands buried in her pockets, mimicking him. "Sounds good. So, uh…yeah…safe travels?" Uncertain what to say the ending came out as more of a question than a statement.
"This is fucking awkward. I kinda really just wanna kiss you bye since we won't see each other until day after tomorrow but," he quickly pointed out two different fans who had their phones aimed on them, no doubt taking pictures or video, "I don't want that plastered all over instatwitterbook before we even board our flights."
Peyton stood, Jon could see the wheels turning in her head, before he knew it she grabbed his face, and planted a loud smacking kiss right on his lips, then declaring loud enough for anyone around to hear, "Later, Ambrose! That's the last time a Bella Twin will bet me I won't do something." Winking over her shoulder at him she headed toward her gate to wait for her flight.
"So, Angelface," Jim Fullington, ECW's Sandman, leaned across the table, stubbing his cigarette out. "Who's tapping that ass now? Randy back on that?"
"Uh, no. He's moved on to greener pastures, thank the wrestling gods."
"You're welcome for whatever you were just thanking me for." Scott Levy, Raven to the masses, sat back down in his chair having returned from the bathroom.
Peyton rolled her eyes at the men, taking a drink of her beer. "What makes either of you think I'm screwing anyone? Not everyone is all about getting off like you two man whores are. Besides, I've got too much going on right now to worry…"
Scotty cut her off, "She's definitely hiding something." He spoke directly to Jimmy, ignoring Peyton. She hated when they did this. Talked over her or through her instead of to her. They knew she hated it and did it on purpose, to get a rise out of her. Annoying her and picking at her like two oversized big brothers.
"Definitely hiding something. Who's the kid with the All American gimmick?" Jim questioned, looking at Scotty.
"Swagger. It's not him. He's not her type. The Brit, the Nexus kid…Barrett."
"Nexus? Seriously? That's like three gimmicks ago." Peyton tried to interject.
Jimmy nodded, "Wade…yeah." They both glanced at Peyton who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest when they continued talking over her, "Nope, not him either."
Scotty snapped his fingers, "One of Rikishi's boys!" He immediately shook his head, "Nah, we'd have already heard about that."
Jimmy slammed his beer bottle down on the table, "One of those Shield boys."
They turned, noticing Peyton grin slightly, trying to hide her smirk behind her bottle as she took another drink. "Yep, now which one." Jimmy drummed his fingers along the table.
Scotty leaned back in his seat and grinned, "The big one is too pretty for her liking."
Jimmy interjected, waving his beer bottle, "She screwed Orton…more than once…I think she's okay with pretty."
Scotty nodded, "Good point, but it's not that one. I remember that Rollins kid and I know it's not him." His eyes shifted briefly over to Peyton. He was glad she'd reunited with Colby after how the kid had helped her a few years back. Scott knew she had a good friend in Colby and trusted him to make sure she was taken care of. When she made her return to WWE, Scott had reached out to a few contacts and gotten in touch with Colby and asked him to keep an eye on her. "It's Ambrose, definitely Ambrose."
"Hey! Would you look at that! Our girl's blushing!"
"Fuck you both. I am not blushing." Peyton finished off her beer, grabbing a cigarette from Jimmy's pack and lighting it.
"All three of those boys are going to be big. But that Ambrose, he's going to be huge. Especially if people keep comparing him to yours truly."
Peyton groaned, "Ugh, would you stop. But yeah, as bad as I hate to admit it…if you and Brian Pillman and Piper had a love child, it'd totally be Jon."
"Ya know, Scotty, I think we need to check this kid out. I mean, if he's going to be hanging out with our sweet and impressionable Peyton here, we should make sure his intentions are nothing but pure." Jimmy nodded his blonde head at Scotty, eyes shifting to the table. Before Peyton could register what was going on, Scotty had swiped her phone from the table and tossed it to Jimmy who was already scrolling through her contacts. "Fuckin' hell man, she has everyone in here under code names. Birdman, well I think we all know who that is." He kept scrolling, blue eyes lighting up when her phone started ringing, Jon's face appearing on the screen. "Found him. Dimples, how cute."
