Hello! How was everyone's weekend? Mine was filled with the task of having no power for almost 24 hours on Saturday... That was not a fun time lol But, I still managed to get a chapter out! Even though I almost lit myself on fire trying to light a candle with a piece of paper so I could write in the darkness... but I'm alive and it's still here! haha so I'd like to thank Tori Moxley, Wolfgirl2013, Coreys Kitten, Carol Reigns, Slytherin Studios, ChelleLew, wwemicky, LeaMarie F. Metallium, UntilNeverDawns, DeeMarie426, flowersNfreaks, The Simonette254, JM242014, ZebraNinjaCookies and AxelLover88 for commenting! I love you all, each and every single one of you! :)
Disclaimer: Still own nothing but Scarlett, only thing I'm ever going to own is Scarlett. I don't claim to own anything either, so you can't sue me.
Scarlett arrived at the Memphis International Airport in Tennessee at around 4 pm Monday afternoon for Raw later that night. Once she'd made sure she had all of her bags from the baggage claim she began making her way to the front doors, a sigh escaping her lips when she noticed not only the onslaught of paparazzi waiting for WWE superstars to pass through, but also from the sight of the down pouring rain outside as well.
Dodging behind a rather large plant she reached down to zip up the Shield sweater Dean had given her to her neck before she lifted the hood on top of her head to protect her perfectly done french braid. She'd spent nearly an hour braiding and rebraiding her wet hair before she left her home in Daytona just so she'd have wavy hair for Raw, and so maybe the hair stylist wouldn't have to use a lot of hairspray on her tonight if they liked her hair how it was.
Moving out from behind the plant again she kept her head down as she walked towards the doors, ignoring the paparazzi that shouted questions at her left and right. Once she'd made it outside it only took a couple of minutes to flag down a cab, an older man getting out of the driver's seat as he held his jacket up over his head to block the rain as he made his way over to her.
"Get in the car, I'll load your bags." He offered, a kind smile lighting up his face.
"Are you sure?" She questioned and he nodded his response. "Thank you then." She said, moving to get in the backseat of the taxi cab.
Once she was settled and had her seat belt buckled she sat her purse on her lap before opening it, digging through it to find her phone. Finding it, as usual buried beneath all the old receipts she kept but never looked at again and gum wrappers, she unlocked it before hauling up Roman, Dean, and Tori's names in one message, typing out 'Just landed in Tennessee, where are you?' on her digital keyboard before hitting 'Send'.
"Alright little lady," The cab driver said once he was behind the wheel again. He checked his blind spot before he began driving towards the airport exit. "Where you off to today?"
"The FedEx Forum please." She answered. She then noticed his eyes flash up to her in his rearview mirror before looking where he was going again.
"You can't be one of those wrastlers that are in town tonight." He said in his Tennessee accent. "You're much too pretty to be beating anybody up."
"Well thank you, but I am one of those wrestlers." She chuckled slightly, her attention shifting to her phone in her lap as it vibrated against her thigh. Pushing the button at the top of her phone, the tell-tale signs of butterflies erupted in her stomach when she saw Roman had responded first, and a smile lit up her face when she read his message.
'Just about at the arena, I'll wait by the back entrance for you. Don't be too long sweetheart :)'
"...knew I should've said yes when my Grandson asked me to go with him to this wrastling thing." The old man huffed and were the only words Scarlett had heard out of him. Nodding her head distractedly, she began typing her response but the old man's next words stilled her thumbs over her screen.
"I know that look, that's the look of a young lady in love." He'd stated and when Scarlett lifted her eyes to the rearview mirror, his had just lowered to the road again. "Thas' the look my little girl gave the man she ended up married to, and the way my wife used to look at me before the good Lord needed an angel in the sky. He a wrastler too? Or someone from home?"
"He's a wrestler too." Scarlett confirmed, hardly able to keep the smile from her face as she thought about him.
"Does he know?" He questioned and Scarlett shook her head. "Are you going to tell him?"
"It's a little... complicated." Scarlett responded just as her phone vibrated in her hand again, 'Ambrose' scrolling across the top of the screen as she glanced down at it. Disregarding her response to Roman momentarily to open Dean's message, she didn't know whether to smile or frown when she read it.
'Waiting for Renee to get here, her flights scheduled to land at 4:15.. Once I get to the arena a certain princess better be on the look out because there's a bear hug coming her way ;)'
"Love is complicated," The cab driver said, gaining Scarlett's attention once more. "But it is very worth it at the end of the day when you're with your special someone." And Scarlett felt the exact same way.
