Disclaimer: This story is entirely fictional. I only have created and can take credit for the original characters. The WWE Superstars are merely based on their TV personas and some of my own fictional embellishment! ENJOY!

Fanning The Flames

Chapter 37

Raven

We arrived at the arena for Smackdown without incident. The boys still seemed on edge after the situation at the tv station but slowly they seemed to relax. We muddled our way through the halls until we found our secluded locker room. With no fuss, we all began to get ready for the show. My hands shook a little with nervousness, my meeting with Stephanie was drawing nearer. I was only waiting now for somebody to text me. It was only a matter of time now before I discovered our fate with the Authority. I sighed.

"Relax, Ray," Roman said with a smile. He placed an arm around my shoulders, giving it a comforting squeeze.

"I'm fine."

"No, you aren't. You are wearing your nerves all across your face today," he pointed out.

"Guess I'm not as crafty as I thought I was."

"You're allowed to have feelings. You don't need to stay stone faced for our benefit. We are your team after all."

"Fair enough. I just don't want yesterday's mishap to cost us our partnership with the Authority. If we end up parting with them, I want it to be on our terms on theirs, not like this," I said quietly.

"We will cross that bridge when we get to it. What we need from you is for you to go into that office today and be the spitfire we all know and love. We need our ball-buster!" he teased with a grin.

"Consider it done!"

"Good." My phone vibrated. "Is it time?" I nodded.

"Wish me luck!"

"You don't need it," he assured me.

"I really, really hope you are right," I mumbled as I headed out the door.

Before I knew it, I found myself standing in front of the Authority's office. This was it, the moment of truth. I took a deep, cleansing breath and thought positive thoughts. Hoping for a positive outcome. I knocked.

"Come in!" Stephanie bellowed. I walked in to see not one but two people. Stephanie was sitting on the couch, next to her a man sat in a chair. "Hi Raven. Why don't you take a seat?"

"Absolutely. So who's your friend here?"

"This is Frank...he actually works in our Human Resources department." My stomach dropped, I hadn't been expecting this. Human Resources was serious business.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you, Frank."

"Likewise, Ms. Stone."

"So, we are all here to talk about what happened last night..."

"You mean when you forced me to accompany Randy and then he made unwanted sexual advances towards me?"

"Well, surely we had no idea that that would happen. I want to apologize to you for that. Hunter and I didn't handle that the way we should have and we truly are sorry. I hope that accept our apology..."

"I don't understand... why is he here?" I said quietly.

"Frank works with HR so he needs to be here...in case you wanted to report last nights incident...but if you refrain, you will be compensated..."

"So bribery to keep my mouth shut?"

"Let's not think of it that way. It's merely a reward for being such a loyal and hard-working employee!"

"How exactly do you plan to 'reward' me?" I asked with air quotes around the word reward.

"If you don't file the report, you'll receive a generous bonus and a Divas title shot at the next pay-per-view. Plus our agreement between the Authority and the Shield stays perfectly intact. No repercussions at all for the guys," she said confidently.

"And if I decide to file the report?"

"Then our agreement is in jeopardy. You'll stop reaping the rewards of being associated with us. You wont get a title shot anytime soon and your pals will all lose their titles as punishment, I'll make sure of it. Plus, I would be forced to suspend Ambrose for laying his hands on Orton last night. The choice is up to you."

"Jesus...this wasn't what I was expecting...How is this legal, Frank?"

"Well it's not, Ms. Stone. It's not entirely ethical either but i'm willing to look the other way if you agree to Ms. McMahon's terms," he answered politely. I was in disbelief.

"What's it going to be, Raven? I'd hate to see a great partnership fall apart because of one teenie, tiny incident," she said trivializing the whole event. I sighed. I knew this wasn't right. My inner feminist was screaming at me to take a stand and file the report. On the other hand, I couldn't cost the boys their titles. I couldn't be the reason that Dean gets suspended for who knows how long... I knew what I had to do. I had to take the morally corrupt option...

"I wont file a report on Randy."

"Fantastic. I knew you were a bright woman. Hunter and I look forward to continue working with you and the rest of the Shield."

"Thanks."

"Lets be clear here, Raven. You agreeing to this, you can't file anything about Randy today or any other day, any other incident. Do you understand me?" she asked with a sly smile.

"Yes, I do. Bye, Stephanie, Frank," I mumbled before walking out the door.

I didn't even make it halfway down the hall before I ran into Randy.

"Raven!"

"Leave me alone, Randy."