Peyton watched in horror as Jimmy answered her phone, "Well hello, Dimples. Oh, that's cute" He held the phone away from his mouth and turned to Scotty, "He wants to know who the fuck is answering his girls phone." Moving the phone back to his mouth, "Well, Dimples, since you asked so nicely, this is the fucking Sandman. I think me and Scotty, Raven, will do the talking here. We're not sure we like you courting our sweet Peyt…yes, I said courting." He looked at Peyton, "Why is he laughing? Nevermind, yes, fucking courting our sweet Peyt…he's laughing again..."
Scott grabbed the phone from Jimmy, "It's Scott, we're trusting you with our girl here. What makes you think you deserve to be with her?...Good answer." He tossed the phone back to Jimmy, "I like him. He gets my stamp of approval."
Jimmy nodded, talking back in to the phone again, "So, Dimples, what are you wearing?"
"Oh God!" Peyton lunged, grabbing the phone from Jimmy. "I am so sorry. Jimmy's drunk and Scotty's….well he's Scotty. They're a little protective. And psychotic. And possibly delusional."
"They're just looking out for you." Jon laughed on the other end of the phone. "Glad to hear I got Raven's seal of approval though."
"Yeah, how'd you answer that question? He never approves of anyone."
"I told him the truth."
"Ok, that's simple enough I guess." She leaned back in her chair, ignoring the two men chatting around her.
"So, you've been talking about me?" There was amusement in his voice.
"Not voluntarily. They tried figuring out who I was sleeping with. Jon, they guessed Jack Swagger…Jack fucking Swagger." Jon was laughing into the phone now, envisioning the expression on Peyton's face. "And Wade. And the twin's. Then the Shield got brought up and bam! Scotty was all it's Ambrose, definitely Ambrose. But, anyway, what's up? It's like 3 in the morning there…everything ok?"
"Yeah, everything's fine. Just can't sleep. I figured you'd be up, thought I'd call and see. I'll let you go though so you can visit."
"It's fine. We're winding down anyway. You have to come to Philly with me sometime and meet these two asshats." She watched as Scotty put Jimmy in a modified choke hold, rubbing his nose in his armpit, "Ya know, on second thought, maybe not. Hang on a second. Hey, hey…guys! I'm out. I'll see y'all later." Peyton gave each man a quick hug, kissing them both on the cheek. "Alright, I'm back."
Jon could hear the wind blowing through her phone, "You're not walking to your place alone are you?"
"Yes, Jon. I know this place like the back of my hand. The bar is two blocks from the apartment, in fact, I can see my apartment building from here." Jon could hear her keys jingling after a minute. "See, I'm inside the building now and walking up to my floor. Ugh, when did these stairs get so steep? Fuckin hell I need to work on my cardio."
Jon laughed on the other end, "Your cardio is fine. You're just exhausted and need some sleep."
"Yeah, well, that's kind of the pot calling the kettle black, Captain Insomnia." Jon listened as Peyton opened the door to her apartment and tossed her keys on to something, a table or bar he assumed. "So, everything all good in Sin City?"
"Vegas is Vegas. Still here and going strong." Jon heard Peyton curse under her breath and a muffled thud, "What the fuck was that?"
"Stubbed my toe. I'm changing clothes. Forgot my dresser was so close to the bed. Fuck that hurt. Alright, I'm done." Peyton pulled the covers back on her bed and snuggled down under them.
"Did you lock the door?"
"Yes, Jon."
"Windows all closed and locked?"
"Yes, Jon."
"You forget, I lived in that city too…I know how dangerous it can be."
"Oh yeah, I did forget, but you forget, these people love me here. And, my apartment is in a pretty good building. I got two cops living on this floor and an EMT in the apartment beneath me and a bouncer for a local bar across the hall."
"Well, that all makes me feel better."
"It should. Nevermind that the bouncer is a chick bouncer at a LGBT bar and that the EMT is a 5'2" former beauty queen from South Dakota. And, that the cops are never home because they both work graveyard shift. Anyway, how's your eye?"
Jon rubbed at the cut under his eye, noting her attempt to change the subject, "It's fine. You have fun tonight?"
"Yep." Peyton heard him yawn into the phone. "Stop or you're going to make me yawn too." He yawned again, laughing, "Sorry."
"Jon?" Peyton mumbled into the phone, trying to fight off sleep.