The rest of the drive Scarlett geared towards Donald's, the cab drivers name she'd learned as well as he preferred Don's, family. His wife had passed from breast cancer 10 years ago, but a couple of months later his grandson was born. Scarlett could tell by the look on his face as he spoke about the young boy that he had become his light in a room full of darkness.
"Thank you very much, I can take it from here." She thanked the old man with a smile as he helped her bring her suitcases to the back entrance of the arena.
"Don't forget about what I said about that young man in your life. He deserves to know how you feel." Don smiled back at her as Scarlett handed him the cab fare. Just then his eyes shifted to something behind her and suddenly Scarlett felt a presence at her back. "Is this him?"
Turning slightly to look up, Scarlett found Roman's curious grey eyes looking down at her causing her smile to grow slightly. Nodding her head, she glanced back at Don. "Yeah, this is him."
"You take good care of this young lady, don't let her get too many bumps or bruises in that ring." Don ordered as he glanced at Roman as well, but the smile he wore took the edge off his command.
"Will do." Roman answered as Scarlett wove her goodbye and they began walking inside the arena. "Telling taxi drivers about me now, are you?"
"Maybe." She answered as she smirked at him sideways. She then giggled when after he'd chuckled, he'd picked her up in a hug so her feet left the ground. He swung her around once causing her to squeal in delight earning them a few looks, then setting her down on her feet and pressing his lips to hers in a warm kiss that had butterflies galore flying around her stomach.
He pulled back again a second later, chuckling at her dazed expression as he took her suitcase from her hand to pull it himself. Scarlett immediately linked their hands before glancing up at him as they walked. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." He responded causing Scarlett's smile to grow. She was surprised her cheeks didn't hurt by now.
"So, I have something I want to tell you and Dean later." She admitted, turning her head to face forwards as he now looked down at her.
"Oh really? What would that be?" He questioned however before she could answer a stage hand had stepped in their path.
"Excuse me Ms. Payne, the Authority would like a word with you. If you would follow me please." They stated then began walking down the hall, not bothering to see if she actually followed or not.
"Uh, alright." Scarlett muttered, quickly handing her things over to Roman once he'd offered to take them. She stood on her tiptoes in her ballet flats to press a kiss to his cheek before she hurried after the stagehand.
He lead her down a few hallways before stopping at a door that held a piece of paper taped to it with black letters spelling out The Authority. Just as she was about to knock, the stagehand shook his head and instead opened the door for her to go in. Then to her surprise once she entered the room, Tori was already there sitting across from Hunter and Stephanie. At least she knew why she hadn't answered her text now.
"Hello Ms. Calaway. Good of you to join us." Hunter smiled over at her which instantly set Scarlett on edge as he gestured to the chair next to Tori.
"We've been waiting for you to arrive to tell you both the good news." Stephanie smiled at the two girls once Scarlett had taken her seat causing Tori's eyebrows to peak in curiosity.
"What news?" Scarlett questioned as she eyed her bosses. They seemed far too happy to see them for some reason.
"We know it's a little early to be telling you this but we thought it couldn't wait." Hunter stated as he clasped his hands together on top of the desk in front of them. When both girls arched an eyebrow at him he chuckled slightly. "Steph and I called you here to tell you that you will be on the match card for Wrestlemania 30."
Scarlett could've sworn her jaw hit the floor at that moment. She was going to be a part of wrestling history now. Not only was this her first Wrestlemania she'd be participating in, but it was Wrestlemania 30. How much better could it get than that?
"You will be defending your Tag Team titles there." Stephanie concluded Hunter's sentence drawing Scarlett from her thoughts and surprise.
"Against who?" She questioned almost fearfully, this had to be the catch. They wouldn't just willingly put them on the match card at one of the biggest Wrestlemania's without some kind of catch, would they?
"That's undecided as of right now." Stephanie stated. "Starting March 24th there will be a tournament to determine who you will face, much like how you won your titles at the Royal Rumble back in January."
"During which you won't have matches yourselves, but you are expected to be here still and sit ringside at each and every match. Understood?" Hunter questioned them earning nods of response. "Good. You're dismissed now, but first Ms. Calaway, your father wanted me to tell you he's here tonight."
"Alright. Thank you." She smiled as she got to her feet.
As the girls made it out the doorway, overly excited they were going to be a part of Wrestlemania, neither girl noticed Hunter's smile shift into a smirk as he sat back in his chair. His eyes connected to his wifes once she'd shut the door, her smirk gleaming almost as bright as his. "They'll never know what hit them."