"Raven, I just wanted to apologize..."

"Your buddies already did that for you. So no need!" I spat.

"They don't speak for me. They didn't even put me up to talk to you. I just genuinely want to say I'm sorry for how I behaved. I was a real asshole. I shouldn't have disrespected you like that."

"I appreciate it but it's a little late for that. There is gossip all over the internet now concerning us. So much for not wanting to drag me into the dirt sheets!"

"I'll fix it! I promise!"

"I'll believe it when I see it," I said softly. "Now just leave me alone. I have work to do!"

I marched away to put some distance between us. My eyes swelled up with tears. I willed them not to fall as I neared the Shield locker room. Once I regained my composure, I slowly opened the door. Three very serious faces looked in my direction.

"How bad is it?" Seth asked. I just looked at them all in silence. " God damnit! It's bad isn't it? Fucking A, Dean!"

"Seth, cool it!" I said sternly. He sighed. "There were no repercussions. We're home free!"

"Really?!" He asked hastily. I laughed.

"Really. We are uh...going to pretend this never happened. Water under the bridge!" I insisted. I didn't want to tell them what really happened, we had a show to do.

The show itself went fairly typical. I accompanied the boys to their matches, which they won. I attacked AJ, again, on Stephanie's orders. We stood guard for Stephanie's in ring promo, as asked. All the normal activities. It was relief when we reached the hotel. Seth won the right to choose a roommate for the night and selected Roman, leaving me to room with Dean.

We split up into our separate rooms for the night. The silence in the room was eerie and made me feel a little unsettled. I had to break it some how.

"What a night, huh?" I asked with a chuckle.

"You can cut the shit with me, Stone. You should know better than that," he replied seriously.

"I'm fine, Dean." He remained unconvinced.

"Bullshit!" He spat as he began walking over to me. He put his hands on my shoulders.

"Excuse me?"

"You can drop the sunshine and rainbows shit with me. I know something is up. You've been acting weird ever since you got back from that meeting with Steph. The other guys might buy your fake smiles but I sure don't." I looked at him for a moment. Suddenly, I felt myself swell with emotions. All of the things that I'd try to stuff down wanted to come pouring out.

"I...I...you're right. I wasn't completely honest with you all about the meeting," I admitted.

"I knew it..." he declared before the actual meaning of my words registered. His eyes darted back to mine quickly. "How bad is it? You can be straight with me."

"What I said was true... the Shield is getting out of this situation scott free. No repercussions whatsoever. That's all you need to know, that's all that is important," I insisted.

"That isn't all that is important. You don't need to take it all onto your shoulders, Stone. It's a heavy load to carry on your own. Let me carry it too. We can keep it between us. You're on a team so you don't have to weather the storm alone. So don't. Let me in."

"Okay...promise this is just between us?"

"I promise. Scouts honor!" He said softly. We both smiled in amusement. Despite this, I could see in his light eyes that he was sincere.

"In order to keep things good between the Shield and the Authority...I had to waive my right to file an HR sexual harassment claim against Randy now or basically ever."

"What?! How can they- why?- Jesus Christ! No wonder you didn't want to tell anybody!" He said a little worked up.

"Yeah, it totally sucks. He gets to basically act however he wants towards me and I can't do anything about it. So that's why they offered me goodies to somehow make this okay!"

"What did they offer you?"

"A title shot and a check...plus the partnership continues. I wasn't going to take it..."

"Did she threaten you?" he asked, fists clenched.

"Not directly. If I didn't do what they wanted, they were likely going to disintegrate our deal with them. She was going to take all of your titles and then suspend you for the altercation with Randy in their office. As soon as I heard that, I knew what I needed to do."

"You really didn't have to do this for us...we could have handled it. None of us would have held it against you."

"I know but I wanted to do this for you guys. You've all come so far and worked so hard over the past year to get here, I wasn't going to make you guys throw it all away just because Randy crossed a line. Did it suck? Yes. But I'd still do it again if it means you guys get to keep everything you've earned." A sly smile crossed his lips. He pulled me in for a quick hug.

"We don't deserve you, Stone," Dean said with a chuckle.

"You guys have already had my back so many times, I figured I still owe you a few..."

"Fair enough. But really, who's keeping score anymore?"

"I sure as hell wont."

"Me neither...well, we better get to bed. We've got an early morning."

"You're probably right. Goodnight, Dean."

"Night."

I climbed into bed and closed my tired eyes. Within minutes, I was out like a light.

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!