"Hmm?" Jon hummed into the phone, not realizing just how tired he was. He waited a few seconds, hearing nothing, "Peyton?" Confident that she had fallen asleep he ended the call and sat his phone down, turning on his tv until he fell asleep.
Peyton stood in the parking lot looking at the building where she'd built her career, smiling when the familiar face of Lou, an elderly security guard whom most that were familiar with the area considered more of a historic monument than the actual building, walked up. "Ms. Peyton, what brings you back to this old shithole?"
Wrapping her arms around the larger mans waist in a warm hug, "I came to see you." She joked, placing a kiss on his cheek.
"It's falling apart in there, out here too." He kicked at a chunk of cement that had fallen away from the outside wall. "But, I suppose you already knew that." His smile wide, friendly, knowing why she was there. "You know I can't let you go up there. They'll have my ass if I do and Lord help us all if you get hurt what with that new job you've got. They don't pay me enough to keep those high priced lawyers away."
Peyton nodded, green eyes shifting to the fire escape that led up to the roof. "I can't have you getting in trouble for me. But," she glanced at her watch and winked, "I hate to keep you from your job. Shouldn't you be making your rounds about now? Making sure there's no one trying to sneak in or anything." The two always had some variation of the same conversation every time she was in town.
"Yes ma'am. I suppose I should be getting to those rounds. Make sure there's no hellions out and about. It was good to see you, Ms Peyton." He nodded his bald head in her direction and headed in the opposite direction of the fire escape, shaking his head and chuckling when he heard her hop off the hood of her car and take off across the parking lot.
Peyton jogged across the parking lot and up the steps of the fire escape, climbing the metal ladder to the roof and hopping over the ledge to sit on the concrete perch.
"You know you can't sit up here all day." Peyton smiled over her shoulder at Scotty who was walking across the rooftop in her direction. "Figured you'd end up here at some point."
"I was just thinking about my first night here. You wanted no part of being paired with me. God, you were such a prick." She half-joked, nudging him with her elbow.
"You were so green. The last thing I wanted was to be stuck with some little girl who couldn't wrestle her way out of a paper sack. But I knew the second you smacked Dreamer with that kendo stick you'd be in it for the long haul."
"Bull shit. You hated me for at least the first 3 months I was here." Peyton laughed.
"In all fairness, I hate everyone. But," Scotty wrapped an arm around her, pulling her head down and rubbing his knuckles over her scalp, "you've grown on me…like genital warts."
Peyton pushed away, laughing harder, "Which, I'm sure, you're very familiar with."
The duo sat on the ledge, side by side, a familiar and comfortable silence between them. After a few minutes Scotty spoke, "You've come a long way. You got exposed to a lot at a young age, but you came through it. I'm proud of ya, Angelface."
Peyton smiled softly, silently relishing her mentor's praise, "Well, I had a good teacher."
"Damn straight you did." Scotty slid off the edge and onto the top of the fire escape, the metal clanging beneath him, "Let's get the fuck out of here before this place falls apart."
Hopping off the ledge, Peyton followed Scotty down the metal ladder. "Hey," She hopped off the bottom rung on to the concrete of the parking lot, following Scotty to her car, seeing his own parked a few spaces away, not sure how she missed it originally, "what'd Jon say to you last night?"
"The truth." He stated simply, walking to his own car, opening the door.
"Yeah, that's what he said…but, what's the truth?" Peyton raised her voice slightly, speaking across the parking area, her own car door open now, one foot propped inside.
Scotty sat down in his car and closed the door, starting the engine. Rolling down the window, he called over to her, "He said he didn't. I asked what made him think he deserved you and he just said he didn't."
Peyton nodded, grinning and eased her body down into the seat of her car, starting the engine, "Later, Birdman." She blew a kiss out her window.
"Quit embarrassing me in the ring. You're representing my legacy out there." He rolled up his window and pulled out of the parking lot, leaving Peyton laughing and shaking her head, holding her middle finger out of her window.
A/N Part 2: This was kind of a filler chapter, but I wanted to write it. Thanks for anyone who's still with me on this. I know, no Randy and Josie in this part, they'll be back next chapter, I'm sure. Thanks again for all of the reviews, follows, and favorites.