Meanwhile the girls were ecstatic as they walked towards the Shield's private locker room. Both girls let out excited squeals as they talked about their first Wrestlemania appearance together, and in general, which earned them quite a few stares from numerous amounts of people but they couldn't care less. Once they reached the locker room and entered they found the 3 men of their stable talking, but all conversation halted when they saw how excited the girls looked.
"Take it it wasn't bad news then?" Seth questioned from his spot on the couch next to Dean. Tori shook her head as she made her way over to him to seat herself in his lap and Scarlett noticed Dean crooking his finger at her, calling her over to him as well which she gladly went.
"What's got you both so overjoyed?" Dean asked as he wrapped his arms around Scarlett's waist once she'd settled on his lap.
"We're wrestling at-" Scarlett began but found herself cut off by a knock to the door.
Roman wordlessly stood and made his way over to the door to answer it, casting a look over his shoulder first to see that Scarlett had moved onto the cushion next to Dean rather than be on his lap. Turning his head again, he pulled the handle of the door so it opened and he found the bearded face of Daniel Bryan on the other side.
"Hi, could I come in for a second?" He questioned and Roman's response was to open the door wider so Daniel could enter the room. Once he had and the door was shut behind him he slid his eyes over all 5 of them before he said, "I need the Shield's help tonight."
"What do you think he wants?" Tori questioned Scarlett a few short hours later as the Shield made their way to the concession stands.
Raw had kicked off with non other than Hulk Hogan himself. He talked about the WWE Network some, but the real reason he was around tonight was to announce a match for Wrestlemania 30. The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal it was called. The winner of said match would win a very large, very expensive trophy that featured the named legend on top, but who else would come out and interrupt Hogan but John Cena himself?
He came out to personally add his name to the list of men in that Battle Royal and probably would've succeeded if Bray Wyatt hadn't chosen to interrupt them as well. He went on and on the way he usually does, speaking in riddles, before John challenged him to a match at Wrestlemania. Bray's way of answering was sending Rowan in the ring to fight Cena.
The rest of the night drew on slowly as matches went by but then the gongs sounded and Scarlett was all ears once more, only to groan when Paul Heyman made his presence known as well. He'd listed a bunch of big names in the WWE; Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and John Cena, that have had great Wrestlemania moments, great wrestling careers in general, but no one has ever had 5 Wrestlemania wins, let alone 21 in a row before. No one, but her father. He then proceeded to nearly beg the Undertaker not to show up at Wrestlemania 30 if he truly wanted to keep this streak alive. What was her fathers response?
"Since you seem to be Brock Lesnar's messenger boy, I want you to take this back to him; the fear of death is far greater than the death itself, but the fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all. And Mr. Heyman there's one more thing, you tell your client, Brock Lesnar, if he shows up in New Orleans at Wrestlemania 30 he will rest in peace."
Then no longer had the gongs sounded through the arena again when a stagehand had came to collect them because the Director of Operations Kane wanted to speak with them in the ring. When Scarlett asked about what, she wasn't given an answer.
"With Glenn, lord knows." She sighed as she and Tori leaned against the wall of the hallway they stood in, watching as the boys drenched their hair. It was only a few seconds once they were done that the familiar 'Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta; Shield' went off and they were headed passed the curtain. Before they knew it, they were standing in the ring, each with a microphone across from the Director of Operations himself.
"I've called you down here because, quite frankly, we need to talk. Last week on Raw you lost to the Wyatt Family, again. The first time was because you abandoned your team mates." Kane stated as he gestured towards Dean, causing both his and Scarlett's jaws to tighten before Kane moved onto Seth to continue. "Which is exactly what you did Monday on Raw, Seth, and you two..." He pointed to Scarlett and Tori now before he shook his head. "You might've won your match on NXT, but that was not the work of a team at all, and then on Smackdown the 5 of you aired your dirty laundry in public, in the most unprofessional matter."
"So..." Dean drawled into his microphone, raising his shoulders up in question slightly. "Is there a point to all this?"
"The point is that the Shield has proven itself to be a valuable asset in the past. As Director of Operations I've taken it upon myself to light a fire under the 5 of you to see if you remain a valuable asset, or if you've become disposable." As Kane spoke his last word, disposable, all 5 Shield members tensed for different reasons. Dean in anger, Seth in amusement, Roman in disbelief, Tori in worriment, and Scarlett in cockiness.
"It seems to me that the first cracks in the Shield appeared when you two lost the WWE tag team title to the Rhodes brothers." Kane continued as he pointed to Seth and Roman now. However as he opened his mouth to say his next words, the arena was decked out in green as Hunter's music played all around them. Turning their attentions to the ramp now, Scarlett noticed Hunter still had that smile on his face from when they'd spoken earlier. Good news had came then, now however, Scarlett didn't think anything good would happen.
"Kane, Kane." Hunter said into his microphone once his music cut out. "I need to cut you off Kane before you double book one of our superstars. Do what you want with Seth Rollins, give him any match of your choosing, but Roman Reigns already has a match set for tonight."
Scarlett furrowed her eyebrows at that. Roman didn't have a match that night at all, none of them did, but she only got more confused as Hunter spoke up again.
"In fact, if you give Seth Rollins a match tonight, everyone standing in that ring right now will have a match tonight. You see, since certain members of the Shield love to be on camera, we're going to give the Shield some camera time." He stated, his smile turning into his signature smirk as he took in Scarlett's stiff posture now. "Tonight in Memphis Tennessee we're lucky enough to have a family affair going on, so tonight on Raw there will be a 6 person Intergender tag team match. It'll be the Director of Operations; Kane, the Deadman himself and the Shield's Scarlett Payne against the team of.. well, let's listen to who they are, shall we?" He stated as he gestured towards the titantron.
No more than five seconds passed before for the second time that night 'Sierra Hotel India Echo Lima Delta; Shield' sounded through the arena and the 5 blue wolves began appearing on the titantron screen. When Scarlett lowered her eyes to Hunter's again, she felt her head spin as she took in Hunter's smirking face which was directed right at her before their music cut out and he lifted the microphone to his lips once more. "Your opponents, also representing the Shield, will be Roman Reigns, Dean Ambrose, and Tori Cross." He smirked even wider as the crowd ate up his words but Scarlett on the other hand was on the verge of passing out.
She was going to have to stand at ringside, not even at ringside, she was going to have to stand on the apron and watch her father and uncle beat the living daylights out of her boyfriends, or watch her boyfriends beat the living daylights out of her father and uncle. Basically the four most important men she'd ever had in her entire life beating the life out of each other. Then when she wasn't watching that, she'd be kicking her best friends ass, or her best friend would be kicking her ass. Could she just die right now? Death would be so much easier than life right now.
She barely processed Hunter give Kane to go ahead to make Seth a match as well. She barely processed that Seth's match was now a 2-on-1 Handicap match against the Rhodes brothers since Roman couldn't be put in the match with him and the rest of the Shield was banned from ringside. She hardly registered that Seth had hugged her before she, Roman, Dean, and Tori were making their way back up the stairs. She hardly heard the stagehand inform them that the match just made was going to happen right before the main event with Daniel Bryan and Big Show vs. Randy Orton and Batista. She'd barely registered anything coherent until she was sitting in the Shield's locker room again, surrounded by 3 worried expressions as they sat around her.
"It'll be alright, princess." Dean tried to reassure her as he wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her into his chest. "We won't hurt them too much."
Rather than reassure her of anything, Scarlett immediately jumped up and away from his embrace as she began running to the door.
"I have to see my father." She stated, her breath almost at the point of hyperventilation. Before she reached the door a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her in the air to swing her around and place her back on her feet away from the door. When she lifted her head, her wide eyes found Roman's concerned face in front of hers and he cupped her jaw gently in his hands just as Dean's arms squeezed around her middle gently.
"Breathe sweetheart, before you end up passing out. Just breathe." He said soothingly as he stroked her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. Scarlett closed her eyes, trying to focus on nothing but her breaths. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out. Then slowly, she slouched back against Dean's chest as she felt a pair of lips press against the top of her head then another pair press against her forehead.
"Everything will be fine, sweetheart. Don't worry."
After a short amount of time, the knock the Shield had been waiting for all night pounded against their locker room door nearly opening it with each strike. Before Dean pulled it open, he checked to make sure everyone was ready before he hauled it open and found an annoyed looking Hunter and an enraged looking Stephanie McMahon.
"Can I help you?" He questioned but was brushed off as Hunter shoved his way into the room.
"I need you all to come with me right now. Ms. Calaway, Ms. Cross, that counts you as well, even you." He stated, turning to glance at Seth who held an ice pack to the back of his neck. He'd won his match against Cody and Goldust, but it didn't mean he hadn't gotten beaten up throughly.
As Hunter made his way out of the room, all 5 members of the Shield went with him as he walked down to the Gorilla Position with his wife snarling at his side. Scarlett was surprised to see an anxious looking Damien Sandow was with them as well and was dressed in his wrestling gear.
"What's going on?" Tori questioned, just like she was supposed to. It was just her curious nature, what else could it be?
"Daniel Bryan's trying to occupy Raw." Stephanie snapped back, effectively silencing everyone around her until they reached the hall just before the Gorilla Position. "Scarlett and Roman, I want you two to enter from this side of the ramp. Seth, Dean, Tori, I want you to come from the other side. You come when we call for you, is that clear?" She questioned them.
"Crystal." Seth responded before he, Tori and Dean walked down the hallway and Scarlett and Roman moved into position.
They stood in silence as they listened to the Authority threaten Daniel Bryan, threaten the members of the 'Yes Movement' that stood in the ring with him. They heard Hunter send Sandow out to wrestle in a match, but he refused. They heard Daniel tell the Authority that they could have Raw in front of an empty arena cause he was going to take the WWE Universe out to the parking lot with their own ring. That's the point of which Hunter started calling for security.
"Security! Throw all these people out." He said, and while Scarlett couldn't see what was happening, she could heart Daniel's mocking words of response.
"Uh oh guys, here they come! Here they come, all 2 of them!" Daniel shouted nearly making Scarlett laugh but she held it back, knowing she'd blow everything if she went out there smiling. Stephanie's shrieking voice however, could wipe the smile off of a smiling baby.
"Do your jobs and clear that ring!"
"No, no. Steph, if these two can't do it we do have some people who can."
Then a split second later, the Shield's radio chatter sounded through the arena and they waited a moment, listening to the intense booing of the crowd before they made their way out onto the ramp. Once she was there in person, Scarlett barely held back the look of surprise on her face. There was a mass amount of people standing in and around the ring, all wearing 'Yes Movement' shirts, and they were all booing her and her team mates as they walked closer towards them. However, the closer they got, the more Daniel began to laugh.
"Oh you guys are so predictable. You really think I wouldn't have thought of you bringing the Shield out to get me? Well guess what? I did!" Daniel shouted before glancing down at Seth from his spot on the turnbuckle and nodded his head. Seth, who stood in the very middle of the line the Shield had created, glanced at Tori and Dean on his left then at Scarlett and Roman on his right, nodding to them all. Then, slowly as ever, all 5 members of the Shield turned their backs on the members of the 'Yes Movement' and their leader to face the Authority now instead, creating a protective barrier between them and Daniel which earned a loud cheer from the crowd. Stephanie and Hunter however, seemed livid at what just occurred in front of them.
"Do you hear them Stephanie?" Daniel taunted her as the crowd began chanting 'Yes!' over and over. "We are not leaving until we get what we want! And Hunter you know exactly what we want. A match between you and me at Wrestlemania 30." He stated and Scarlett watched in amusement as Hunter climbed up the ramp to be at the top. He seemed very agitated, but also at a loss of what to do now.
"Go ahead Hunter, give us what we want and we'll give you your show back." Daniel offered kindly, but Hunter wasn't fond of kind right now.
"You wanna know what the truth is, Daniel?" Hunter questioned, his voice suddenly calm although he kept his eyes downcast. "Truth is I actually like you, I actually saw something in you so you know what? I took it upon myself to try to protect you. To protect you from everything that would happen when you were successful, you would be run out of here so I tried to protect you. I protected you at Summerslam! I protected you ever since then, and what happens? This happens? You wanna know why I didn't fight you at Wrestlemania? For your own good, Daniel, because I will end all this, because at Wrestlemania I will not stop until I end you. That's the way I operate and that's the way it's gonna be! You wanna fight me at Wrestlemania?!" Hunter shouted causing the crowd to erupt into screams of 'Yes!' over and over, lead by Daniel himself of course.
"Then be careful what you wish for, you're on!" Hunter finally agreed and even Scarlett and Tori began chanting with the crowd. However his next words made her heart drop into the pit of her stomach.
"And Shield. Shield, your match tonight, for joining this is now under No Holds Barred rules!" He shouted, but his eyes remained glued to Scarlett as he spoke. "Now, shut up! And get the hell out of my ring!" He demanded before making his way up the ramp again to leave but Daniel's words halted him once more.
Scarlett didn't hear those words however, because her mind was set on the fact that the 'Brothers of Destruction' were now set in a No Holds Barred match with her boyfriends and she was going to have to stand by and watch every single minute of it. In the famous words of Zac Efron in 17 Again: Sweet Baby Jesus.
Somebody reviewed my last chapter saying there was no drama in it and it was a nice break... Break's over! :) Scarlett/Taker/Kane vs. Roman/Dean/Tori is next! Leave your reviews about what you thought of this chapter please and thank you :)